EPA STAR Fellowship 2011

[germwrangler]

One of my coworkers submitted under I1 and got a rejection packet earlier in the week, but no word yet on my K1 submission.

[okgrad]

Three grads in my department submitted under K1 and haven't heard anything yet.

[kogia.breviceps]

I think one student in my dept heard back from a K1. Not sure though.

I'm also waiting to hear back on my K1 too.

[UnlikelyGrad]

Just got my rejection packet today. 2 Goods and an 1 Excellent.

Date on the packet was 4/27--I guess it took a while to actually get it out to me, not to mention get it through campus mail...

[itsavailable]

I applied under K1 and have not received any news yet either. Its curious that all the applications were sent to internal review yet so many in K1 have heard nothing. Maybe everybody gets a fellowship this year!!

[dchinnis]

Applied under FON D2 in Colorado.... no word yet.

[frog81]

I agree with itsavailable in terms of how packets were already sent into internal review yet there is quite a few FON's that haven't heard anything yet. I have a feeling that more rejections have yet to trickle out. With this said, I have now begun the accepting phase of rejection even though I haven't received anything. I told myself on the front end of applying that I should have the attitude of "Hope for the best, but expect the worst."

[igresqc]

I am been lurking on this forum since late March now, so I decided to join and share my FON and status too.

I applied for D2, and I have not received any news yet. I am in the midwest.

[generalist]

I received my J3 rejection packet today on the East Coast... so frog81 and all other J3s out there may be safe for now. It had all three letters, so I'm not sure why the review process took so long. Best of luck to all still in the running!

[frog81]

Hey generalist, sorry to hear about the news. What was your packet dated as? I assume that mine will be coming as well.

I received my J3 rejection packet today on the East Coast... so frog81 and all other J3s out there may be safe for now. It had all three letters, so I'm not sure why the review process took so long. Best of luck to all still in the running!

Edited May 7, 2011 by frog81

[bostonxc]

any word on H2 applications?

[jay1234]

Hello, I got my rejection packet yesterday for J1, three reviewers. Dated April 29.

[PhDH2O]

At long last, the K1s are going out. I received my letter today (New York): 1 good, 2 very good with most of the comments regarding "commitment to an environmental career". Disappointed, but seeing as I threw it together in a month, I'm lucky I scored as well as I did.

Good luck to the rest of the K1s!

[kona]

Hi everybody. I was in your shoes last year and thought I'd speak up now. I'm in the 2010 class of STAR fellows and have some insight to share on the award notification process. I'll summarize my experience from last year; take from my account what you will.

April 7 - I received an email from an EPA address with a subject line that says "call me at [phone number]" and there was no body text. I called immediately and spoke to the person who is now my project officer. He said "if we offer you this award, will you accept it? The paperwork process is extensive and time-consuming and we want to be sure you're not accepting another fellowship (i.e. NSF GRF, DoD, etc.)." Upon my verbal confirmation, he notified me that the notification was not "formal" and it was "illegal" for me to publicly discuss my award (only adviser, family) until 1) my "final" application had been filed (see original description of process above or in RFP) 2) my contract had been offered, signed, and accepted, and 3) my congressperson (representative) had a 7-day period to make a public announcement about the award. Super weird, right? Basically he wouldn't even fully admit I was getting the award.

~June 5 - the "new" online system for the final application went live and I completed that step.

~July 15 - contract arrives; I signed it and shipped it back overnight

~August 10 - "formal" acknowledgement of award via letter.

Of course my congressperson didn't make a peep. The whole thing was so cryptic that I wasn't ever sure until the entire process was complete. I think I was in the first round of offers; some of my colleagues received rejections about the same time as my email while one other received the email/phone call bit about 2 weeks later (presumably second round). This timeline is further stretched if you consider the topic here last year:

The whole notification/acceptance process was painfully slow, fairly disorganized, and oddly cryptic. As I was "bound" to keep quiet about it, I did so (in my dept., on this forum), even while others were floundering in agony....this may be happening now.

Of course it has been completely worth it, even as a pay cut from my RA (pre 2011 STAR is only 20k at 12/mos 1/2 time salary and it is fully taxed). I think the funding rate last year was around 5%. I figure ~20% were great proposals and some (like me) were just fortunate. Interestingly, I had 2 "excellent" reviews and one "very good" review.

