NSF GRFP 2016

[commodork]

Here's hoping NSF pulls a Beyoncé and sends out emails with zero warning at midnight tonight. I can't take it much longer. 

[gliaful]

4 minutes ago, pterosaur said:

I wonder if the deadline was moved up to accommodate a possible increasing trend in the number of applications. (I don't actually know if they've been increasing, but it seems reasonable, and I'm sure the information is out there somewhere.) If they're trying to keep approximately the same decision date, they'd have to move the deadline to have enough time? Maybe?

I hadn't thought about this, but you're probably right. I just quickly searched and it looks like 2015 had 16500 applicants and 2014 had 14000 applicants.

[commodork]

17 minutes ago, pasteltomato said:

Do you think it will be Tuesday 3/29 or Friday 4/1 that we find out?

Using the Results page (here on gc), the past announcement dates seem to alternate in pairs of years -- but I don't have enough info to really conclude that a pattern exists.

• 2015: Tuesday, 31 March
• 2014: Tuesday, 1 April
• 2013: Friday, 29 March
• 2012: Friday, 30 March
• 2011: Tuesday, 5 April
• 2010: Tuesday, 6 April
• 2009: Friday, 10 April

I wasn't able to find information about announcements in 2008 or earlier.

If we assume that a pattern does exist, it would make sense for Friday 4/1 to be the day. However, if this pattern does exist, there has got to be a reason that it exists -- it seems unlikely that NSF would create a pattern for no reason. What are these people planning around that may affect the Tuesday vs Friday decision? Who organizes the announcement? 

If we assume that submission deadlines are not arbitrary (ie, deadlines are selected so that adequate time could be given to review), it would make more sense for Tuesday 3/29 to be the announcement date. The deadlines for submission this year were earlier than any of the other years I surveyed (2009-2015) by ~1-3 weeks.

Man! I have missed sharing in the obsessiveness that comes with this site . I haven't been on much since starting school last August.

You forgot to take into account that it's a leap year, so we should get it a day earlier than that  

[t_ruth]

Re: the benefits of the fellowship:

I can tell you as a PI it makes a difference to me in funding my students. If I have a student who wins the GRFP I can use my grad assistantship on another student.

Also, re: the prestige. Aside from the CV boost, I've been told by a few Program Officers that NSF looks favorably on GRFP recipients who apply for future NSF grants. They like to see that their investment in fellowship winners pays off and are willing to continue to support them (you list the GRFP like other prior NSF funding on grant applications).

[commodork]

38 minutes ago, t_ruth said:

Re: the benefits of the fellowship:

I can tell you as a PI it makes a difference to me in funding my students. If I have a student who wins the GRFP I can use my grad assistantship on another student.

Also, re: the prestige. Aside from the CV boost, I've been told by a few Program Officers that NSF looks favorably on GRFP recipients who apply for future NSF grants. They like to see that their investment in fellowship winners pays off and are willing to continue to support them (you list the GRFP like other prior NSF funding on grant applications).

 

Thanks for your perspective! I had no idea there were faculty members on this site as well, neat. I have a few questions, if you don't mind me taking the chance to pick your brain. 

How much impact, if any, does receipt of NSF-GRFP/other prestigious fellowships affect faculty hires, in your experience? I saw something a while back that said GRFP recipients were way more likely to land TT positions (though that's probably more correlation than causation). Any application advice? 

Thank you!

[sierra918]

2 hours ago, pasteltomato said:

Do you think it will be Tuesday 3/29 or Friday 4/1 that we find out?

Using the Results page (here on gc), the past announcement dates seem to alternate in pairs of years -- but I don't have enough info to really conclude that a pattern exists.

• 2015: Tuesday, 31 March
• 2014: Tuesday, 1 April
• 2013: Friday, 29 March
• 2012: Friday, 30 March
• 2011: Tuesday, 5 April
• 2010: Tuesday, 6 April
• 2009: Friday, 10 April

I wasn't able to find information about announcements in 2008 or earlier.

If we assume that a pattern does exist, it would make sense for Friday 4/1 to be the day. However, if this pattern does exist, there has got to be a reason that it exists -- it seems unlikely that NSF would create a pattern for no reason. What are these people planning around that may affect the Tuesday vs Friday decision? Who organizes the announcement? 

If we assume that submission deadlines are not arbitrary (ie, deadlines are selected so that adequate time could be given to review), it would make more sense for Tuesday 3/29 to be the announcement date. The deadlines for submission this year were earlier than any of the other years I surveyed (2009-2015) by ~1-3 weeks.

