NSF GRFP 2010-2011

[thedelstar]

Backside attack,

i am also in a very similar position. UG chem awardee whose pi would like them to teach for the first year. I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet either. What are your pros and cons

Edited April 9, 2011 by thedelstar

[Backside Attack]

Well, I have TA'd Orgo 2 labs for 6 semesters (1 of honors lab) now along with a semester of Orgo 1 recitations and have also taught an experimental type of official study group for two years and summer chemistry camps, so I am not very worried about "stepping into the classroom". My teaching experiences are one of the main reasons why I want to go into academia. I also have taken all of the graduate classes at my institution required for first year graduate students in my field, so I don't think I am worried about the material much. Of course there is the transition to a new department and the different things they emphasize, but I feel it would be pretty similar to my current school in a lot of ways. I do worry about transitioning to a new city, a new school, new people, etc.

My pros of accepting the NSF I think are mainly that I would have less to transition to my first year, could focus on becoming acclimated to the new environment, focus on my classes and research, etc. If I didn't teach though, I think I would lose a lot of the chances I would have to work with many of the new and current grad students I don't regularly interact with. Another con is that I would likely teach a lot my 4th year, and I would be really focused on my research project and would want to spend that time in lab.

I didn't even know about reserve status, so I will definitely think about that option.

[Eigen]

I think by your fourth year, you'll want some time out of the lab, something to break up the research.

Once you finish classes, you pass quals/cumes, and you've done your TAing... It's hard to focus on research with nothing else to do!

[Teelee]

If you are one of the only one in your dept. entering as a first year grad student with NSF fellowship, you should not defer. Way more impressive to start off your first year as a fellow. You can always teach after the fellowship is over.

[anotherflunky]

So I declared tenure but my future grad school is being ambiguous about how they will combine the first-year fellowship I received and the NSF. Originally I was told that I still only get three years total because I'll officially be on the NSF and the school's fellowship goes into some internal accounting (since NSF doesn't fully pay tuition and Stanford tuition is ridiculously high). So I declared tenure on NSF beginning in fall. Now the school's saying they're still "working out" how the two will mix since the NSF changed the rules. My biggest preference is obviously to use them serially - i.e. 1 year of school fellowship and 3 years of NSF. If that turns out to possible, could I change my tenure plans? What's the final date for notifying them of that change? Still May 1st?

[compbio2011]

So I declared tenure but my future grad school is being ambiguous about how they will combine the first-year fellowship I received and the NSF. Originally I was told that I still only get three years total because I'll officially be on the NSF and the school's fellowship goes into some internal accounting (since NSF doesn't fully pay tuition and Stanford tuition is ridiculously high). So I declared tenure on NSF beginning in fall. Now the school's saying they're still "working out" how the two will mix since the NSF changed the rules. My biggest preference is obviously to use them serially - i.e. 1 year of school fellowship and 3 years of NSF. If that turns out to possible, could I change my tenure plans? What's the final date for notifying them of that change? Still May 1st?

You can write grfp@nsf.gov and have them reverse your tenure decision. You have to declare tenure by May 1st though so you would want to reverse well before that to allow yourself time to declare again. I was told you can no longer take a reserve year for your first year on NSF though.

[jendoly]

You can write grfp@nsf.gov and have them reverse your tenure decision. You have to declare tenure by May 1st though so you would want to reverse well before that to allow yourself time to declare again. I was told you can no longer take a reserve year for your first year on NSF though.

No way! D: Are you serious? Who told you, NSF?

[elunia]

compbio2011, on 10 April 2011 - 06:29 PM, said:

You can write grfp@nsf.gov and have them reverse your tenure decision. You have to declare tenure by May 1st though so you would want to reverse well before that to allow yourself time to declare again. I was told you can no longer take a reserve year for your first year on NSF though.

Yeah, where did you hear this?? I was planning to reserve in my first year, yikes!

Edited April 11, 2011 by elunia

[eirlys527]

I had this exact same problem and figured out a way to view your reviews after you've already accepted :

When you have logged on to the Fastlane web site, follow this link:

https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/grfp/ViewApplReview.do?method=loadApplRev

FYI, I had first contacted the Fastlane helpdesk and then the GRFP program office about the problem (directions below) but didn't get a response.

