NSF GRFP 2018-2019

[drrice]

I didn't know about the GRFP until recently and hastily made my application. I only made a 2 page personal statement. Do you think this would immediately disqualify me?

[jmillar]

1 hour ago, drrice said:

I didn't know about the GRFP until recently and hastily made my application. I only made a 2 page personal statement. Do you think this would immediately disqualify me?

I don't think so. I only used 2.25 pages for mine so I could increase white space and easier skimming ability. If you were able to convey everything you felt you needed to, you should be fine.

[QuantumFroggy250]

Has anyone been recently added to an NSF GRF LinkedIn group in the last week?

[aspiringscientist]

So, since the US government is in a partial shutdown that includes NSF... does anyone know if that will affect us? NSF has stopped distributing some grants recently because of the shutdown 

[strawberrykat]

@aspiringscientist  I looked into this last week and I believe the decisions may be delayed. See the "review process" section on this page where it mentions the GRF review site will not be available: https://www.nsf.gov/shutdown/grantees.jsp.

[aspiringscientist]

7 hours ago, strawberrykat said:

@aspiringscientist  I looked into this last week and I believe the decisions may be delayed. See the "review process" section on this page where it mentions the GRF review site will not be available: https://www.nsf.gov/shutdown/grantees.jsp.

Yeah that definitely means there's a delay if not worse. It says all panels, including virtual (which is how GRFP reviewers rank applicants) will be canceled and likely be rescheduled for a later date. Lets hope it only ends up being a delay.

[LetsGetThisBread]

On 1/8/2019 at 5:37 PM, aspiringscientist said:

Yeah that definitely means there's a delay if not worse. It says all panels, including virtual (which is how GRFP reviewers rank applicants) will be canceled and likely be rescheduled for a later date. Lets hope it only ends up being a delay.

Is it just me, or does it also mean the awardees currently on tenure also won't receive payment?

[jmillar]

24 minutes ago, LetsGetThisBread said:

Is it just me, or does it also mean the awardees currently on tenure also won't receive payment?

It might depend on the institution. Mine got back to me today and said we will be payed.

[fauxmystic]

Anybody have an update on the GRFP panels post-shutdown? (That wouldn't be gleaned from reading the website?)

[ChemGal]

On 2/10/2019 at 6:17 PM, fauxmystic said:

Anybody have an update on the GRFP panels post-shutdown? (That wouldn't be gleaned from reading the website?)

Several of my friends are looking to get a GRFP this year. My advisor said that the shutdown might delay things if the applications had not already been sent out to reviewers/if meetings were scheduled during the shutdown. But, if applications were sent out before, then reviewers could still upload the reviewed applications to FastLane. So hopefully there won't be too much of a delay. 

[solanaceae]

On 2/10/2019 at 6:17 PM, fauxmystic said:

Anybody have an update on the GRFP panels post-shutdown? (That wouldn't be gleaned from reading the website?)

I e-mailed to ask and received this response:

"Thank you for your e-mail regarding the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP).

At this time, there is no information available regarding potential changes to the GRFP award process. Awards will be announced in April by email. If there is a change that warrants notification to the community, it will be provided as soon as possible. 

Please e-mail us at info@nsfgrfp.org or call us at (866) 673-4737 (toll-free from the US and Canada) or (202) 331-3542 (from international locations) if you have any further questions."

[primatesrule]

Apparently 5 plant pathology applications have been denied this past week. They were told that their applications cannot go to review because it is disease-focused research. There is a whole thread about it on twitter with a lot of people upset 

[jmillar]

18 hours ago, primatesrule said:

Apparently 5 plant pathology applications have been denied this past week. They were told that their applications cannot go to review because it is disease-focused research. There is a whole thread about it on twitter with a lot of people upset 

It really makes sense now how my advisor would say during writing this, "Remember, we're not trying to help anyone."

"But we are-"

"No! For NSF, we are not trying to help anyone!"

[I_mix]

Hey all. Heads up: 
 

NSF Fastlane is down for maintenance. Should we all be freaking out? 

[1996kayden]

My PI is a reviewer for NSF GRFPs and was just given a new stack to go through, so it sounds like reviews are ongoing. 

[MOspina]

Does anyone know how many minorities apply each cycle, on average? 

 

[clinicalpsych20192020]

On 3/14/2019 at 4:08 PM, 1996kayden said:

My PI is a reviewer for NSF GRFPs and was just given a new stack to go through, so it sounds like reviews are ongoing. 

Do you know when your PI's review panel is and if the results are going to be delayed due to shutdown?

[1996kayden]

8 hours ago, clinicalpsych20192020 said:

Do you know when your PI's review panel is and if the results are going to be delayed due to shutdown?

No I don't know, sorry.

[kwisco]

I heard information from my PI who is reviewing applications that the NSF had canceled the review panels because of the shutdown.

Additionally, in order to keep maintain the timeline (~mid April) they were not planning to reschedule but rather make decisions based on the initial reviews. 

[clinicalpsych20192020]

Thank you! Hopefully we will hear soon!!

[sous]

It looks like decisions will be upon us soon! I applied to grad school this year and was pushed by my POI to put in an application with less than 10 days before the deadline since the stakes were low and I could always apply again... Since then, I have a few questions which I haven't been able to figure out:

-Am I judged in a separate category from other applicants in their first or second year of grad school? That is, am I only competing with other people who have not started grad school yet? If this is the case, I'm in a small field of study that only awards 10-15 GRFPs a year, and I can't imagine there are a lot of people applying that are in the same position as me.

-I have a few typos since I put together my application so last minute and wasn't able to have anyone proofread it. In any case I'm really proud of what I wrote and all of my recommendation writers thought I wrote really strong statements. Will this automatically disqualify me? I'm really hoping reviewers will conveniently skim the sentences that had typos.

[DyingInside]

7 hours ago, sous said:

It looks like decisions will be upon us soon! I applied to grad school this year and was pushed by my POI to put in an application with less than 10 days before the deadline since the stakes were low and I could always apply again... Since then, I have a few questions which I haven't been able to figure out:

-Am I judged in a separate category from other applicants in their first or second year of grad school? That is, am I only competing with other people who have not started grad school yet? If this is the case, I'm in a small field of study that only awards 10-15 GRFPs a year, and I can't imagine there are a lot of people applying that are in the same position as me.

-I have a few typos since I put together my application so last minute and wasn't able to have anyone proofread it. In any case I'm really proud of what I wrote and all of my recommendation writers thought I wrote really strong statements. Will this automatically disqualify me? I'm really hoping reviewers will conveniently skim the sentences that had typos.

1. You will be judge based on the consideration that you are an undergrad and the standards for your research plan are different. With that being said, you will be going up against other undergrads who have spent months on their applications

2. The panel members read through the applications really quickly, they may miss the typos if they are minor. However, if they are caught it would look bad when compared to someone with the same quality of work with no typos. 

 

[caha9192]

Is this a sign??

[I_mix]

Good thing I'm getting super drunk tonight; I can forget about this until tomorrow and maybe I won't be disappointed if I don't see anything this weekend.

[kwisco]

No I do not think so. They extended the deadline for the reviewers to turn in their comments today actually, so I don’t think we need to start stressing until mid April at the earliest.