NSF GRFP 2017-18

[grilledcheese1]

Waiting for a maintenance notice on fastlane after YET ANOTHER week of nothing like...

[sqxz]

On 3/28/2018 at 7:34 PM, nc61 said:

There's no reason you can't contribute the max this year assuming you've made $5500 in W2 income. Same with the last year, you can always contribute up to your earned income. There's really only one year where you definitely can't contribute if you take all 3 years in a row. But I wonder if you can take it like a year on, 6 months off, a year on, 6 months off, a year on or something so you can always contribute.

As far as I know, this is not possible. You only have the option to declare your status for the full year, though you can give up the ramainder of a tenured year part way through if something comes up that makes you want to do so.

[Straightoutta]

Some brave soul should call and ask when.....I read in one of the older forums that they gave a pretty specific answer "next two days" or something of the sort. 

 

I will not be that brave soul, but I assume you will earn infinite GradCafe street cred if you do.

[TK778]

5 minutes ago, Straightoutta said:

Some brave soul should call and ask when.....I read in one of the older forums that they gave a pretty specific answer "next two days" or something of the sort. 

 

I will not be that brave soul, but I assume you will earn infinite GradCafe street cred if you do.

oh i called them. response was "mmmmm sometime in early april sweetie" 

[nanograd]

I had a dream that i woke up in a panic around 3am and checked my phone and had an email with a link to the fastlane grfp page. The "2018 season is closed" headline was changed to the title of my research proposal and it was a link. But I tried to click on it and it was broken. Guys I'm done.

[Behavecol]

1 hour ago, nanograd said:

I had a dream that i woke up in a panic around 3am and checked my phone and had an email with a link to the fastlane grfp page. The "2018 season is closed" headline was changed to the title of my research proposal and it was a link. But I tried to click on it and it was broken. Guys I'm done.

I had a dream last night about the GRFP too! I dreamt I didn’t get the award. They told me I was in group 2 but I also didn’t get an honorable mention. Then my reviews were like “the references were not alphabetized” and that was why I didn’t get it. It was rough. And then I woke up in a panic and checked my email to see that there was nothing there.

Edited March 30, 2018 by Behavecol
Spelling error

[vall718]

This is frustrating and exhausting at this point..

[blc073]

1 hour ago, vall718 said:

This is frustrating and exhausting at this point..

I agree. It's getting a bit ridiculous.

[OdysseyOfHomerSimpson]

On 3/26/2018 at 8:20 PM, Ecce said:

hahaha! I get the anxiety (I'm with you), but these conversations are starting to get a bit ridiculous.

Day bow bow....

I hope Pepe Silvia remembered to submit my letter of recommendation! 

[YouCantBcereus]

I'll bet this being a holiday weekend has something to do with why they aren't up yet. I guess we just hope for next week at this point (again).

[blc073]

21 minutes ago, YouCantBcereus said:

I'll bet this being a holiday weekend has something to do with why they aren't up yet. I guess we just hope for next week at this point (again).

This seems likely. In 2016, the results came out the Tuesday after Easter. 

[nanograd]

50 minutes ago, OdysseyOfHomerSimpson said:

Day bow bow....

I hope Pepe Silvia remembered to submit my letter of recommendation! 

This guy gets it 

[thebest]

Hey guys,

Do we find out which group we are in as well when they send the comments?

[mars667]

11 minutes ago, thebest said:

Hey guys,

Do we find out which group we are in as well when they send the comments?

I don't think so, but if you've got 3 reviewers, you probably made it through the first round.

[rosekster]

38 minutes ago, thebest said:

Hey guys,

Do we find out which group we are in as well when they send the comments?

you definitely do not. You just get the ratings, and the comments

reference: my application 

 

Edited March 30, 2018 by rosekster

[thebest]

Thanks guys!!! Praying we find out soon guys this is the worst

[grilledcheese1]

Just have to vent...I had a meeting with my advisor yesterday and mentioned the anxiety over waiting for NSF results and how it's been harder to be productive.  She rolled her eyes and told me to "suck it up" and that any anxiety is not an excuse to let my work be affected (even though I have been submitting everything on time).  Then I (mistakenly) mentioned being nervous because everyone who was eligible in my lab got HM, and she went on talking about how all of them had the same or less qualifications than me and got HM, so she made it clear that she expects me to get at least Honorable Mention and will be really disappointed in me if I get nothing.  Cool, thanks for being empathetic!!  Now my anxiety is even worse.