"We have received the following information from the GRFP Program Office. To receive access to your reviews, please follow the steps below.

The GRFP will disapprove pending tenure requests to allow new Fellows to see their reviews. To request this, please send an email to grfp@nsf.gov to request a tenure disapproval, mentioning review request in the subject line. If the tenure request is pending, your tenure declaration request will be disapproved to allow you access to your reviews. After you read and print your reviews, you must declare tenure again, before the May 1 deadline. After you declare tenure there will be no access to your reviews."

I have the same problem. I emailed fastlane and the COs at my future grad school. fastlane said:

"You will need to contact the program officer associated to your application and request that they reverse the tenure declaration. Once the declaration is reversed, you will have access to the reviews.

Thank you for contacting the FastLane Help Desk"

Any ideas who the program officers are?

[awvish]

This might be a dumb question, but can someone tell me what 'reserve' means? Is it basically deferring it, but under a different name? I can't find it on the website, have to teach my first year as a program requirement, and don't want to choose the wrong option. Help?

[Eigen]

Deferring means you don't take the fellowship that year. Reserve is taking the fellowship, but not using one of the years of funding that year. NSF gives 3 years of funding over 5 years, each May you choose whether to take the funding for the next year or not.

[juilletmercredi]

You can't just defer the NSF. Deferrals are only granted for military or medical reasons. You can put your fellowship on reserve for up to two years.

Acourac, I was on an NIH training grant my first two years (it was an R25, an insitutional grant). IMO, it was a better deal for me than the NSF for my first two years. It did require 20 hours a week of research - which would've gotten done anyway - but it was taxed differently than the NSF so I took home more of it (and the gross was more than the NSF, but that's because my school topped it up). It also came with a pretty deep travel allowance, which with a little planning funded two conference trips a year. I don't think being 'free' for a PI changes your relationship with the PI unless they have some other hang-ups. I didn't get my NSF until my second year, but also it depends on whether you can 'switch' it and take the training grant later. If not, it makes sense to put it in reserve the first two years because then you have 5-6 years of funding, which is what it will take you to finish.

I also don't get the logic that it would be more prestigious to begin now. You retain your NSF fellow status regardless of whether your fellowship is in deferral, reserve, or tenure status. You still got the fellowship; it's still just as prestigious. Who cares if random people get it messed up? It's on your CV and the people who need to know about it will know when they see it.

I just reviewed the fellow handbook and it doesn't say anything about not being able to put the fellowship on reserve the first year. That's true of the Ford fellowship, though.

Awvish, there's no way you can accidentally defer it - it says "Military Deferral" and "Medical Deferral," and "Reserve" looks totally different. (I just looked at it - this thread reminded me to declare tenure for this year!)

[smarmie]

Poll: Do most people who apply as seniors write proposals based on the work they did undergrad? I definitely didn't, but that's not why I didn't get it last year (ie: wasn't one of their critiques).

I definitely based my proposal on my undergrad work. My proposal was loosely based on my senior thesis project, which I planned on pursuing in my graduate studies anyway. I think the fact that I was able to tie my previous undergrad research and community service that I had done as undergrad in with my proposal definitely helped my application. Reviewers specifically mentioned my community service and undergraduate research in their comments.

[awvish]

Awvish, there's no way you can accidentally defer it - it says "Military Deferral" and "Medical Deferral," and "Reserve" looks totally different. (I just looked at it - this thread reminded me to declare tenure for this year!)

Thanks! I just realized that my post was worded strangely. By 'defer' I meant the word that is synonymous with 'postpone', rather than the technical NSF term. But either way, I now know that what I *need* to do is be on reserve for 2011-2012, so it's all good. Thanks again!

Edited April 12, 2011 by awvish

[NBK]

do we need to submit the 2010-2011 activities report? asking, since we just got the award.

if so, did anyone of u started working on it?

[Eigen]

Hey guys:

A quick update in response to the questions about first year reserve status & departmental/institutional fellowships.

I have a 4 year fellowship I'm currently on, and wanted to use it next year while on reserve with NSF (so I can extend my funding a bit longer). I asked my program officer, and he wasn't sure, so I e-mailed the NSF.

