Application Scoring Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

What to expect after your application has been scored.

Average Proposal Award Scores

When are proposals due?

NCCAT has a quarterly call for application. The deadlines are Jan 1st, Apr 1st, Jul 1st and Oct 1st. If you submit an application after the cut off it will be considered the next cycle.

What is the process?

Your proposal once received by NCCAT it is assigned an NCCAT project ID. After the cycle application cut-off date the application is sent to our User Review Committee (URC). The URC grades on 5 categories and submit their scores to the User Allocation Committee (UAC). The UAC normalizes scores and sends the Time Allocation Committee (TAC) a priority score.

If I submit an application earlier, then will I get time earlier?

No, the applications are considered in cycles. The TAC meets roughly twice a cycle to assign resource allocations, which are set per cycle. However, the application has the opportunity to be sent out for review ahead of the cut-off date.

Who makes up the review committees?

The NCCAT review committees are comprised of external reviewers and NCCAT’s only involvement is administrative. Peer review is an important part of the process. To ensure the integrity of the process NCCAT is a neutral party, and both users and reviewers may state if they have a conflict of interest. NCCAT staff abide by a non-disclosure policy.

Who makes up the time allocation committee?

The TAC is comprised of NCCAT staff. Based upon instrument availability and the priority score the TAC will award proposals, and work with users to schedule time. The TAC will contact the spokesperson or main contact of the proposal to notify them of available instrument time.

What is the NCCAT User Office?

The NCCAT User Office (NUO) is the main contact between the spokesperson or main proposal contact and NCCAT. They will assist users with the logistics once a session is awarded.

What happens if I have a HOLD on my proposal?

Your proposal is on HOLD and the HOLD must be cleared before it is considered for time allocation. The UAC or TAC will inform you of next steps in your notification  email.

I received my score, now what?

The TAC will contact you to schedule a session. If we can not accommodate you within this cycle, then you will be notified by the end of the cycle.

Will my score be awarded time?

NCCAT strives to award every proposal, however if there are more proposals than available instrument time NCCAT will notify the user.

What are the cut-off scores?

At the end of each cycle NCCAT will post the average scores that have been awarded. The 1st quartile will be contacted by the TAC to schedule time and the last quartile will be immediately informed that their proposal will be forwarded to the next cycle. The middle two quartiles will be awarded based upon readiness and capacity.

What happens if I don’t get time this cycle?

Un-awarded proposals will be automatically forwarded to the next cycle with an improvement of 0.2 to the score up to 2 times. Applications will be considered up to 3 cycles. If your proposal is not awarded within 3 cycles we recommend resubmitting your application based upon the reviewer comments.

What is the voluntary declaration of overlap and resource sharing about?

Applicants may note if they have applied to other service centers. Also, they may opt-in if the national service centers develop a resource sharing program to transfer applications to another service center to be awarded.

I received time, now what?

If you have been awarded time the NUO would have emailed you to work out logistics and schedule a pre-session meeting with NCCAT staff.

I have more questions, who do I contact?

NCCAT hold information sessions where the NCCAT manager and NCCAT traffic controller answers users questions. To sign up please email nccatinfo@nysbc.org .

I have even more questions?

General inquiries should be sent to nccatinfo [at] nysbc.org. User issues for awarded applications should be directed to nccatuseroffice [at] nysbc.org.