HOW TO WRITE SUCCESSFUL GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP PROPOSALS

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• HOW TO WRITE SUCCESSFUL GRADUATE RESEARCH
  FELLOWSHIP PROPOSALS
• OCTOBER 30, 2009

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Graduate Research Fellowship Programs (GRFP)

• 1) National Science Foundation (NSF)
• http//www.nsfgrfp.org/
• 2) Department of Energy (DOE)
• http//www.scied.science.doe.gov/SCGF.html 

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NSF GRFP Eligibility Information

• Citizenship
• US citizens or nationals or permanent resident
  aliens of the U.S.
• Field and Degree Program
• Masters or doctoral degrees in the fields of
  science, mathematics and engineering.

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Eligibility Timeline

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Award Information

• Type of Award Three years of support that may be
  used over a five-year period
• Estimated Number of Awards 1,654
• Funding 66,987,000 for new fellowships in FY
  2010 pending the availability of funds
• Award Date Late March 2010

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Award Information

• For each matriculated Fellow, ST receives a
  40,500 award per Fellow tenure year to cover the
  costs
• The Graduate Research Fellowship stipend
  currently is 30,000 for a 12-month tenure period
• The cost of education allowance currently is
  10,500 per tenure year
• Fellows are allowed an additional one-time 1,000
  International Research Travel Allowance
• Honorable Mention supercomputing time through
  the Teragrid
• Award- Maximum of 3 years usable over a 5 yr.
  period

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Evaluation of Applications

• NSFs merit review criteria
• What is the intellectual merit of the proposed
  activity?
• What are the broader impacts of the proposed
  activity?

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Guidelines for Applying

• Fellowship applications must be submitted by the
  prospective Fellow.
• Applicants must register with the FastLane system
  prior to submitting an application.
• Complete applications include
• information that must be submitted
  electronically using NSFs FastLane Graduate
  Research Fellowship Program application module at
  http//www.fastlane.nsf.gov/grfp/
• supporting materials that must be submitted in
  hard copy.

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Deadlines

• The FastLane application material is due by
  November 12, 2009 (500 p.m. in the applicant's
  local time zone) for Engineering.
• The Supporting Application Materials are due as
  follows
• Received by field of study deadline
  Undergraduate GPA Form and Official Academic
  Transcript(s) (excluding Fall 2004)
• November 30, 2009 GRE Subject and General test
  scores (optional)
• December 1, 2009 3 Reference Letters (required).
  

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Department of Energy (DOE)Office of Science
Graduate Fellowship (DOE SCGF)

• Eligibility
• Benefits
• Application Evaluation
• Key Dates

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Fellowship Information

• Includes physics, chemistry, biology
  (non-medical), mathematics, engineering,
  computational sciences, and areas of
  environmental sciences.
• Award approximately 80 graduate fellowships
• Fellowships will begin in the Fall 2010-2011

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Eligibility

• Open to students who are U.S. citizens and will
  be at least 18 years of age by the time the
  fellowship begins (August 15, 2010)
• Students must be an undergraduate senior majoring
  in physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics,
  engineering, environmental sciences, or computers
  sciences or a first-year or second-year graduate
  student in a qualified research-focused Masters
  or Ph.D. program at an accredited U.S. college or
  university at the time of applying

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Eligibility Continued

• Students must
• be enrolled as a full-time student at the time of
  applying
• have completed a baccalaureate degree in a field
  of physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics,
  engineering, environmental sciences, or computers
  sciences by July 31, 2010 and
• have an undergraduate cumulative grade point
  average (GPA) of 3.3 or higher (on a 4.0 scale)
  at the time of applying.

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Qualified Graduate Degree Program

• The Masters or Ph.D. degree program pursued must
  require a research thesis/dissertation.
• Selected applicants must be enrolled as a
  full-time graduate student at an accredited
  college or university in the United States or its
  territories by the fall of 2010.
• Students pursuing a Masters degree must plan to
  pursue a Ph.D. in a qualified graduate program
  immediately following the completion of their
  Masters degree.  

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Benefits

• Living Stipend Fellows will receive a yearly
  stipend of 35,000 for general living expenses.
• Tuition Support Fellows are eligible to receive
  up to 10,500 towards college/university tuition
  and fees.

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Research Stipend

• Fellows will receive a research stipend of 5,000
  per year, which may be used for the following
  purposes
• Travel, lodging, meals, and registration/participa
  tion fees for approved research activities and/or
  professional development experiences
• Purchase of laboratory research supplies relevant
  to participants graduate research
• Journal subscriptions relevant to graduate
  studies or scientific professional development
• Books for coursework or graduate research or
• Computer and peripherals for academic use (not to
  exceed 900 of research stipend per year).

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Application Evaluation

• Merit Review Criteria
• Academic Performance
• Scientific and/or Technical Merit of Proposed
  Plan of Research
• Scientific and Technical Contributions Outside of
  the Classroom

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Application Information

• All application materials must be submitted
  through the DOE SCGF online system by November
  30, 2009.
• Applicants must provide the following to be
  considered
• A completed online application
• The applicants academic transcripts
• Three letters of reference

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Intellectual Merit
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Broader Impacts
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The Starting Point

• Do the background work
• Youre doing that now!
• Lots of good advice already up on the NSF website
• http//www.nsfgrfp.org/
• Know what youre up against
• 10 success rate, Best of the best
• Get some help
• Get an Application Mentor

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Why Does the NSF Want ME?

• You demonstrate a combination of
• Intelligence
• Leadership
• Social responsibility
• Determination
• Excitement
• Ability to succeed in an ever-changing, complex
  environment
• You exhibit strength in Intellectual Merit and
  Broader Impacts to Society regarding research
  capacity

http//www.nsfgrfp.org/
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Evaluation Criteria

• Intellectual Merit Demonstrated intellectual
  ability and other accepted requisites for
  scholarly scientific study, such as the ability
• (1) to plan and conduct research
• (2) to work as a member of a team as well as
  independently and
• (3) to interpret and communicate research.
• Broader Impacts Contributions that
• (1) effectively integrate research and education
  at all levels, 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
• (2) encourage diversity, broaden opportunities,
  and enable the participation of all
  citizens--women and men, underrepresented
  minorities, and persons with disabilities--in
  science and research
• (3) enhance scientific and technical
  understanding and
• (4) benefit society.

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Know thyself

• Make a list of everything notable youve
  accomplished in the past 4-8 years
• Intellectual Merit Activities research, class
  projects, design teams, industry projects, others
• Broader Impact Activities teaching, mentoring,
  leadership roles, teamwork experiences, volunteer
  efforts of any kind
• These activities are the evidence by which others
  will judge who you are

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Know thyself

• Match your activities with evaluation criteria
• You should have evidence for every criteria
• Where do you excel?
• This is what makes you stand out It should be a
  theme that spans your essays
• eg. For me it was mentoring
• Personal statement tutoring experience (actively
  recruited minorities)
• Past research experience Influence and benefit
  of my undergraduate research advisors mentoring
  on me
• Proposed research experience Started program in
  my research group for minority female REUs

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Additional Advice

• Personal Statement
• Intro The big picture of who I am
• Past Evidence of who I am
• Present What Im doing now to further
  demonstrate and build upon who I am
• Future What will I do with who I am in the
  future? How will NSF GRF help me do that?