EPA Star Fellowship 2013

[marshymarsh]

Iowaguy,

It was my experience (and that of others I knew), that if a potential advisor wanted you but didn't have funding for you, then they will come right out and tell you that. Notification is typically sometime April-June, which is indeed too late for most schools.

I don't get the impression that not bringing in funding typically hurts you in the admission process. Sure, its better if you're 'free' but most places will admit strong applicants either way. Some people pay their own way their first year, esp in master's programs, although obviously that isn't an option for everyone.

It cant hurt to apply, and if anything it shows prospective advisors that (a.) you're serious about grad school, (b.) you can put together a competent application, and (c.) you can endure the hopeless tedium and terribly complicated instructions involved in this particular application. Since the odds of actually getting one are so low, I don't think anyone banks on getting these. Many people apply again in their first couple of years.

Good luck, everybody!

(Edited because it converted my "b" into a sweet smiley face with sunnies on.)

Edited November 26, 2012 by marshymarsh

[ec1122]

Has anyone received the EPA email receipt from receipt.application@epa.gov?

Grants.gov said everything my application was received, but the award website says we should get an additional email as well.

Thanks!

[withoutwords]

Yeah I still haven't received an email from recipe.application@epa.gov. Although I did recieve several from noreploy@grants.gov right after I submitted it (4 to be exact). Last year I got the email from the epa.gov address much sooner so I am not sure what is going on? Anyone get something different than us?

[SensLu]

Thanks for reminding me! Haven't recieved mine either. I'm sure they'll be innundated with emails about this so I'll send an email out tomorrow.

[withoutwords]

Has anyone heard anything yet (got an email from recipe.application@epa.gov) or heard something back after you emailed them that you hadn't recieved an email from that address? I emailed them on Monday as their website said to do, but haven't heard anything.

[mbs191]

I emailed them on Monday too, per their instructions, since I never got a receipt but did get grant.gov confirmation emails immeidately upon submitting the applications.

But, I haven't heard a peep yet from EPA......... hmmmmmmmmmmmm

[ec1122]

I also emailed monday to ask about the receipt but haven't heard anything back. Does anyone know a phone number we can call just to make sure?

[SensLu]

This is rather annoying that no one is getting an email back. I didn't see a number listed in the solicitation page, just the email address.

[withoutwords]

yeah this isn't surprising I guess, they are pretty unorganized as you can see from the application process, i didn't see a number but i think if you sent an email you covered your bases

[zhanger]

Grants.gov will send several emails during their processing of the application. The last email will state that the application has been transferred to the Agency and is undergoing review. Save these emails for documentation purposes; however, the critical email is the one acknowledging receipt by the NCER Fellowship Program. This email will be sent from receipt.application@epa.gov.

Has anyone received an email from RECEIPT.APPLICATION@EPA.GOV ?

[zhang22]

Did anyone else have incredible difficulty submitting to grants.gov? I thought I gave myself plenty of time (4 hours to simply submit) and it wasn't enough. Apparently you needed to fill out the PDF on a computer with Adobe 11, save the file, send it to another computer with Adobe 10, open the file, and then send it. I had to submit after December 10, but the EPA told me that a lot of people had the same issue as me and couldn't submit on time. Last year was a lot easier for me.

By the way, for anyone in the same boat as me...you will not get a grants.gov ticket number if you submitted the application late. Normally the EPA will take the applications off of grants.gov, but if you submitted late then you must have done so through the RFA mailbox. In this case, the EPA already has your application and you will not receive a confirmation at all.

Edited December 19, 2012 by zhang22

[SensLu]

I never had an issue submitting and I used Adobe 9. I'm still curious why no notification has been sent out yet. My undergrad mentor is judging the same EPA STAR funding category that I submitted my app too. Though she obviously won't be judging my paper, I was told she hasn't recieved the essays she will be reviewing. I wonder if the email will come after our essays have been assigned to judges. It seems based on this thread that the EPA is very disorganized this year compared to previous years. I'm at least giving til Janurary until I make more a fuss about this Lol

[withoutwords]

Did anyone else have incredible difficulty submitting to grants.gov? I thought I gave myself plenty of time (4 hours to simply submit) and it wasn't enough. Apparently you needed to fill out the PDF on a computer with Adobe 11, save the file, send it to another computer with Adobe 10, open the file, and then send it. I had to submit after December 10, but the EPA told me that a lot of people had the same issue as me and couldn't submit on time. Last year was a lot easier for me.