Hope this helps for the new fellows and those that have yet to hear. Cheers and good luck.

Edited May 8, 2011 by kona

[frog81]

Wow, thanks kona for the insight and in-depth outline of the process. In past years, I have seen that STAR recipients have posted as to whether or not they received phone calls. This year there has yet to be any awardees come forward. I want to think that there is still an internal review being that many rejection notices have been sent.

Hi everybody. I was in your shoes last year and thought I'd speak up now. I'm in the 2010 class of STAR fellows and have some insight to share on the award notification process. I'll summarize my experience from last year; take from my account what you will.

April 7 - I received an email from an EPA address with a subject line that says "call me at [phone number]" and there was no body text. I called immediately and spoke to the person who is now my project officer. He said "if we offer you this award, will you accept it? The paperwork process is extensive and time-consuming and we want to be sure you're not accepting another fellowship (i.e. NSF GRF, DoD, etc.)." Upon my verbal confirmation, he notified me that the notification was not "formal" and it was "illegal" for me to publicly discuss my award (only adviser, family) until 1) my "final" application had been filed (see original description of process above or in RFP) 2) my contract had been offered, signed, and accepted, and 3) my congressperson (representative) had a 7-day period to make a public announcement about the award. Super weird, right? Basically he wouldn't even fully admit I was getting the award.

~June 5 - the "new" online system for the final application went live and I completed that step.

~July 15 - contract arrives; I signed it and shipped it back overnight

~August 10 - "formal" acknowledgement of award via letter.

Of course my congressperson didn't make a peep. The whole thing was so cryptic that I wasn't ever sure until the entire process was complete. I think I was in the first round of offers; some of my colleagues received rejections about the same time as my email while one other received the email/phone call bit about 2 weeks later (presumably second round). This timeline is further stretched if you consider the topic here last year:

The whole notification/acceptance process was painfully slow, fairly disorganized, and oddly cryptic. As I was "bound" to keep quiet about it, I did so (in my dept., on this forum), even while others were floundering in agony....this may be happening now.

Of course it has been completely worth it, even as a pay cut from my RA (pre 2011 STAR is only 20k at 12/mos 1/2 time salary and it is fully taxed). I think the funding rate last year was around 5%. I figure ~20% were great proposals and some (like me) were just fortunate. Interestingly, I had 2 "excellent" reviews and one "very good" review.

Hope this helps for the new fellows and those that have yet to hear. Cheers and good luck.

[usf2242]

Applied D2 and got the rejection package today. It was dated April 29, so it appears that rejections are still trickling out. On the East Coast as well. Good luck to all of those still running.

[igresqc]

D2 and rejected as well today. The packet was dated April 29, and it had three reviews.

[iced mocha]

I wish we knew the method to the madness!!!!!! Lame. Thanks for everyone who has been posting with updates, insight, ect. It's been helpful for sure. No reject yet... K1, in the South.

[stilrsnation]

OK at the risk of jinxing myself. D2, no word yet. So if there are other D2s lurking, please do what I did - show yourself! Then I have less cause to believe in the jinx. Anyway, I'm just wondering about this phone call/email thing. It sounds unconventional enough (though I understand the reasoning) that while it may have been policy in past years, I wouldn't be surprised if it changed. Which would leave us holding our breath all the way through may, if we are lucky enough to make the final cut. If I get my rejection in the mail today, the jinx is real.

[dchinnis]

Received the rejection packet under D2 in Colorado on Saturday, literally as I was coming home from putting my dog down... terrible day. Two excellents, one good, mostly because they didn't see my research as having broad-enough social impacts.

[beemn]

No word yet here in the Midwest for FON: J1 aquatic ecosystem services. Appreciate all the posts.

[diggingdirt]

Still nothing for J2 on the west coast...

[seabirdz]

K2 rejection received on the west coast today

[diggingdirt]

Spoke too soon! Rejection for J2 received today on the west coast, dated May 5. 1 excellent, 2 very goods. Good job to all those who applied, good luck to all those still in the running, and perhaps we'll all meet here again this coming fall!

[evolve]

Rejected - Global Change FON. 3 Excellents for intellectual merit. 1 Excellent and 2 Very Goods for broader implications. Not a single negative comment from any of the 3 reviewers - yet rejection! In retrospect I should have focused more on broader implications. Oh well, I got the NSF GRFP - so I can't complain. Good luck to the rest of you!