Here was my question and their response, for anyone else in a similar situation:

Is it permissible for me to declare reserve status for the first year of my NSF fellowship to make use of my current support for the 2011-2012 year?

Yes, it is.

[jendoly]

Awesome! Thank you for clearing that up!

[Eigen]

Awesome! Thank you for clearing that up!

Sure thing. I'm sure the situation might change depending on how the school wants to handle it, but from the response I gather that as long as it's not (a) another federal fellowship and ( you're not trying to receive funding from both sources simultaneously, NSF is OK with it. That's supposed to be the point of reserve years anyway; allowing students to take advantage of other sources of support as they come available.

[Joesh]

I submitted my request for tenure last Friday, stating I was changing my grad school from the school I listed in my proposal (I'm an undergrad now), and also choosing to reserve this year of the NSF GRFP as I am planning on using it years 2-4. How long does it generally take for them to accept the tenure requests, and do they always get accepted in these cases (I'm not sure what I would do if they rejected my choice to change my school lol, since I already told the school I would be coming). Fastlane still says: Pending NSF Approval

[Krypton]

I'm not sure what I would do if they rejected my choice to change my school lol

That would happen only if your proposed institution is completely unsuitable for whatever academic area you're entering.

Edited April 14, 2011 by Krypton

[owlpride]

Now that I finally know where I am headed, I am trying to decide whether to put my NSF fellowship on reserve status for the first year.

Pros of reserve: The first-year duties for departmental funding are lighter than the duties in later years. First-year students only hold office hours, which might be a valuable experience before I stand in front of a classroom later. Furthermore, the department gives a fellowship to all students for their first summer, which I would forfeit if I took the NSF money. I would also get to keep the full NSF as an "insurance policy" in case something happens later. (It would be easier to transfer to another program, or spend a semester visiting at a different institution.)

Cons of reserve: I hear it's nice not to have additional duties in your first year because the transition to grad school is hard enough as it is. Plus I would be taking a pay cut at some point down the line. Currently department funding is barely below NSF funding, and with regular pay increases (mandated by the university) it will exceed NSF funding in 1-2 years.

Opinions?

Edited April 16, 2011 by owlpride

[husky]

Now that I finally know where I am headed, I am trying to decide whether to put my NSF fellowship on reserve status for the first year.

Pros of reserve: The first-year duties for departmental funding are lighter than the duties in later years. First-year students only hold office hours, which might be a valuable experience before I stand in front of a classroom later. Furthermore, the department gives a fellowship to all students for their first summer, which I would forfeit if I took the NSF money. I would also get to keep the full NSF as an "insurance policy" in case something happens later. (It would be easier to transfer to another program, or spend a semester visiting at a different institution.)

Cons of reserve: I hear it's nice not to have additional duties in your first year because the transition to grad school is hard enough as it is. Plus I would be taking a pay cut at some point down the line. Currently department funding is barely below NSF funding, and with regular pay increases (mandated by the university) it will exceed NSF funding in 1-2 years.

Opinions?

I suggest taking department funding the first year. It kind of just worked out that way for me. I was awarded a departmental fellowship (which required no teaching), but I did do grading. I'll be starting my NSF tenure immediately (because my first year funding ends this quarter). So, I sort of didn't have a choice in the way things worked out for me. But if I had been awarded an NSF last year, I definitely would have reserved it for my 2nd-4th years in order to take advantage of the departmental fellowship. Office hours are not a biggie. I'm sure you can handle it. And, you'll be happy to have funding in your 4th year!

That's just my two cents. Good luck.

[t_ruth]

I have no choice in the matter because I'm already a second year, but if any of you are still deciding about when to go on reserve, I thought I'd throw in my opinion. I started my program as a researcher on a grant, and it has been extremely valuable! Had I had the fellowship in my first two years I don't think I would have been as actively involved in projects--and this involvement has really paid off in presentations and publications. My recommendation would be to do something like that for the first two years and then use the NSF when you are doing your *own* research. Just an opinion, but thought I'd offer it

[Joesh]

Has anyone had their status come off of "Pending NSF Approval" since requesting a tenure change?

[Krypton]

Will 3 years of GRFP instead of 2 years significantly help my application?

No. That you received it at all is what makes the difference.