Man! I have missed sharing in the obsessiveness that comes with this site . I haven't been on much since starting school last August.

Since we haven't seen the a scheduled maintenance notice yet, I'm guessing it will be Friday. That's only 6 days ?

[commodork]

1 minute ago, sierra918 said:

Since we haven't seen the a scheduled maintenance notice yet, I'm guessing it will be Friday. That's only 6 days ?

Are you headed to Vanderbilt? I did my undergrad there. It's amazing and you will love it. 

[sierra918]

Just now, commodork said:

Are you headed to Vanderbilt? I did my undergrad there. It's amazing and you will love it. 

I am! Thanks so much! I'm really excited about it. The faculty and students I've met have all been amazing, and everyone says great things about the program.

[otherss]

3 hours ago, pasteltomato said:

Do you think it will be Tuesday 3/29 or Friday 4/1 that we find out?

Using the Results page (here on gc), the past announcement dates seem to alternate in pairs of years -- but I don't have enough info to really conclude that a pattern exists.

• 2015: Tuesday, 31 March
• 2014: Tuesday, 1 April
• 2013: Friday, 29 March
• 2012: Friday, 30 March
• 2011: Tuesday, 5 April
• 2010: Tuesday, 6 April
• 2009: Friday, 10 April

I wasn't able to find information about announcements in 2008 or earlier.

If we assume that a pattern does exist, it would make sense for Friday 4/1 to be the day. However, if this pattern does exist, there has got to be a reason that it exists -- it seems unlikely that NSF would create a pattern for no reason. What are these people planning around that may affect the Tuesday vs Friday decision? Who organizes the announcement? 

If we assume that submission deadlines are not arbitrary (ie, deadlines are selected so that adequate time could be given to review), it would make more sense for Tuesday 3/29 to be the announcement date. The deadlines for submission this year were earlier than any of the other years I surveyed (2009-2015) by ~1-3 weeks.

Man! I have missed sharing in the obsessiveness that comes with this site . I haven't been on much since starting school last August.

Haha I can see the NSF being all, let's mess with these guys and make a pattern for no reason and if they ask we can say there's no pattern. 

[Tahlain]

1 hour ago, sierra918 said:

I am! Thanks so much! I'm really excited about it. The faculty and students I've met have all been amazing, and everyone says great things about the program.

Awesome!! I'm there right now, and it's great. It's been amazing academically and it's in a really nice, growing part of the city too. 

[Ocean-Atmos-Climate]

On 3/25/2016 at 1:22 PM, pterosaur said:

Not NSF, but I just got a call that I got the DOE CSGF. I'm absolutely in shock. I didn't expect to hear back this early, let alone hear that I got it! Definitely reduces the stress for waiting on the GRFP.

 

Congrats!! I just got a call as well at the end of the week offering the CSGF. I am definitely taking it! I'm with you -- was not expecting a phone call a month early with that news. 

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

I swear, if it doesn't come out this Friday, I'm going to need to be sent to a looney bin...

[elanorci]

3 minutes ago, Pink Fuzzy Bunny said:

I swear, if it doesn't come out this Friday, I'm going to need to be sent to a looney bin...

same..... 

[sierra918]

1 minute ago, elanorci said:

same..... 

I'm with you guys.

[mobilehobo]

On 3/25/2016 at 3:42 PM, hummm said:

FYI... not sure if this is applicable to this year since this post is pretty old, but gives us some idea how the scoring works.

Either next Tuesday or Friday we'll be free from this state of uncertainty!!  

Quality groups are still definitely a thing for GRFP. They're used for tracking outcomes of fellows and HMs. The numeric scoring is also likely the same since the P/F/G/VG/E scale is still used. Like others who have mentioned it, any two applicants with similar letter scores could have different numeric scores. They also weight your score for the reviewer you get. This can cause wide variability in applicant scoring and award status.

 

I still believe they just draw names from a hat to pick the fellows from quality group 2.

Edited March 28, 2016 by mobilehobo

[sierra918]

The maintenance notice should be up at some point tomorrow if NSF repeats trends from past years. 

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

Do you need to log in to be able to see the maintenance notice? when it appears?

[utb040713]

4 minutes ago, Pink Fuzzy Bunny said:

Do you need to log in to be able to see the maintenance notice? when it appears?

I don't believe you need to be logged in to see the maintenance notice, but I'm not 100% sure.

[mobilehobo]

I compiled the last decade of result days for GRFP, and for fun, compared them to Easter dates (sadly, no useful correlations).

