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Posted

Wrong again, as you can find additional listings for similar deans at other schools for this year.

There are other universities, however, which have ongoing NSF grants that have not been updated yet for this year. 

Posted

Wrong again, as you can find additional listings for similar deans at other schools for this year

Guttata - do you have any thoughts on what this particular listing means?

Posted

I called, and aside from the standard responses, they said that this particular award was a typo/mistake.

 

Interesting! This mystery has proven to be quite the distraction this afternoon... I'm hooked.

Posted (edited)

I can't fathom how confusing it would be to be an applicant from Bradley Bond's lab right about now

 

Also he's a dean, so now I sound crazy

Edited by DSYIII
Posted

I called, and aside from the standard responses, they said that this particular award was a typo/mistake.

 

I also am guessing the people answering the phones have minimal idea of website mechanics

Posted

Haha for the record last year's thread was at 21 pages when the maintenance announcement was made. We are pushing 31 pages with nothing to show. We are quite a paranoid bunch. 

There are also 175 people watching this thread :D

Posted

After neurotically watching this thread for weeks I finally caved and signed up. This is my first time applying and I've been wondering what the procedure is regarding the application reviews… do those get sent to us separately or are they available on Fastlane once the decisions go up?

Posted

After neurotically watching this thread for weeks I finally caved and signed up. This is my first time applying and I've been wondering what the procedure is regarding the application reviews… do those get sent to us separately or are they available on Fastlane once the decisions go up?

They're available once the decisions are up. They eventually get taken down after some number of weeks/months, so I advise saving them as soon as you get them.

Posted

After neurotically watching this thread for weeks I finally caved and signed up. This is my first time applying and I've been wondering what the procedure is regarding the application reviews… do those get sent to us separately or are they available on Fastlane once the decisions go up?

I can't comment on the delivery (this is my first app, too -- I'd assume it's through Fastlane), but I've seen the feedback sheets (from labmates) and they aren't entirely helpful, unfortunately.

Posted

I can't comment on the delivery (this is my first app, too -- I'd assume it's through Fastlane), but I've seen the feedback sheets (from labmates) and they aren't entirely helpful, unfortunately.

 

I saw a few review sheets (both from awardees, one last year, one the year before that) and they were definitely lacking in thoughtfulness. One reviewer actually just completely summarized this person's experience and proposal without any insight into either factors whatsoever. 

Posted

I saw a few review sheets (both from awardees, one last year, one the year before that) and they were definitely lacking in thoughtfulness. One reviewer actually just completely summarized this person's experience and proposal without any insight into either factors whatsoever. 

 

yep! for one of my review sheets from last year, I'm not sure if he even read my proposal/CV/etc. He commented that I have no publications (false) and that all my research experience is in neuro (3/4 of my past labs have not been in neuroscience), etc.

Posted

After neurotically watching this thread for weeks I finally caved and signed up. This is my first time applying and I've been wondering what the procedure is regarding the application reviews… do those get sent to us separately or are they available on Fastlane once the decisions go up?

 

Last year, I received a generic rejection letter in email and had to log into Fastlane to view comments and scores from the reviewers. I expect it to be the same this year.

p.s. can we talk about how awesome it is that we actually get feedback from the reviewers, unlike other fellowships. The comments aren't much, but it's still better than trying to guess why you didn't receive the award.

Posted

yep! for one of my review sheets from last year, I'm not sure if he even read my proposal/CV/etc. He commented that I have no publications (false) and that all my research experience is in neuro (3/4 of my past labs have not been in neuroscience), etc.

Thank you for shattering the illusion that my chances of winning correlate to the quality of my application...

Posted

Last year, I received a generic rejection letter in email and had to log into Fastlane to view comments and scores from the reviewers. I expect it to be the same this year.

p.s. can we talk about how awesome it is that we actually get feedback from the reviewers, unlike other fellowships. The comments aren't much, but it's still better than trying to guess why you didn't receive the award.

 

Yes this is actually the only shining light (however dim) in getting a rejection. At least it is SOMETHING to go off of, even if it's not completely satisfying. 

Posted

Last year, I received a generic rejection letter in email and had to log into Fastlane to view comments and scores from the reviewers. I expect it to be the same this year.

p.s. can we talk about how awesome it is that we actually get feedback from the reviewers, unlike other fellowships. The comments aren't much, but it's still better than trying to guess why you didn't receive the award.

 

If you want some serious, no-punches-pulled quality feedback, try applying for an NIH F31 fellowship! They take forever to hand down fellowship decisions (I'm still waiting, and I applied last August), but everyone in the top 50 or 60% gets a thorough, ~12 page summary statement delivered by 3 main reviewers (from a study section of around ~25 people who discuss it in a closed section). It's actually useful feedback for a change haha

Posted

Haha for the record last year's thread was at 21 pages when the maintenance announcement was made. We are pushing 31 pages with nothing to show. We are quite a paranoid bunch. 

I'm only paranoid because people are out to get me.

Posted (edited)

Thank you for shattering the illusion that my chances of winning correlate to the quality of my application...

 

Ohhhhhh yeah you should definitely shatter that illusion.

 

I won the award last year (why am I here?) after two years of nothing (no HMs).  The things that reviewers tune into are SO WEIRD.  One of my reviewers from last year went on and on about how qualified I am because of all the biology techniques I'm trained in...  that I haven't used since I was a freshman in college, and which are totally irrelevant to my current research. The other two reviewers' comments were actually germane to my current research, so some of them pay attention.

 

In the past I had a reviewer suggest that my advisor probably came up with my research proposal. This was for NO REASON. My advisor even told me he included in his LOR that my essays were all my original work (I guess that's something they're supposed to say). Also, the research really was, in reality, very sincerely my own idea AND different from what my advisor normally does. So frustrating to be eliminated because of a reviewer's whim.

 

I've also read reviews from friends who had reviewers that fell in love with them and wrote long, poetic reviews about how what an inspiring applicant they are. Reviewers are crazy! And they go through these things fast. There's a big luck-of-the-draw dimension here. 

 

So if you get the award: be gentle to your colleagues who didn't! And don't rest too long on your laurels.

And if you don't: Please don't take a GRFP rejection as any kind of statement on your value as a scientist.

Edited by cog
Posted

I'm only paranoid because people are out to get me.

HAHAHA!

Thank you for that one. In a day full of paranoia your post actually made me laugh out loud! 

Posted

If you want some serious, no-punches-pulled quality feedback, try applying for an NIH F31 fellowship! They take forever to hand down fellowship decisions (I'm still waiting, and I applied last August), but everyone in the top 50 or 60% gets a thorough, ~12 page summary statement delivered by 3 main reviewers (from a study section of around ~25 people who discuss it in a closed section). It's actually useful feedback for a change haha

THANK YOU for this; good feedback is so invaluable. I'll look into it.

 

And cog, thank you for your post, too. That's reassuring. :)

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