1 Applying for the - PowerPoint Presentation

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Applying for the

National Science Foundation

Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRF)

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What is the NSF GRF Program?Slide4

The NSF GRF Program

Recognizes and supports

outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions

Winners receive a three-year annual stipend of $34,000

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NSF’s Mission: Realize the societal goods of science.

With these Graduate Fellowships they are seeking to provide extra resources and freedom to young scientists, engineers, and mathematicians

(You!)

with the potential to become transformative scientists.

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Famous Winners

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Who is eligible to apply

to the NSF GRFP?

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US Citizen or Permanent Resident

Senior Undergraduate AND First OR Second-Year Graduate Student

In GRFP-Supported Field

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GRFP-Supported Fields

Chemistry

Computers and Information Sciences and Engineering

Engineering

Geosciences

Life Sciences

Materials Research

Mathematical Sciences

Physics and Astronomy

Psychology

Social Sciences

STEM Education and Learning Research

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No Purely Medical Research

Research with potential applications in medicine? Yes

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Why should you apply to the NSF GRFP?

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The GRF has the potential to

improve your graduate student experience.

Three years of support over 5 years

Stipend of $34,000 per year

Cost of Education allowance for $12,000

Professional Development opportunities &

XSEDE supercomputer

access

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The GRF has the potential to alter the course of your career.

Increased research opportunities.

Highly prestigious award.

Good for your faculty and institution, too.

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Applying for a GRF builds

professional writing and th

inking skills that you will use repeatedly.

The

feedback that you will get

from

the reviewers is impossible to replicate in a class setting.

Crafting

scientific proposals takes

practice

!

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Practice Makes BETTERSlide16

When to Apply

Senior Year AND

First OR Second Year Graduate Student

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When to Apply

July/August: Application Opens

L

a

te October/Early November: Applications Due

March/April: Awards Annouced

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How do you apply?Slide19

What is in an application?

2 short essays (5 pages total)

3 letters of recommendations

transcripts

biographical and demographic information

NO test

scores

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How are applica

tions

reviewed?Panel of scientists who are generally knowledgeable in your field

Applications are NOT randomized; undergraduates compete against graduate students

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How are applica

tions

reviewed?

Intellectual Merit

AND

Broader Impacts

Both

criteria need to be addressed in

both

essay.

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You Make an Argument in

Two Essays

Both Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts must appear in both essays.

Your job is to put forth your best direct argument.

You do not get to be subtle.

Reviewers will miss all of the nuance.

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Intellectual Merit

“The Intellectual Merit criterion encompasses the

potential to advance knowledge

.

...panelists...may consider...the potential of the applicant to advance knowledge based on a

holistic analysis of the complete application

, including

the Personal, Relevant Background, and Future Goals Statement,

Graduate Research Plan Statement,

strength of the academic record,

description of previous research experience

or publication/presentations, and

r

eferences.”

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Broader Impacts

Good citizen of science

“The Broader Impacts criterion encompasses the

potential to benefit society

and contribute to the achievement of

specific, desired societal outcomes

.

Panelists may consider...the

potential

of the applicant for

future broader impacts

as indicated by

personal experiences,

professional experiences,

educational experiences and

future plans.” - Taken from the N

SF GRFP RFA

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NSF’s

Broader Impacts Areas

Full participation of women, persons with disabilities, and underrepresented minorities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics

Improved STEM education and educator development at any level

Increased public scientific literacy and public engagement with science and technology; improved well-being of individuals in society

Development of a diverse, globally competitive STEM workforce

Increased partnerships between academia, industry, and others

Improved national security

Increased economic competitiveness of the United States

Enhanced infrastructure for research and education

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Personal, Relevant Background and Future Goals Statement

3 pages to establish your trajectorySlide27

Single, easily followed trajectory of your experiences and impacts.

Always includes:

past accomplishmentsgraduate training plans

clearly stated goals for your bright future.Slide28

This is not an autobiography!

(Everyone has a life story)

Write a Persuasive Essay. Present evidence in support of an argument.

The argument is that you have a big plan and the potential to make it happen.

The evidence is what you have already learned and achieved. Slide29

Goals and Stretch Goals

Don’t propose too little!

The Personal Statement establishes two things:The trajectory that you are on (what you have done).

The size of your ambition (your goals).

The two things go together, they must match.Slide30

Graduate Research Plan Statement

The next step on that trajectorySlide31

Don’t Omit

There are some things that you must include. Some reviewers will give you a pass, but why risk it?

 A clear statement of your hypothesis (or similar, field-specific statement of intent)

A summary of your project with the heading ‘Intellectual Merit’

A paragraph headed ‘Broader Impacts’ that states the broad scientific importance of the work and ties, somehow, into your personal statement Broader Impacts.