Edited March 30, 2018 by grilledcheese1

[Phancy_Physicist]

1 hour ago, grilledcheese1 said:

Just have to vent...I had a meeting with my advisor yesterday and mentioned the anxiety over waiting for NSF results and how it's been harder to be productive.  She rolled her eyes and told me to "suck it up" and that any anxiety is not an excuse to let my work be affected (even though I have been submitting everything on time).  Then I (mistakenly) mentioned being nervous because everyone who was eligible in my lab got HM, and she went on talking about how all of them had the same or less qualifications than me and got HM, so she made it clear that she expects me to get at least Honorable Mention and will be really disappointed in me if I get nothing.  Cool, thanks for being empathetic!!  Now my anxiety is even worse.

Let me just say, I literally made my account just now to reply to this and tell you how absolutely fucked it is that your advisor does that to you. Academics can spend so much time getting caught up in titles and prestige because thats how they see the world, but it is completely unfair to push that off onto a 1st or 2nd year graduate student. Focus on your research above all else and do good work, and good things will happen. 

I hate seeing Academia consume people like this. It isn't fair to you at all. Whether you get the NSF or HM or nothing, you're still a god damn PhD student/candidate, which make up less than 1% of the entire American population. You've worked hard for this, you will keep working hard, and titles and awards don't make or break you. 

Reviewer #2 will probably break you though, but they break everyone. 

Edit: Sorry if my use of language offends anybody, I just don't take kindly to academia being academia. I'm still waiting to hear back on my NSF and it's my second time applying! 

Edit: Edit: Also, my advisor just got back from an NSF panel/workshop today and it sounds like everything was super up in the air until the new budget was approved. So I'd imagine in the next week or two we will hear something. 

Edited March 30, 2018 by Phancy_Physicist

[ChemGal]

1 hour ago, grilledcheese1 said:

Just have to vent...I had a meeting with my advisor yesterday and mentioned the anxiety over waiting for NSF results and how it's been harder to be productive.  She rolled her eyes and told me to "suck it up" and that any anxiety is not an excuse to let my work be affected (even though I have been submitting everything on time).  Then I (mistakenly) mentioned being nervous because everyone who was eligible in my lab got HM, and she went on talking about how all of them had the same or less qualifications than me and got HM, so she made it clear that she expects me to get at least Honorable Mention and will be really disappointed in me if I get nothing.  Cool, thanks for being empathetic!!  Now my anxiety is even worse.

She really said she would be disappointed if you got nothing? That's not cool. Getting an NSF depends on so many different factors, and in no way only depends on your qualifications. Of course these are important, but an award also depends on who your reviewers are and what the application pool looked like that year.  I wouldn't let her get under your skin, regardless of whether you are funded you can still do great science!  

[TK778]

Sometimes you can't please everyone buddy. That's just a fact of life. It may seem that your career is on the line if your PI is "disappointed", but the reality is this is kind of chance to show her that you are a resilient researcher. I am playing devils advocate here and entertaining the possibility of you not getting the NSF award. Okay so if that happens, your PI might be disappointed, but I can guarantee you that things will only get worse if you let that go to your head. You just have to get back up, realize that this field is a passion of yours and nobody has the right to stop you. If you keep working hard and show enthusiasm in your research, your PI will pick up on that. Its a trait of a great scientist. My PI is one the worlds experts in BMI and sometimes HE DOESN'T EVEN GET BIG GRANTS, but he just says "okay wasn't meant for me, time to find a new way to make my dream come true". What I am trying to say is it will all be okay!

[geologygal]

36 minutes ago, Phancy_Physicist said:

Edit: Edit: Also, my advisor just got back from an NSF panel/workshop today and it sounds like everything was super up in the air until the new budget was approved. So I'd imagine in the next week or two we will hear something. 

Did you get an idea of if it'd be before April 15? I'm holding off on a school decision (didn't get funding at a school my partner and I wanted to attend) but I've been told by a few professors in my current department that they may not tell us before then....but they also were out of the loop on the whole "it has been before April for the last 9 years" deal....I'm getting so anxious and am wondering if it's better to just go with my other school options at this point...