By the way, for anyone in the same boat as me...you will not get a grants.gov ticket number if you submitted the application late. Normally the EPA will take the applications off of grants.gov, but if you submitted late then you must have done so through the RFA mailbox. In this case, the EPA already has your application and you will not receive a confirmation at all.

You could submit after December 10th?

Also how did you get in contact w/ the EPA?

[ec1122]

I thought the deadline was Nov 27? I guess if they were still accepting after Dec 10, they must be really behind. I still haven't received anything from the EPA.

Hopefully we'll hear something after the holidays.

Edited December 19, 2012 by ec1122

[ec1122]

I just got my email form receipt.application@epa.gov. Looks like they're getting them out before the holidays. Says we will find something out in 6months, good luck everyone.

[zhanger]

I just got my email form receipt.application@epa.gov. Looks like they're getting them out before the holidays. Says we will find something out in 6months, good luck everyone.

Do you remember when you submitted the app ? Was it on the last day Nov. 27 ?

[ec1122]

Do you remember when you submitted the app ? Was it on the last day Nov. 27 ?

 

 

I'm pretty sure I submitted mine the day before the deadline, Nov 26.

[zhang22]

The deadline was November 27, but if you have a valid reason for not submitting on time, you can do it from December 10-14. In my case, I kept a service ticket number from my phone call with grants.gov made before the deadline, and sent an e-mail with my application attached to the EPA STAR RFA mailbox a few minutes after the deadline. That e-mail address is located on the first page of the active PDF you need to open, by the way. If you made no attempt to submit on time, or made the attempt but didn't document it through sent e-mails or call logs, then you cannot submit late. 

Edited December 22, 2012 by zhang22

[zhang22]

I got my receipt from receipt.application@epa.gov on December 20, and I submitted my application directly to the EPA on December 10.

[zhanger]

How do we find out how many applications were received for each FON ? 

 

also, no email from receipt.application@epa.gov yet . . . . 

[ec1122]

I don't know if anyone is already anxiously waiting about finding out, but I definitely am. Perusing the EPA website today I found that 1396 of us applied for this years awards. Last year there were 1501, so that raises the odds a little bit!

 

info from here....http://www.epa.gov/ogd/competition/closed_awards.htm

 

"Announcement Title: Fall 2013 EPA Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Fellowships for Graduate Environmental Study

Announcement Number: EPA-F2013-STAR-A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3, C1, C2, C3, D1, D2, E1, E2, E3, F1, F2, F3, F4 and F5
Closing Date:  11/27/2012
No. of Proposals Received: 1396"

[SensLu]

That's awesome!! I never was able to find out previous years information. For some reason I thought there were at least a few thousand every year that applied for the this grant.

[ec1122]

That's awesome!! I never was able to find out previous years information. For some reason I thought there were at least a few thousand every year that applied for the this grant.

Agreed! I thought it was definitely over 2000, so this is great news. If only they would tell us now, instead of in a month.

[GarbageNerdUCF]

That is slightly positive news. Still low funding rate. 

[parsnip281]

Last week current EPA STAR Fellows received an email from the EPA stating that the federal budget sequestration would be affecting existing grant and fellowship agreements. The EPA has taken a siginificant hit to its budget due to the sequester, and this will likely affect new grant and fellowship awards as well. Current fellows have still not received any details as to how the sequester will affect us -- only a generalized letter promising a later follow-up.

 

I have contacted my project officer, but have heard nothing. In my own research, I located a letter from Lisa Jackson to Congress regarding probable impacts of the sequester on the EPA budget and programs. The letter is dated February 6, 2013 and can be found online by googling "EPA sequester Jackson." In it, she states that the EPA would, under sequestration, reduce the number of STAR and GRO fellowships, "thus eliminating any new fellowships."

 

Last year STAR Fellows were notified at the end of April -- rejections were sent out earlier that month. Given the current budget crisis, I would anticipate a lengthier wait this year as well as the possibility of a reduction in the number of new awards. I think it's also a very real possibility that there may not be new awards granted this year if Congress doesn't pass a budget and the sequestration remains in place through the end of the fiscal year (September.)