Researchers Submit Record Number of Ambitious Proposals for Webb's Fifth Year of Science

The astronomical community's enthusiasm for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope shows no sign of slowing. For Webb's fifth annual cycle of observations, scientists around the world have submitted a record-breaking more than 2,900 proposals, which include some of the most ambitious in the mission's history across a wide range of astronomical disciplines.

"This record-breaking response reflects Webb's exceptional performance and unprecedented capacity to inspire the scientific community and to transform our understanding of the universe," said STScI Director Jen Lotz. "While the results of Cycle 5 are yet to be determined, I congratulate all who submitted a proposal and look forward to the discoveries yet to come."

The proposals span a wide range of science categories, from exoplanets and the solar system to distant galaxies and the early universe, underscoring Webb's broad appeal across science disciplines. Distant galaxies, stars and stellar populations, and exoplanet atmospheres are among the top science categories among proposals.

This year's submissions include unprecedented requests for telescope time across all scientific categories, several as part of the new Long-Term Monitoring Initiative. This initiative enables studies that unfold over multiple observing cycles. The reception to the program by astronomers signals shifts toward time-domain science that tracks changes in the universe.

"We're at a time where the mission is maturing enough that researchers can think more about long-term strategic scientific questions," said Tom Brown, head of the Webb Mission Office at STScI. "Scientists want to tackle bolder and more complex subjects, and this initiative is one way we are facilitating that, with consideration to Webb's expected extended lifetime and outstanding performance."

The unprecedented proposal number is also driven in part by an increase in the number of investigators proposing for time on Webb. This year, the number of scientists leading Webb proposals grew by almost 17 percent.

As in previous years, most of the requested time, 77 percent, uses spectroscopy, the technique that allows Webb to reveal the chemistry and physics of celestial objects.

Collaboration across observatories also remains strong. Researchers submitted dozens of joint proposals that hope to combine Webb observations with data from other major facilities, including 42 with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, 32 with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), and 35 proposals under the new Roman Preparatory Science program, which aims to maximize future discoveries with NASA's upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

Beyond the numbers, Cycle 5 also highlights the dedication of the astronomical community. The proposal process, managed by the Science Policy Division at STScI, is supported by nearly 550 volunteer reviewers, called the Telescope Allocation Committee (TAC), who carefully evaluate each submission on a dual-anonymous basis.

The Cycle 5 TAC will meet in the first two weeks of February 2026, with selections planned to be announced in March 2026. STScI expects to allocate 8,000 hours of time on Webb in Cycle 5, and the competition for this limited resource is fierce. It's expected only 8 percent of proposals will be accepted for Cycle 5, which officially begins in July 2026.

The Space Telescope Science Institute is expanding the frontiers of space astronomy by hosting the science operations center of the Hubble Space Telescope, the science and mission operations centers for the James Webb Space Telescope, and the science operations center for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. STScI also houses the Barbara A. Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) which is a NASA-funded project to support and provide to the astronomical community a variety of astronomical data archives, and is the data repository for the Hubble, Webb, Roman, Kepler, K2, TESS missions and more. STScI is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy in Washington, D.C.