[Phancy_Physicist]

5 minutes ago, geologygal said:

Did you get an idea of if it'd be before April 15? I'm holding off on a school decision (didn't get funding at a school my partner and I wanted to attend) but I've been told by a few professors in my current department that they may not tell us before then....but they also were out of the loop on the whole "it has been before April for the last 9 years" deal....I'm getting so anxious and am wondering if it's better to just go with my other school options at this point...

Unfortunately I do not know anything past that. Her workshop/panel was for grant writing and it sounds like even the program officers are unsure.

All I was able to clearly gather is that due to certain politics, the NSF doesn't seem to have an interest in funding science involving "clean energy". So for anyone out there planning on doing work involving that; start thinking of clever new ways to rephrase your work in terms of basic science. 

[t_ruth]

1 hour ago, ChemGal said:

She really said she would be disappointed if you got nothing? That's not cool. Getting an NSF depends on so many different factors, and in no way only depends on your qualifications. Of course these are important, but an award also depends on who your reviewers are and what the application pool looked like that year.  I wouldn't let her get under your skin, regardless of whether you are funded you can still do great science!  

Based on the OPs post below it seems advisor implied disappointment. Coming from the other side of it, I wonder if instead she was trying (albeit not successfully) to let the OP know that she is doing well--is in the right place and on par with or doing better than those who did get HMs, regardless of what the oftentimes arbitrary NSF reviewers think.

2 hours ago, grilledcheese1 said:

Just have to vent...I had a meeting with my advisor yesterday and mentioned the anxiety over waiting for NSF results and how it's been harder to be productive.  She rolled her eyes and told me to "suck it up" and that any anxiety is not an excuse to let my work be affected (even though I have been submitting everything on time).  Then I (mistakenly) mentioned being nervous because everyone who was eligible in my lab got HM, and she went on talking about how all of them had the same or less qualifications than me and got HM, so she made it clear that she expects me to get at least Honorable Mention and will be really disappointed in me if I get nothing.  Cool, thanks for being empathetic!!  Now my anxiety is even worse.

This stinks. Waiting is hard and our career as academics involves an awful lot of it. Even though I'm just following this thread as I wait for news for my own mentees (and not myself), I do understand how distracting it is!

Edited March 30, 2018 by t_ruth

[GoldenDog]

1 hour ago, Phancy_Physicist said:

Let me just say, I literally made my account just now to reply to this and tell you how absolutely fucked it is that your advisor does that to you. Academics can spend so much time getting caught up in titles and prestige because thats how they see the world, but it is completely unfair to push that off onto a 1st or 2nd year graduate student. Focus on your research above all else and do good work, and good things will happen. 

I hate seeing Academia consume people like this. It isn't fair to you at all. Whether you get the NSF or HM or nothing, you're still a god damn PhD student/candidate, which make up less than 1% of the entire American population. You've worked hard for this, you will keep working hard, and titles and awards don't make or break you. 

Reviewer #2 will probably break you though, but they break everyone. 

Edit: Sorry if my use of language offends anybody, I just don't take kindly to academia being academia. I'm still waiting to hear back on my NSF and it's my second time applying! 

Edit: Edit: Also, my advisor just got back from an NSF panel/workshop today and it sounds like everything was super up in the air until the new budget was approved. So I'd imagine in the next week or two we will hear something. 

There are lots of different NSF panels. I really really really doubt that the panel your adviser attended was for GRFP, as those took place a long while ago. The budget for this year's GRFP is not changing, and there is no evidence anything else will change either. This time period is when NSF office goes through and selects final award recipients. 

Edited March 30, 2018 by GoldenDog

[CPNZ]

47 minutes ago, GoldenDog said:

There are lots of different NSF panels. I really really really doubt that the panel your adviser attended was for GRFP, as those took place a long while ago. The budget for this year's GRFP is not changing, and there is no evidence anything else will change either. This time period is when NSF office goes through and selects final award recipients. 

Agree - this will not change the GRFP timing, as those funds would have been identified for a while. The web site still says early April so next week is likely.

[Also, most faculty know a lot less than you do about the timing of these announcements - and in general it is good for your peace of mind to learn to ignore the various rumors about the NSF/NIH and other budget issues. Most people, including most NSF staff, don't have a real knowledge of what is being decided.]