A perceptive statement about the resources that will be required to carry out your proposal, and the fact that you have those resources at your disposal. (if the GRF will help get them, even better)

The “Hallmarks of Excellent Research”Slide32

1. A Clear Statement of Hypothesis

“The CdS layer acts a barrier to energy transfer and adjusting the width will alter the coupling strength between the core and outer shell. Using C-2DES, I will individually probe the electronic states of the two CdSe layers and observe electronic coupling between them.

I hypothesize that the quantum beating signal indicating coupling between these nanocrystals will increase in intensity and lifetime with decreasing CdS barrier width.”

“The theoretical prediction that energy transfer in FMO is optimal at the temperature at which green sulfur bacteria thrive supports my hypothesis that the complex has been tuned by natural selection to capitalize on quantum dynamics.

"

“

I hypothesize that physical properties of a tissue’s microenvironment and mechanical interactions within a group of cells, promote and regulate collective migration in topologically closed epithelia.

To test this hypothesis, I will perform live microscopy and quantitative biophysical measurements in two complementary systems: Drosophila egg chambers and Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cells in culture."Slide33

2. Intellectual Merit Section

Intellectual Merit for NSF

≅Specific Aims for NIH

“In your Specific Aims, you note the significance and innovation of your research; then list your two to three concrete objectives, your aims.”Slide34

Significance & Innovation

“This experiment

will be the first synthetically created system to exhibit CET and will illuminate the microscopic causes behind the mechanism. Understanding

how energy separation, dipole orientation and spacing as well as bath interactions affect CET

will provide opportunities

for the implementation of CET in renewable energy systems, photodetectors and information transfer.

As U.S. consumption of energy continues to grow

– doubling in the next 50 years – society needs new technologies compatible with sustainable growth.

CET may hold the key to the highly efficient, scalable and robust technologies of the future.

”

New!

Significant!Slide35

3. The Broader Impact

Intellectual Merit

Advance knowledge and understanding within its own field or across different fields

Benefit society or advance desired societal outcomes

Broader Impact

of Your Proposed Research

Your Broader Impact as a ScientistSlide36

Broader Impact

“This experiment

will be the first synthetically created system to exhibit CET and will illuminate the microscopic causes behind the mechanism. Understanding

how energy separation, dipole orientation and spacing as well as bath interactions affect CET will provide opportunities

for the implementation of CET in renewable energy systems, photodetectors and information transfer.

As U.S. consumption of energy continues to grow

– doubling in the next 50 years – society needs new technologies compatible with sustainable growth.

CET may hold the key to the highly efficient, scalable and robust technologies of the future.

”

New!

Significant!

The Broader ImpactSlide37

4. Resources and How You Will Get Them

Sophisticated lab equipment

“two spectrometers capable of measuring CET in a fluorescein heterodimer.”Access to National Labs & international resources“I plan to assess the industrial potential of my new materials by working with researchers at the nearby Argonne National Laboratory to test properties, such as electron mobility, of devices created based on my work.”

Specific faculty expertise

“In collaboration with members of the NSF Center for Multiscale Theory and Computation (CMTS) at the University of Chicago, I plan to. . .”Slide38

Explain How the NSF Will Help

“Receiving an NSF fellowship will enable me to freely pursue my research interests and receive outstanding interdisciplinary training. As I mentioned in my previous research statement, my current research project is not the primary focus of study in my labs, so it will be very important to obtain funding for my research to avoid any conflicts of interest.”

“Being awarded the NSFGRF will provide some XSEDE computing allocations that I could use to expand science club by designing activities where students can use molecular modeling of DNA oligos, like the ones I have worked with in my previous research.”Slide39

5. Hallmarks of Excellent Research

Important Question

Incisive Approach

Broad Ramifications

Looked for in your project, emphasized in your proposal, evident in your backgroundSlide40

Recommendation Letters

THREE letters are required, but you can request up to FIVE.

You will rank your letters in order of importance; rankings are your secret.The reviewers will only get 3 - the 3 highest ranked letters that make the deadline. The application will not be reviewed with less than 3 letters.

You tell the NSF who to ask … NSF sends the request.

You MUST ask your recommenders

before

you enter their info in FastLane!

Use their professional address (i.e.

not

Totally.L3g1t@gmail.com)

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The NSF

has

very strict deadlines!

FastLane will cut you off in the middle of an upload when the deadline hits.

The site tends to slow down right at the deadline as everyone rushes to submit.

That

goes for your letter writers too

!

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The secret of getting ahead is getting started.

- neither Mark Twain nor Benjamin Franklin

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What to Do Now

Get involved with a Broader Impacts project NOW

Talk to your faculty mentors about a potential research project

Begin to consider recommenders

Take an inventory of the activities in your background

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