Einstein Probe Science Management Committee

Science Management Committee (SMC)

The Science Management Committee (SMC) includes members appointed by the Parties to manage the overall science exploitation of the EP mission. The SMC will consist of an Executive Board and up to 10 members. The Executive Board comprises the mission Principal Investigator (Chair), the ESA Project Scientist (co-Chair), the MPE team lead (co-Chair), and one additional scientist proposed by CAS.  The Executive Board oversees and manages the SMC activities, approves topics of the Science Topical Panels (STPs), and approves the STP chairs and co-chairs.
 
The other members of the SMC will consist of Science Topical Panel chairs (max 8), one independent scientist appointed by MPE and one independent scientist appointed by ESA. The independent scientist appointed by ESA has been selected through an Announcement of Opportunity. CAS shall maintain the majority (>60%) of the members of the SMC.

Responsibilities of the SMC are: 

  • Manages the activities of the Science Team overall; 
  • Advises the EP Science Centre on operations aspects related to science performance; 
  • Monitors  science  projects  proposed  by  the  STPs  to  ensure  80-10-10  split  of  the  EP operational time (ROT + ToO);
  • Monitors the long-term average proportion of EP science return (based on operational time during the proprietary period) to evaluate whether this is satisfactory with respect to the 80-10-10 model, taking corrective action if necessary;  
  • Defines science management policies on publications, data rights, duration of proprietary period, exploitation strategies, etc.; 
  • Establishes agreements with external facilities for follow-up activities. The agreements are to be signed by the EP PI; 
  • Decisions within the SMC should be taken by consensus; in case of disagreement, issues shall  first  be  discussed  by  the  Executive  Board,  before  being  escalated  to  the  Steering Committee.

SMC meetings

  • SMC preparation meeting - 17 December 2021
  • 2nd SMC meeting - 14 January 2022
  • 3rd SMC meeting - 18 February 2022
  • 4th SMC meeting - 11 March 2022
  • 5th SMC meeting - 29 March 2022
  • 6th SMC meeting - 31 May 2022
  • 7th SMC meeting - 4 October 2023
  • 8th SMC meeting - 6 December 2023
  • 9th SMC meeting - 2 February
  • 10th SMC meeting - 21 February 2023
  • 11th SMC meeting - 3 March 2023
  • 12th SMC meeting (1st including all STP chairs)- 18 April 2023
  • 13th SMC meeting - 17 May 2023
  • 14th SMC meeting - 14 June 2023