My 2020 NSF GRFP Application
The National Science Foundation (NSF) offers one of the most competitive and prestigious fellowships available to STEM graduate students, the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program. The fellowship offers the awardees full tuition coverage and a generous stipend for three years, among other intangible benefits and the prestige of being recognized by the NSF as a promising researcher. Undergraduate seniors and first or second year graduate students may apply, and many thousands do; over 13,000 applications were submitted in 2020. Of those 13,000 applications, approximately 2,000 were awarded a fellowship. A student may only apply once as an undergraduate and again once as a graduate student. Graduate students must not complete more than 2 semesters before applying in October, so as a January, 2019, entrant to graduate school the only time I could apply was for the 2020 award. So, I got to work on my application in the summer of 2019. Spoiler Alert: I did not receive the award or an honorable mention for my application; however, I wanted to share my perspective on UVA’s resources for GRFP applicants and my own application journey.
Preparations
The application involves writing a research proposal, personal statement, filling out a questionnaire, and providing at least two letters of recommendation. The application is due in late October annually, and students are advised to begin the application process as early as possible. Like many universities, the University of Virginia offers seminars, group counseling, and one-on-one mentorship to raise the level of their students’ applications; Winning these awards greatly benefits the university. I participated in all of these options during my application preparation, which began in earnest at the beginning of July, 2019. Throughout the summer I attended a GRFP writing group hosted by a former applicant and honorable mention winner. I started to collect previous applicants’ submitted materials for reference and attended some workshops to learn more about the process. I took this process slowly during the summer, and when the fall semester arrived I switched into high gear. By September, I was drafting constantly, attending every group writing session and pertinent workshop, and began meeting one-on-one with a mentor. Doing this work in parallel with a pair of classes and research duties was challenging and made for many late nights, but I felt fortunate to have so many resources at my disposal. Here’s my take on the efficacy of those resources and how you might want to allocate the time you dedicate to each.
UVA NSF GRFP REsources Ranked and Discussed
One-on-one mentorship
I under-allocated my time to one-on-one mentorship. Although I knew that I didn’t know much about writing a research proposal or a personal statement for this specific audience, I did not appreciate how little I knew. Working with my one-on-one mentor accelerated my understanding of what I should focus on in my writing and gave me confidence-inspiring insights into the process. Start early and engage often with this resource.Group writing sessions
I spent an appropriate amount of time in group writing sessions. I attended sporadically in the summer because I felt like I didn’t have much to share, and regularly in the fall semester because I had gained a community to which I felt committed to contributing. In retrospect, I should have been writing more earlier, and unafraid to seek feedback from this group often. Do not underestimate the input you can receive even on your early drafts. The greatest thing that I gained from this experience was a sense of community, which gave me confidence in knowing that my peers shared my challenges and doubts.NSF GRFP workshops
The NSF GRFP workshops are a great place to start this process. I gained a good understanding of the application and reviewers early on by attending these seminars. After that, the returns were diminishing. Focus on building a strong rapport with your one-on-one mentor and writing group after getting the basics down pat from these seminars.
In addition to UVA’s resources, I relied heavily on labmates that had won the award or honorable mention, my wife and family, and my recommenders for their input on my work. Do not underestimate the impact that any person can have on your work; for the gravity of this application, you should take all the help you can get. To all my supporters, thank you once more for taking the time to help me along the way.
Results
By mid-October, I had received my letters of recommendation and fine-tuned my research proposal and personal statement to the best that advice could offer. I submitted my application and took a big sigh of relief. The results would not be announced until April, and mercifully I was able to quickly shift my focus to my classes. Slowly, April arrived and so did the announcement; I did not receive an award or an honorable mention. I felt gutted.
The reviewers’ comments were mixed: I was given “fair” to “excellent” ratings on a 5-point “poor” to “excellent” scale. One reviewer was strongly in favor of my submissions based their excellent and very good assessments of my Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts, while another was clearly unimpressed, as indicated by their fair and good assessments. Ultimately, one thing was very clear: I didn’t have enough fundamental science. At the time, I did not appreciate or understand the level of scientific depth that the NSF is looking for in all of its pursuits (Graduate Research Fellowship or otherwise). Since then, I’ve written a handful of grant concept papers and proposals, one of which went to the NSF, and that process drove home the difference between the NSF and more applied-science funding organizations, such as the Department of Energy. Looking back, I can now see how much my research proposal reflects the applied mindset that I’m still working on retraining into a fundamental research mindset. I like to think that I’ve come a long way in the past year, and that’s largely thanks to going through this process.
It took time, but the feelings of defeat and self-doubt resulting from my failure to achieve recognition from the NSF were eventually replaced with pride for the amount of effort I put forth and how much I grew through the process and since the process.
Takeaways
Think big and drive home the science. This is the National SCIENCE Foundation. They’re interested in scientific discovery, and that cannot be understated. Ask yourself, “How will this work change our understanding of X, Y, or Z?”
Begin early. Give yourself time to write and rewrite as you learn more and more about what you’re proposing, as well as time for your supporters to return their feedback to you.
Seek help early and often, especially from those who have successfully completed this process. Writing your NSF GRFP is a state of mind, and others will accelerate your ability to achieve that state.
My Submission
In the grand tradition of NSF GRFP applicants, I present to you my research proposal, my personal statement, and the corresponding reviewer feedback. I invite you to let me know what you think in the comments below for better or worse. I hope that these can be useful resources to you if you’re working on your own application or if you’re also interested in recycling carbon fiber reinforced polymers.