NSF Graduate fellowship before you get in..? A question..

[sje]

I know it's desirable for prospective grad students to apply for the NSF GRF before they actually get to grad school, but I'm having a lot of trouble coming up with an research project to tackle in the proposal.. Should I be very concerned about not being able to draw up a research proposal out of thin air, or is this normal? I've been thinking about it for at least a month now, and I just can't seem to nail anything down. My intended area of research is molecular anthro and my undergrad research is in population genetics/bioinformatics. I can think of hypotheses that I'd like to test, but I really don't have a good, concrete idea of how to go about doing so completely on my own. My role as an undergrad researcher has been limited to analyses and a lot of the 'big picture' stuff was thought of solely by my mentor, and thus, I'm having a lot of trouble even thinking about getting the ball rolling.

I want to at least apply for the fellowship, but I feel like I should definitely have a concrete proposal in mind by now, and I'm sort of concerned that I do not at this point. What do you all think? Anyone else in the same boat? Should I be really concerned about this, or just let it go?

[Eigen]

I wouldn't say it's worrying, exactly. Coming up with a research topic is quite difficult!

It's one of the reasons I didn't apply my first year. I switched into a quite different area, and really needed the time to get a handle on the major players and major work in that area before i could come up with some convincingly novel ideas.

If you haven't done any truly independent research as an undergrad, I could see it being even harder.

[SeriousSillyPutty]

Related question:

How does applying for research grants work when you know you'll be spending most of your time in classes?

Because of the interdisciplinary nature of what I'm doing, I anticipate three years of full-time classes before I can go into "thesis mode". So, if I want to apply for an NSF grant, should I wait until fall of my third year, or do people get the grants while they're still taking classes? (I may just be confused because the NSF grants are mostly designed for grad students who are doubling as RAs in a lab, whereas I would be applying for the STEM Ed strand, which is a bit different.)

Any general guidelines would be appreciated!

[vertices]

sje: It's perfectly normal. One of the goals/benefits of the NSF program is to give younger students more practice at this. Think of it as a learning process. Get help from your mentors on how you can narrow your idea down into a proposal. The reviewers divide the applications by year and are definitely expecting less sophistication from undergraduate seniors than they are from second year graduate students. The program also understands that your proposed project may not be what you're actually doing, so don't feel like you're being locked in. As long as you stay in the same major field, you're fine. So try your best, it won't hurt and it's a great learning opportunity and a potential funding opportunity

SeriousSillyPutty: For the NSF GRFP, your last chance to apply is in your second year of graduate school. They know that students in this phase have classes, so don't worry about that, it's perfectly normal. Also, with the GRFP you can choose 3 years out of the next 5 to take the fellowship -- so if you have other sources for funding for 'class mode,' you can apply the funds later. Don't feel that you have to though. The NSF GRFP is about funding the future scientist/professional and your coursework is part of that. I urge you to start applying now. As for other NSF grants, some of those may come when your research is ready for it or at other points in your career.

[SeriousSillyPutty]

Thanks!

[guttata]

Even if you come up with a crap research topic, it's almost better to just apply as an undergrad anyway. That way, you get a 3rd chance to apply, you've got a starting point for next year, and you'll get SOME kind of feedback, so you'll have a better idea of what to work on, in addition to having a new research topic.

[rockhopper]

You don't get a 3rd chance to apply. You can only apply twice, and like vertices said, the second time must be while you have taken less than 12 months of graduate school credit, if I remember correctly.

[vertices]

You can apply three times if your first time is as an undergraduate senior. There are three major pools:

1. Undergraduate seniors

2. First year graduate students

3. Second year graduate students

(There's also the very small extenuating circumstances pool but I don't think people who have applied three times already are generally eligible for it.)

[Pitangus]

You can apply three times if your first time is as an undergraduate senior. There are three major pools:

1. Undergraduate seniors

2. First year graduate students

3. Second year graduate students

(There's also the very small extenuating circumstances pool but I don't think people who have applied three times already are generally eligible for it.)

People who have graduated from undergrad but have not yet started a grad program fall into group 1 as well.

[rockhopper]

Oh nice. Thanks for the clarification, now i'm going to read the rules again!