NSF Graduate Fellowship Information

 

1. Eligibility:             U.S. Citizens and permanent resident aliens, undergraduate students and graduate students are eligible. Graduate students may apply until they have completed 12 month of graduate study. i.e. students who have completed two semesters of study ( Fall and Spring) may apply, so students who started graduate studies in the Fall of 2003 may apply for a fellowship for the Fall competition (deadline is early November, 2004).

 

2. Academic record:             The GPA and GRE scores are considered in the assessment of the proposals, however, these scores form only part of the evaluation criteria and hence students who did not score at the very top of these measures are receiving awards. There is no specific GRE or GPA cutoff below which awards have not been made.

 

3. Evaluation Criteria:  The two main evaluation criteria are how well you can express the  Intellectual Merit and Broader Impact of the proposed work. It is very important to address the broader impact of the proposed research carefully and make sure that it is well integrated with the personal statement. In other words there need to be tight logical connections throughout the documentation that ou are submitting. Also, you need to express a clear view of how you see your proposed work in relation to the rest of the world. The NSF is interested in supporting students who will be leaders in creating new knowledge and communicating it effectively to the broader community. It is your ability to convince the reviewers that you are such a person that will be more important than GRE scores or the GPA. 

 

4. Proposed Research: The proposed research needs to be outlined clearly and should be well documented.  Consider not only the most recent information, but demonstrate also that you understand the more extended publication record on the subject. The work should concern an original scientific question of broader significance presented in a scholarly manner. The proposal needs to be reasonably specific but not dwell on the specifics. It is important to avoid any kind of scientific jargon, including the use of acronyms. The best way to guard against this is to ask someone, who knows very little about what you propose, to read your research plan critically and see whether he/she can tell you what you plan to do and why. Although the basic ideas formulated in your research plan have to be yours, you should seek input from a number of sources on how to best express these ideas most effectively. Plan on writing and revising many drafts of your Research Plan.

 

5.Success ratio: The success ratio is about 1:10, however, it will be significantly higher if you received an honorary mention in an earlier competition. If you received an honorable mention, you may request feedback on your proposal from the NSF and use it to refine your next proposal. There does not appear to be a quota of how many of the NSF fellowships are awarded to a particular university or department.