 

           Results                                                                         Easter                          Timing of results with Easter weekend:

• 2016: ????                                                                   27 March                       ????                         
• 2015: Tuesday, 31 March                                             5 April                           Tuesday before
• 2014: Tuesday, 1 April                                                  20 April                         Way before
• 2013: Friday, 29 March                                               31 March                       Friday before
• 2012: Friday, 30 March                                                8 April                           Full week before
• 2011: Tuesday, 5 April                                                 24 April                          Way before
• 2010: Tuesday, 6 April                                                 4 April                           Tuesday after
• 2009: Friday, 10 April                                                   12 April                          Friday before
• 2008: Tuesday, 1 April/Monday, 31 March*                 23 March                        Full week after
• 2007: Thursday 22 March/Friday, 23 March**              8 April                           Way before
• 2006: Monday, April 17th                                            16 April                           Day after

* 2008, the fellow list was released/hacked before emailing applicants

** 2007, they updated Fastlane before emailing, so awardees saw links like "view print fellow award letter" the day before.

Some insight: There doesn't seem to be any correlation between number of applicants and the date the results are released. Applications (and awards) have been steadily rising over time, but the release dates are kind of all over. I heard last year, NSF asked for more funding for more fellows, but was denied so there were only 2000 as with previous years. Was there any request for something similar this year? We likely will see just as many or more applications, but will number of rewards increase as well?

There is no correlation between the application due date (almost always first weeks of Nov except this year) and results date.

The results have been on Tuesdays/Fridays (2006 was likely late Monday night/early Tuesday morning like the rest). There really isn't a pattern on which day it's released in what year. You could say it alternated until 2011, where a double pattern began. That would put the release date for this year on Friday.

It seems they just release it when they have all their ducks in row. They always have the aim for 'early April' each year. Sometimes everything happens quicker, sometimes later. It's impossible to know why.

It is coming soon. When you go to the 'search awardees' page, the site has been updated with "2016 Offered Award List: This list of Awardees and Honorable Mention recipients for the year you have selected is not yet available."

There will likely be a maintenance break around that time. None has been announced yet, but it still could be posted tomorrow for a Tuesday release.

Edited March 28, 2016 by mobilehobo

[Dibenzofulvene]

Most likely the results will be released this Tuesday..we're almost there guys!

 

Great work compiling all that data mobilehobo!

 

Edited March 28, 2016 by Dibenzofulvene

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

34 minutes ago, Dibenzofulvene said:

Most likely the results will be released this Tuesday..we're almost there guys!

 

Great work compiling all that data mobilehobo!

 

What what what? The maintenance notification hasn't been posted yet though... doesn't that mean Friday?

[kafcat]

Regardless of the outcome, great job lads! it truly has been a journey applying and waiting. 

[sierra918]

2 hours ago, Dibenzofulvene said:

Most likely the results will be released this Tuesday..we're almost there guys!

 

Great work compiling all that data mobilehobo!

 

As exciting as this would be, I'm skeptical. No harm in hoping though ?

[cwr]

People searching for trends based upon application deadline, timing of the maintenance notice post, and even Easter. I love it. Perfect example of what happens when a lot of smart people channel their nervous energy into something. Thanks to those who compiled data to estimate the release date, and good luck to everyone!  

[gliaful]

On 3/27/2014 at 6:10 AM, threnagyn said:

At this point in time, many of us are waiting for a message like this to come up on Fastlane: '03/28/13  -  GRFP/FastLane will be unavailable from 11:00 PM ET Thursday March 28th - 5:00 AM ET Friday, March 29th for scheduled maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience'

 

For the past few years, this was posted on a Monday (for Tues announcement) or Thursday (for Fri announcement). The message usually appears the day before, but the time of day can vary. In 2012, the first time that someone saw it and reported it on grad cafe was 9:09am. Last year, it was much later - at 8:59pm, just a few hours before it was supposed to go down. Last year, it did not take until 5:00 AM ET for the awards to be posted - there is a post saying 'they're up' at 3:44 AM ET. Emails are sent out shortly afterwards.

Emphasis is mine. If threnagyn is right about the maintenance posts coming the day before, we can't rule out a Tuesday (ie, tonight) release.

Also check this out: Fastlane overnight maintenance happened on March 18th this year. Maybe the results were uploaded then and are just being hidden for now (would explain why the Award List page has had a 2016 header for at least a few days now -- the natural follow-up is whether that header appeared March 19th).

6 hours ago, mobilehobo said:

2008, the fellow list was released/hacked before emailing applicants

I don't know what went down in 2008, but I assume hacking of the fellow list means that results were online prior to official release. In-person hacking of the list is funnier to imagine, though.