EPA STAR Fellowship 2011

[diggingdirt]

Hi all,

A notice from the official EPA website (http://www.epa.gov/ncer/fellow/):

"The 2011 STAR Fellowship Award notice date will be delayed until May 30, 2011. The STAR Fellowship RFA called: "Fall 2011 EPA Science To Achieve Results (STAR) Fellowships For Graduate Environmental Study" which Opened on September 2, 2010 and closed on November 5, 2010 indicated that each applicant would receive an award or declination letter by April 1, 2011. The RFA also indicated that this schedule may be changed without notification due to factors that were not anticipated at the time of announcement. The purpose of this announcement is to let all applicants know that the award and declination letters will not be sent until May 30, 2011. This will not effect the start dates of the awards. Please note that the earliest anticipated start date is still September 1, 2011 for these awards."

A little more waiting is in order...

[Lothar]

Hi all,

A notice from the official EPA website (http://www.epa.gov/ncer/fellow/):

"The 2011 STAR Fellowship Award notice date will be delayed until May 30, 2011. The STAR Fellowship RFA called: "Fall 2011 EPA Science To Achieve Results (STAR) Fellowships For Graduate Environmental Study" which Opened on September 2, 2010 and closed on November 5, 2010 indicated that each applicant would receive an award or declination letter by April 1, 2011. The RFA also indicated that this schedule may be changed without notification due to factors that were not anticipated at the time of announcement. The purpose of this announcement is to let all applicants know that the award and declination letters will not be sent until May 30, 2011. This will not effect the start dates of the awards. Please note that the earliest anticipated start date is still September 1, 2011 for these awards."

A little more waiting is in order...

Thanks for finding this news. Not sure if you cut/pasted that from the link you posted, but if so then they edited it a little since you posted it here.

The line:

"The purpose of this announcement is to let all applicants know that the award and declination letters will not be sent until May 30, 2011."

is now

"The purpose of this announcement is to let all applicants know that the award letters will not be sent until May 30, 2011 and declination letters will be sent during April and May."

[lindsski]

"The purpose of this announcement is to let all applicants know that the award letters will not be sent until May 30, 2011 and declination letters will be sent during April and May."

That sounds like torture. Basically finding out early means that you didn't get it. But, if you did get it, the wait to find out is pretty long. Here's to hoping that I don't get the letter until the end of May?

[Lothar]

That sounds like torture. Basically finding out early means that you didn't get it. But, if you did get it, the wait to find out is pretty long. Here's to hoping that I don't get the letter until the end of May?

No news is good news! Though I still wouldn't put it past them to call people before May 30th, even though they didn't say they were going to. Isn't that how they determine if people are accepting other awards instead?

[gotasya]

I just found out that I was selected to receive the NSF fellowship, which I'm supposed to accept or decline by May 1. I also applied for the EPA STAR fellowship. So if the results of that one won't be announced until May 30, what should I do about NSF (I know that the chances of me getting both fellowships are very very very close to zero...but I still thought I'd ask)

[evolve]

I just found out that I was selected to receive the NSF fellowship, which I'm supposed to accept or decline by May 1. I also applied for the EPA STAR fellowship. So if the results of that one won't be announced until May 30, what should I do about NSF (I know that the chances of me getting both fellowships are very very very close to zero...but I still thought I'd ask)

Same here. I accepted NSF as you can only get it early in your grad career. You can apply for the EPA STAR again later - so I figure, if I need more funding, I'll apply to EPA then - they shouldn't have taken so long.

By the way, congrats on NSF!

[diggingdirt]

Ah, thanks for the update. They must have changed it since this morning. Have fun waiting, everyone!

[frog81]

Thanks for the insight and your post corresponds to the EPA STAR Fellowship 2011 Archive page which states "The 2011 STAR Fellowship Award notice date will be delayed until May 30, 2011". Kind of a bummer having to wait things out at least 2 months longer.

I work for the EPA, and my boss is on the 'relevancy review' board. He says he hasn't gotten anything to review yet, so I wouldn't expect anything soon. He said probably 1-2 months.

