EPA STAR Fellowship 2012

[ughgradschool!]

ahem - by "there" I meant "their" - perhaps this sort of thing is why I didn't get the fellowship??? Ha!

[evr13]

It's not so much optimism as that I've worked for the government before Please do post if you learn anything.

[looking_for_the_rainbow]

Does anyone know of anything new?

[Heat_her_bee]

Another day, another empty mailbox.

[cpj1379]

B2 in Hawaii and I haven't heard anything (or received anything) yet either. I called Brandon Jones, the technical contact, Monday and left a message asking if the review process has been delayed, but haven't heard back yet http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.investigatorInfo/investigator/8407

My wild guess is that they are still going through internal review, at least for B2s, since is sounds like we haven't heard back yet. Of course I say that now and will dread checking the mailbox tomorrow

[looking_for_the_rainbow]

Thanks for the update cpj1379. I'm a B2 also. Let us remain hopeful.

[bananana]

C2-Virginia-STILL NOTHING!

[bananana]

Hi Everyone, I got the letter today Maybe next year, right? Good luck to all.

[sara_s]

Guys a word of advise, I applied for the 2011 and got excellent to very good in ALL categories and I am a female, company owner, etc, GOT NO award. I also knew another top student who got NO AWARD. I have seen NO ONE awarded in 2011 based on the website which seems odd, and also, my guess is not many will be awarded in 2012, it's obviously a budget thing as congress did cut around $7Mil from such grants, so they are being incredibly dishonest and are wasting our times re this fellowship. Stop wasting time, spread the word, people should stop applying for the STAR fellowship. I literally had 2 schools waiting on my result and couldnt continue my PhD in the US as the result since most labs, including the ones I was interested in could not even get students without funds. I literally had to leave USA since I only applied to the two school I wanted to go for sure or leave the country and I am now settled in Australia ( and I love it already, 3 yr PhD, my own project, and a good pay). I think you guys should get loud about this, it's ridiculous they are playing with our time and money like this. Ridiculous, period!

Edited May 14, 2012 by sara_s

[Heat_her_bee]

Hi All. Anyone left waiting, I just talked to Brandon jones and he said that all awards have now been accepted and we can expect our rejection packets in the next week.

They wait 2 weeks from initial offer calls to send some rejections so that they have backups. So, be proud of yourself for being a runner up.

Also in response to above...every year we have at least 1 EPA awarded in our department. True they have limited funding but that is the name of the game yes?

[Velma]

I agree that it's still worthwhile to apply for the STAR, obviously they are still awarding it. Sara_s, if you needed funding to stay in the U.S., I wonder how you could have been eligible to apply (since the STAR requires that you be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident--two categorizations which would mean that you would be able to stay in the U.S. irregardless of PhD funding). In any case, good luck next year everyone and I hope you get useful comments! I'll be interested to see mine, which also haven't arrived yet.

[looking_for_the_rainbow]

My comments haven't arrived either. Thank you for the updates everyone.

[marshymarsh]

Hey guys! Still nothing here... and we are kidding ourselves if we think everyone in the B2 reject pile was a runner up. I suspect they just hadn't mailed any of them yet as no one seems to have gotten their rejection until very recently (no one in my department has yet even now). It's a bummer because I know I kept my hopes up! It would be SO great if they'd use an online system like others have suggested here so we aren't left hanging.

Anyway though, in response to above, I know a bunch of people who have gotten it (including both last year and the year prior), and even two in my program just got it this year so definitely still worth applying. I don't think that the comment above is fair, sara_s. Basically it seems that you have to get all three as 'Excellent' to be considered because they get so many strong applicants, so a 'Very Good' just doesn't cut it. C'est la vie!

Good luck next year, everyone! Thanks for all the updates!

[Brian Gill]

So, I just talked to EPA. They said if you have not heard from them, you are not getting an award. That includes any opportunity to get one as a runner-up. Sorry guys. B2 here.

[gustyfoo]

Yep, got my rejection letter yesterday. All excellents but no moneys!

