NSF GRFP 2009-2010

[syjmf]

As time goes on, and my anxiety about the GRFP grows, I find myself obsessing about a few things. First of all, when looking at winning example essays from previous years, I came across a lot of proposals that included the references in slightly smaller text than the required font. I chose also to shrink down my references by 1.5 and abbreviate some of the journal titles because the huge number of necessary references. Well....did anyone else do this? I wonder if it will influence my research proposal negatively. As far as I know, I did not get disqualified yet!

I also went through my essays and found a few terrible typos (Genus name not capitalized in one case, and a random extra period etc.). No one can know this, but how much do you think things like this matter? Did any one else happen to make silly errors that they didn't catch until it was too late? Oh the horror!

To save my pride, when I don't get the GRFP I am going to blame my wretched tyops and not my wretched research!

[Krypton]

Yes, I made a pretty terrible typo: two semicolons in one sentence.

[zxcv]

I chose also to shrink down my references by 1.5 and abbreviate some of the journal titles because the huge number of necessary references. Well....did anyone else do this? I wonder if it will influence my research proposal negatively. As far as I know, I did not get disqualified yet!

I thought about it, but ultimately decided it was not worth the risk to shrink the font size. Abbreviating journal names is standard practice so I can't see that causing any trouble.

[Rails111]

As time goes on, and my anxiety about the GRFP grows, I find myself obsessing about a few things. First of all, when looking at winning example essays from previous years, I came across a lot of proposals that included the references in slightly smaller text than the required font. I chose also to shrink down my references by 1.5 and abbreviate some of the journal titles because the huge number of necessary references. Well....did anyone else do this? I wonder if it will influence my research proposal negatively. As far as I know, I did not get disqualified yet!

I also went through my essays and found a few terrible typos (Genus name not capitalized in one case, and a random extra period etc.). No one can know this, but how much do you think things like this matter? Did any one else happen to make silly errors that they didn't catch until it was too late? Oh the horror!

To save my pride, when I don't get the GRFP I am going to blame my wretched tyops and not my wretched research!

Shrinking down your references (and ONLY your references) is absolutely fine. I spoke to 3 past panelists that said many winning applications did this. I had also contacted previous winners asking if they could send me their essays (again, almost all had references in teeny tiny font). One previous winner just included in-text references. For example (Blah1 & Blah2, 1995). I did the same and haven't been disqualified either. When you look at the NSF GRFP instructions, they only say "references," not the extent to which those references should be cited.

[Language Lover <3]

I also have a couple of pretty horrible typos that I've been obsessing over completely distraught: left out a hyphen once when it was present in the other instances of the word and missed a letter in one very important word (and neither my spellchecker nor advisor caught it... I saw it a couple weeks after I submitted). I also had to remove 3 references (they were extra but helpful support) because there just wasn't any space left...

We'll see what happens I suppose...

[Language Lover <3]

How many references did each person include in their proposal? Also, does anyone know how many references past winners had?

[Krypton]

Also, does anyone know how many references past winners had?

Yes, every number between 1 and 10, inclusive.

Edited March 25, 2010 by Krypton

[Language Lover <3]

I'm sorry Krypton... I don't quite think I'm following what you mean.

[volnam]

How many references did each person include in their proposal? Also, does anyone know how many references past winners had?

My proposal had 6 references. My friend's application that won in 2005 had 9. I hope that helps.

[Rails111]

How many references did each person include in their proposal? Also, does anyone know how many references past winners had?

I had 6.

I also had the essays from previous winners - these are people I emailed asking for their essays after looking at http://www.nsfgrfp.o...nstitutions_m-t

One had 4, one had 11, one had 6, one had 10, one had 3. These were all 2009 winners.

Thanks for helping me procrastinate

Edited March 25, 2010 by Rails111

[Phyllis Stein]

You were smart to look into it as thoroughly as you did, however I think NSF should be more clear about it! Obviously we're going to obsess over these things, and every word counts when there is such a limit on statement length.

Shrinking down your references (and ONLY your references) is absolutely fine. I spoke to 3 past panelists that said many winning applications did this. I had also contacted previous winners asking if they could send me their essays (again, almost all had references in teeny tiny font). One previous winner just included in-text references. For example (Blah1 & Blah2, 1995). I did the same and haven't been disqualified either. When you look at the NSF GRFP instructions, they only say "references," not the extent to which those references should be cited.

[Krypton]

I don't remember when rules changed, but there weren't always the same guidelines or restrictions on essays. (For instance, the two-page limit for the proposal is a relatively new thing, if I recall correctly.) It's probably important to bear in mind that, in previous years, formatting references differently to save space may have been explicitly acceptable, but if it was acceptable this year as well, it certainly wasn't made obvious in the application instructions.

