free money (a.k.a fellowships)

Free money (a.k.a Fellowships)

Juan F. [email protected]

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

• Deadline in early November• Approx 1000 new 3-year fellowships award

every year… for all disciplines!• US Citizen or Permanent Resident• Must be in early stages of grad studies – Completed no more than 12 months of full time

graduate studies

$$$

• $40,5000 Annually ($30,000 stipend and $10,500 cost of education)– $30,000/ 12 months = $2,500 a month– Does NOT include health insurance– You need to pay taxes be responsible and save

• One-time $1000 International Research Travel Allowance

Applying to (NSF) Fellowship

• Demanding, but rewarding• It’s practice… we will all be writing grant

proposals in the future• If you are starting to apply now for the Nov

deadline 20 hrs/week

What do you need?

• Application• Resume/CV• Essay– Personal Statement (NSF)– Previous Research Experience (NSF)– Proposed Plan of Research (NSF)

• 3 Letter of Recommendation (NSF)• Transcripts (NSF)• GRE• …

Personal Statement

• Use examples– I’m a team player NO!– I participated in a research group and led the research that published a

paper ….• Why are you fascinated by your research area?• What examples of leadership skills and unique characteristics do

you bring to your chosen field?• What personal and individual strengths do you have that make

you a qualified applicant? (Examples!)• How will receiving the fellowship contribute to your career

goals?• How does the information in your Personal Statement address

the Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts criteria?http://www.nsfgrfp.org/how_to_apply/application_materials

Previous Research Experience

• Make your role clear– What did you exactly do?– What was your contribution?

• Demonstrate your ability to do research– What was unique and novel?– Methodologies, contributions– Include broader impact

Previous Research Experience (…)

• What are all of your applicable experiences?• For each experience, what were the key

questions, methodology, findings, and conclusions?

• Did you work in a team and/or independently?• How did you assist in the analysis of results?• How did your activities address the Intellectual

Merit and Broader Impacts criteria?

http://www.nsfgrfp.org/how_to_apply/application_materials

Proposed Plan of Research

• What is the problem?• Why is the problem important?• How do you plan to solve it?• What is your methodology and why?• What are your expected results?• What are the broader impacts of your research?• Do you expect to collaborate with others?• Where will you submit your work?• Include citations

Proposed Plan of Research (…)• What issues in the scientific community are you most passionate

about?• Do you possess the technical knowledge and skills necessary for

conducting this work, or will you have sufficient mentoring and training to complete the study?

• Is this plan feasible for the allotted time and institutional resources?• How will your research contribute to the "big picture" outside the

academic context?• How can you draft a plan using the guidelines presented in the

essay instructions?• How does your proposed research address the Intellectual Merit

and Broader Impacts criteria?


Writing the Essay

• Be Specific!• Tie essays together

– Prior work shows ability to fulfill future research objectives– Tie Broader impacts and teaching experience to research area– Refer to prior research and broader impacts in research

proposal• Use bold headings

– Reviewers will be reading thousands of applications over a weekend

• READ EACH SENTECE: IF ANYBODY COULD WRITE IT, IT’S A BS SENTENCE– BE UNIQUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Katie Coons

Recommendation Letter

• Ask Early!!!!• Ask people who know your research– Have your bio and accomplishments written so you can

quickly email it to them• Potential letter writers– Advisor– Co-advisor– Senior Thesis advisor– Professor you blew away with a publishable class

project… not just a class that you got an A in!!!!

Your advisor

• Your advisor wants you to get a fellowship– It’s going to save him money

• My guess: your advisor has applied for grants• Work with your advisor– Write a recommendation letter– Help you write essays

Recommendation Letters

• Explaining the nature of the relationship to the applicant

• Comments on the applicant's potential and prior research experiences

• Statements about the applicant's academic potential and prior research experiences

• Statements about the applicant's proposed research• Information to enable review panels to evaluate the

application according to the NSF Merit Review Criteria of Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts.


Recommendation Letters (…)

• Choose people that can speak to your abilities and potential, rather than someone with a prominent title.

• Provide referees sufficient time to write a strong letter.• Discuss the application and share your essays with them.• Inform them that reference letters should reflect both

your “intellectual merit” and “broader impacts.”• remind reference writers about deadline.

– No late letters will be accepted under any circumstances.• Have a backup reference in case one of your other

reference writers cannot submit their letter.


Intellectual Merit

• the strength of the academic record• the proposed plan of research and whether it

is potentially transformative• the description of previous research

experience, references• the appropriateness of the choice of

institution relative to the proposed plan for graduate education and research.

http://www.nsfgrfp.org/how_to_apply/review_criteria

Intellectual Merit (…)

• How important is the proposed activity to advancing knowledge and understanding within its own field or across different fields?

• How well qualified is the proposer (individual or team) to conduct the project? (If appropriate, the reviewer will comment on the quality of prior work.)

• To what extent does the proposed activity suggest and explore creative, original, or potentially transformative concepts?

• How well conceived and organized is the proposed activity?• Is there sufficient access to resources?

http://www.nsfgrfp.org/how_to_apply/review_criteria

Broader Impact

• Contributions that infuse learning with the excitement of discovery, and assure that the findings and methods of research are communicated in a broad context and to a large audience.

• Encourage diversity, broaden opportunities, and enable the participation of all citizens-women and men, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities-in science and research.

• Demonstrate how it will enhance scientific and technical understanding, while benefiting society.

• Provide characteristics of their background, including personal, professional, and educational experiences, to indicate their potential to fulfill the broader impacts criterion.http://www.nsfgrfp.org/how_to_apply/review_criteria

Broader Impact (…)

• How well does the activity advance discovery and understanding while promoting teaching, training, and learning?

• How well does the proposed activity broaden the participation of underrepresented groups (e.g., gender, ethnicity, disability, geographic, etc.)?

• To what extent will it enhance the infrastructure for research and education, such as facilities, instrumentation, networks, and partnerships?

• Will the results be disseminated broadly to enhance scientific and technological understanding?

• What may be the benefits of the proposed activity to society?http://www.nsfgrfp.org/how_to_apply/review_criteria

Questions?

• http://www.nsfgrfp.org/• Acknowledgement: Slides from Joel Hestness

and Katie Coons from the last GAD talk on this topic

http://www.nsfgrfp.org/

http://www.nsfgrfp.org/

free money (a.k.a fellowships)

Education