Sorry to disappoint.

[gotasya]

Same here. I accepted NSF as you can only get it early in your grad career. You can apply for the EPA STAR again later - so I figure, if I need more funding, I'll apply to EPA then - they shouldn't have taken so long.

By the way, congrats on NSF!

That's a good point. Thanks! And congrats to you, too!!

[oregonianredbird]

In addition, I've had friends defer NSF every other year so that they could balance multiple fellowships. So if you are awarded both, there may be ways of using them for 5 or 6 years of support by going back and forth (I don't know whether EPA can be deferred or not.)

Same here. I accepted NSF as you can only get it early in your grad career. You can apply for the EPA STAR again later - so I figure, if I need more funding, I'll apply to EPA then - they shouldn't have taken so long.

By the way, congrats on NSF!

[kogia.breviceps]

In addition, I've had friends defer NSF every other year so that they could balance multiple fellowships. So if you are awarded both, there may be ways of using them for 5 or 6 years of support by going back and forth (I don't know whether EPA can be deferred or not.)

I'm fairly certain you can't accept both the Star and GRFP. I vaguely remember some paragraph at the end of the NSF application mentioning it.

[Teelee]

From what I hear, if you juggle awards like that, it's not viewed too favorably by a lot of people. Although being completely funded for 5 years sounds tempting.

[dechlorinator]

From what I hear, if you juggle awards like that, it's not viewed too favorably by a lot of people. Although being completely funded for 5 years sounds tempting.

If memory serves, you cannot juggle the NSF GRFP and the EPA STAR. Additionally, the NSF GRFP went under a series of policy changes this year that makes it more stringent at what outside sources of funding (light TAing) are acceptable. Consult your fellowship coordinator at whatever grad school you are currently at or entering into before accepting multiple federal awards.

[jpf1282]

I received my notice in the mail today. Two "excellent" and one "very good." Just missed the cutoff. :-)

[ralph m]

rejected. got a big packet and assumed it had to be instructions to accept the award. WHOOPS

[dmeek]

Rejected as well; came in the mail. Two excellents and a very good. Came with a few paragraphs of very constructive feedback. at least they didn't actually end up waiting til May 31....

[bluesand]

I'm not looking forward to going home now...

Edited April 19, 2011 by bluesand

[bluesand]

Well, no news here on the West Coast yet -- what general region are the folks that heard? No news is good news...but we'll see what tomorrow brings...

[geograd12]

Received my rejection packet today (I'm in PA) with some helpful comments. One "excellent," a "very good," and a "good." Maybe next year!

[esfposte]

What FON's did you all apply to? Maybe they are moving sequentially through those...Still haven't heard anything in NY.

[frog81]

I applied for the J3 Ecosystem Services: Terrestrial Systems Animal Ecology. Still no news and I am not sure if the phrase "No news is good news" applies.

[lindsski]

I'm on the east coast and got my rejection letter for Science & Technology for Sustainability: Green Energy/Natural Resources Production & Use (STAR-D3). Oh well, I at least appreciated that the reviewers gave detailed comments which could help me in applying for next year.

[intlehsts]

A friend got the rejection packet yesterday - west coast, social science FON (A2 I think)

[crimsonengineer87]

I remember reading something from last year's thread or somewhere that someone from the EPA actually called you to offer you the STAR fellowship ... hmm ... but they might change it this year.

I applied under FON E1: Global Change. Probably a rejection packet in the mail today. That's better than junk mail I guess.

[bluesand]

I remember reading something from last year's thread or somewhere that someone from the EPA actually called you to offer you the STAR fellowship ... hmm ... but they might change it this year.

I applied under FON E1: Global Change. Probably a rejection packet in the mail today. That's better than junk mail I guess.

Yes, people got calls last year if they got the award (and maybe the years prior), and then the official letters were sent out at the end of May (which I am assuming is what will be sent May 30th). This allowed them to find out who planned to turn down the award, so that they could presumably offer it to someone else. So the real question now that letters are going out is if anyone has received a phone call?