Edited March 25, 2010 by Krypton

[Rails111]

I don't remember when rules changed, but there weren't always the same guidelines or restrictions on essays. (For instance, the two-page limit for the proposal is a relatively new thing, if I recall correctly.) It's probably important to bear in mind that, in previous years, formatting references differently to save space may have been explicitly acceptable, but if it was acceptable this year as well, it certainly wasn't made obvious in the application instructions.

True. I can't speak for any year other than 2009, but I know for sure that 2009 had the exact rules we did. I didn't apply in '09 because I heard about it the night before applications were due but I did spend some time looking at the instructions so I would know what to expect for 2010.

Yeah, they're vague about references. They're vague about many things...I guess applicants need to discover these subtleties on their own.

[DrBones]

Damnit... I just now realized that in my freakin' title I used "Affect" when I meant "Effect". Everything else looks spotless, so here's hoping no one else notices... three advisors didn't. As far as references, I had 7 in my research plan, and 5 in my previous research essay. Cheers.

[UnlikelyGrad]

11 references for me. The samples I saw all had 10-12.

[Language Lover <3]

Hmm, I had 7 (after I had to take a couple out in editing). The ones I saw had 6-10. Two were winners, and one was close.

Edited March 25, 2010 by Language Lover <3

[Rails111]

If people with 3 and 4 references have won, as they have, then it's prob save to assume that the *number* of references doesn't play a big role. What would be bad is if your experimental outcome/conclusions/method were based on assumptions and/or logic to which the validity was not cited.

As for typos, i think it's important to keep in mind that in all three rounds, they only have 15 minutes to view an ENTIRE application. They are required to complete 4 applications per hour. Pretend you were in their shoes for just a second and consider the demand this places on attention...on the plus side, minor errors will likely not be perceived, on the minus side, panelists will miss whatever you do not make explicit and clear. That's really why my advisor (who had received the award when she was younger) stressed that it's critical to make the essays incredibly clear, and also fun to read.

[dalzir]

I wouldn't obsess over typos. I think the reviewers read through the proposals very quickly, so one or two will probably not make a difference and might even go unnoticed.

As for references, I didn't realize that others had so many! I had 4 this year and the previous year (prev year I received HM). Last year, my references consisted of 2 tenure-track professors (including my mentor), a non-tenure track faculty member, and a postdoc that I worked closely with. All references had known me for over 3+ years and I worked with them on a regular basis. This year, I've got the same references except I have a ref from a full professor in lieu of the postdoc and my mentor has become an associate prof. I wondered about submitting other refs, but they wouldn't be nearly as good and I'm not sure they would contribute much.

[Steven]

As for references, I didn't realize that others had so many!

I thought the same as you when I first saw this thread - but I think they're talking about citations, not letters of recommendation.

I have four citations each in my personal statement and research proposal, and seven in my research experience.

I only have three letters of recommendation, should have had four, but one writer flaked out on me (thankfully the least critical).

Edited March 25, 2010 by Steven

[Rails111]

"Steven" is right, sorry I was referring to citations, not reference letters (in psych we use APA formatting, which calls the bibliography, "references," hence my assumption/confusion).

I had 3 reference letters - undergrad advisor, grad advisor, and undergrad prof who I told explicitly to comment on my broader impacts.

[BioTurboNick]

How many references did each person include in their proposal? Also, does anyone know how many references past winners had?

I hadn't applied before, and only had one past example from someone (an HM) to go from. I included 5 references which I thought were the core ones for my project. I cited them in-text as superscript numbers to minimize impact, and then in normal text at the end. I kept the font size the same for fear of violating a rule, but I did the most compact citation format I knew of (#. F. Author et al., J Abbr Vol, Pages (Year).), and put them indented so that the References label was on the same line as the first reference, so that it only took up 5 lines in total.

[meankney]

Can someone give me a link for this facebook page people keep talking about?

[Rails111]

Can someone give me a link for this facebook page people keep talking about?

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Washington-DC/National-Science-Foundation-Graduate-Research-Fellowship-Program/71182286186?ref=ts

[meankney]

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Washington-DC/National-Science-Foundation-Graduate-Research-Fellowship-Program/71182286186?ref=ts

Thanks!

[BioTurboNick]

I have four citations each in my personal statement and research proposal, and seven in my research experience.

I can see putting refs in past research experience if you've got publications... but why do you have refs in your personal statement? I only put references in my research proposal.