[sara_s]

Guys....I am not sure if I made myself clear....Check the following links to see, they are not listing ANY STAR fellowship recipient from 2011. Was there ANY? How could we know if they are NOT listing any.

http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/recipients.list/year/2011/abs_type/Fellowships

http://epa.gov/ncer/fellow/recipients/star_fellow10.html

Most of us from UC Berkeley tried to get to the bottom of this and we couldn NOT, the answers were vague, and to this day, we haven't been able to see a list of STAR fellow recipients of 2011, my guess, there isn't any, which is quite odd. I have hard time believing it. My guess is the % of people receiving these awards now is so miniscule that it is a waste of people's time to even bother applying. It is dishonest if they are NOT telling people they have no money, etc. LOOK at the LISTS. Every yr the number of recipients has decreased, but at least, even in 2010, there are names. From last yr, there is nothing. Also, last yr, they were late by about 2 months in giving peoples result which was incredibly inefficient and then no one I know got any and can't see who really got any rewards, even ONE YEAR later.

To the smartie who thinks I was ineligible to apply, I was not. I am a US citizen and perfectly eligible to apply. I left USA bc I wasn't willing waste 5+ yrs of my life and move to another marginal state. Top CA schools couldn't work, a lab at Stanford I was very interested and they were also very interested had NO funding for 2011 and gave me the thumbs up WITH having an award, not without it. They do NOT accept students unless they have funding, last I checked and yes, as shcoking as it may be, many labs in US, even in top schools don't have proper funding, precisely why the number of international students who pay has sky rocketed in most and also in all TOP US universities...anyways, Sydney and Australia dwarf anywhere in USA, so it worked out perfectly for me ( and they actually pay higher stipends and graduate you faster instead of wasting your time, a common theme in most PhD schools).

[sara_s]

To the ones who know people who got STAR FELLOWSHIP awards last yr ( 2011) , and not any other EPA Grant, what I just said STAR FELLOWSHIP is what I care about, I am sincerely interested in seeing their names listed somewhere. Pls paste the link. I would like to see it for my own information. Thanks in advance.

[waterandwhatnot]

sara_s - yes, awards did go out last year despite not being listed on the main EPA Star fellowship page. A list of most/all (?) EPA Star recipients through last years competition and the previous two years can be found in the program from last year's fellow conference: http://www.scgcorp.c...e2011_FINAL.pdf

Coincidentally, I know two people at Stanford who got EPA Star last year. (Unfortunately, I was rejected in late June last year with all excellents and was in a similar lab situation.) While it undoubtedly sucked writing so many proposals and getting so many rejections leading up to this year (probably ~10 btw all the different fellowships in 4 yrs time), I can honestly say all that writing has ultimately made me a better researcher overall. While the odds are small in these competitions, equal parts luck and perseverance finally paid off and I got a fellowship this year! These competitions are a total crapshoot and not worth taking too personally either way. Moreover, the people at EPA are great and not a fair target...IMHO

Edited May 17, 2012 by waterandwhatnot

[GRT2012]

Keep in mind that we're competing with over a thousand qualified applicants for less than 100 awards. To believe that you're entitled to the award...well, I think we can see where that path may lead.

I've heard from several sources that the people behind the fellowship are great. Also, there are always budget issues - but they've been consistently awarding the fellowships every year.

I have found the program to be very rewarding. I wish the best of luck with to next year's applicants - it's a program that is definitely worth applying to.

Edited May 16, 2012 by GRT2012

[cpj1379]

Well, I'm not at all optimistic at this point, but still no word/mail yet--B2 in Hawaii.

cj

[FractiousEcologist]

So strange. I just received an email from Ryann (with two n’s) Williams from EPA informing me that I did not get an award this year, and that the official bad news packet will be arriving in the mail sometime soon. At this point in time I wasn’t expecting a fellowship, but why bother sending this email? I didn’t get an email like this last year when my bad news packet showed up super late in June. Well, maybe next year.