NSF Grad Fellowship

[arw]

Hi guys. I'm starting my Ph.D. program next month and I will be applying for the NSF fellowship and probably some others too. Does anyone have any experience applying for this fellowship? I'm confused as to what to write for the proposed research essay considering I won't even know which lab I will be working in until after the first semester. Any advice?

Also, if anyone knows of any good fellowships for organic chem other than NSF or DOD, please let me know. I checked NIH but their website is way too confusing.

Thanks!

[Eigen]

I have an NSF Fellowship in Chemistry.

The research proposal doesn't have to encompass your final research project- it's just a proposal.

So the best course of action is to pick one of the labs you will be working with (rotations?) or a potential lab, and talk to that PI about writing a proposal. You'll want a letter of rec from them, and you'll want to write a proposal that meshes with their research and facilities. Ideally, at this level, you'll want two letters of recommendation from your graduate program, and one from your undergraduate program.

How is your program structured that you won't be doing any research until your second semester? Most of my cohort started right away, or at least did a rotation the first semester, and several of us came and started in the summer.

As to other fellowships- ACS has some, but most are for senior graduate students rather than first years. Depending on your area of organic, you might also qualify for some NIH fellowships.

[arw]

Thanks Eigen,

I didn't realize the proposal doesn't necessarily have to be your final dissertation work. You are correct in that I will be doing rotations my first quarter (it is a California school) and will then choose one of the PI's I rotated with at the beginning of the next quarter (which is the end of November I believe).

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to try to look into the NIH fellowships a bit more as well. They just have so many funding opportunities listed I have no idea what to look for.

[Eigen]

Glad to help. If you have any more specific questions, feel free to PM me.

Your rotation schedule should work out great- you'll be almost finished or completely finished with your rotations by the time the application is due, so you should have plenty of time as you're rotating to pick a group to write the proposal for and talk to that PI. You'll also likely be able to get references from at least one of the other rotation PIs, which should help you a lot.

[sareth]

I'm writing an NSF-GRFP proposal with the aid of my summer rotation PI (I'll be a first-year in the fall); drop me a line if you want to chat.

[Chronos]

Hey there! I applied to the NSF-GRFP before entering graduate school and was accepted as a fellow. The most helpful thing for me was really understanding the program (who gets it, why, and most importantly how). I spent hours just reading the program solicitation as well as blogs from past individuals who've won the fellowship. Here are two links I found most helpful (the first has sample essays, and the second is just right on target for tips):

http://www.alexhunterlang.com/nsf-fellowship/

http://www.pgbovine.net/fellowship-tips.htm

I've spoken to a past grader for the NSF-GRFP and he told me the "proposed research project" essay is really just a writing sample. They want to see if you understand the science and can put research into words. Once you get the award, you don't have to stick to what you wrote in your proposed research project.

You should try to finish two out of three essays by the end of this month (the personal statement and previous research). You can change it later as you get more research experience. Then, schedule an appointment with a PI whose research you enjoy and ask for tips. Most importantly, have people read your essays once you are ready. Feedback from others is very useful.

[luce373]

I also have an NSF fellowship. I'm pretty sure the reason I got it was knowing what they were looking for and tailoring my experiences to their specific criteria through my essays. The advice from Philip Guo that Chronos just posted was particularly useful to me. My university also has an NSF committee of sorts that tries to give advice and maximize success through workshops, etc. You may want to see if yours has something similar, maybe just by asking around in the department or looking on the grad school's website. For this award in particular, the key is being able to give them what they want in the essays. You should have several people (preferably people who have gotten fellowships themselves or had students who did) read over your essays with this in mind.

I also had not joined a lab (or even done rotations) when the deadline came around, so I just spoke to the prof I was most interested in working with about ideas. He gave me a starting point, and I ended up coming up with a proposal from there. I haven't done anything with the project at all, so whether it's your thesis project or not doesn't matter. They're funding you, not the project. They just want to see that you understand what you're talking about and can put something coherent together.

Aside from the NSF, you can look into the Hertz (http://www.hertzfoundation.org/). It's the most prestigious, the most money, and the hardest to get. But you can combine it with another fellowship since it's not federally funded, so it is for sure worth applying for.

There's also the NDSEG, which I assume is what you mean when you say DOD. But that info is here: http://ndseg.asee.org/

Finally, the DOE has a fellowship now: http://scgf.orau.gov/ It's new, so I don't think as many people know about it and they may not get as many applications.

Good luck!

Edited August 16, 2012 by luce373