National Science Foundation Applications
The consortium of UC graduate fellowship advisors met with National Science Foundation GRF Program Director Tim Turner in Los Angeles last week.
My one sentence summary is that UCSD is doing well, but will have to keep it up to remain competitive.
For anyone unfamiliar with the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships, they're one of the most generous offers out there: $30,000 stipend for three years, over a period of five years, plus educational expenses. They're awarded at the beginning of graduate school, so it's not uncommon for a senior in college to apply for one.
They're also very competitive, and for some, confusing.
Unlike graduate school fellowships awarded purely for the potential of the applicant's research, NSF Fellowships are awarded on the basis of the potential of the applicant. (Sergey Brin, founder of Google, was an NSF fellow.) Previous research is important, but only as an indicator of the applicant's potential to do more. Because this assessment is fairly subjective, the personal statement attached to the application has a greater freedom to focus on the applicant's aspirations and personal histories. Turner told a story about a past NSF fellow who struggled to learn English when she came over from China as an undergraduate. It was far harder for her to master than her science, and so she was able to see firsthand the difficulties of not speaking the dominant language in a country. When she did finally master it, she volunteered to go to Haiti to teach others because she understood the importance of learning English. For this applicant, the story was the tipping point--it pushed her to the top of the Group 2 list, and she received a fellowship. A good story won't compensate for deficiencies in the application, but it will help flesh out a set of numbers. Talk about the broader societal impact of your research for sure, but don't forget to say something about yourself.
Other good advice:
1. Women, minorities, and people from geographically underrepresented states should give serious thought to applying. Californians are probably going to see their applications awarded a smaller percent of the time, just because so many NSF fellows are already from California.
2. Speaking of geography, it's where you graduated from high school that counts, not your current state of residence.
3. Even though a GRE score is optional, you should include it. As holes in records go, it's a conspicuous one.
4. Not many applications in the Earth Sciences this past year. Look for that as a big area of growth, all of you SIO people out there.
5. Think about NDSEG fellowships from the Department of Defense, too.
6. Medical researchers need not apply. Visit the NIH, instead. There are exceptions to this rule, which you can see here.
7. Recall the specific language of the call for proposals: "NSF Fellows are expected to become knowledge experts who can contribute significantly to research, teaching, and innovations in science and engineering. These individuals will be crucial to maintaining and advancing the nation's technological infrastructure and national security as well as contributing to the economic well-being of society at large." A lot of fellowships say they want movers and shakers, and I know I dismiss it as a cliche. I think that's a mistake in the case of NSF fellowships. Of all the words in this paragraph, "innovations" seems like the one to keep in mind when preparing your application.
My one sentence summary is that UCSD is doing well, but will have to keep it up to remain competitive.
For anyone unfamiliar with the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships, they're one of the most generous offers out there: $30,000 stipend for three years, over a period of five years, plus educational expenses. They're awarded at the beginning of graduate school, so it's not uncommon for a senior in college to apply for one.
They're also very competitive, and for some, confusing.
Unlike graduate school fellowships awarded purely for the potential of the applicant's research, NSF Fellowships are awarded on the basis of the potential of the applicant. (Sergey Brin, founder of Google, was an NSF fellow.) Previous research is important, but only as an indicator of the applicant's potential to do more. Because this assessment is fairly subjective, the personal statement attached to the application has a greater freedom to focus on the applicant's aspirations and personal histories. Turner told a story about a past NSF fellow who struggled to learn English when she came over from China as an undergraduate. It was far harder for her to master than her science, and so she was able to see firsthand the difficulties of not speaking the dominant language in a country. When she did finally master it, she volunteered to go to Haiti to teach others because she understood the importance of learning English. For this applicant, the story was the tipping point--it pushed her to the top of the Group 2 list, and she received a fellowship. A good story won't compensate for deficiencies in the application, but it will help flesh out a set of numbers. Talk about the broader societal impact of your research for sure, but don't forget to say something about yourself.
Other good advice:
1. Women, minorities, and people from geographically underrepresented states should give serious thought to applying. Californians are probably going to see their applications awarded a smaller percent of the time, just because so many NSF fellows are already from California.
2. Speaking of geography, it's where you graduated from high school that counts, not your current state of residence.
3. Even though a GRE score is optional, you should include it. As holes in records go, it's a conspicuous one.
4. Not many applications in the Earth Sciences this past year. Look for that as a big area of growth, all of you SIO people out there.
5. Think about NDSEG fellowships from the Department of Defense, too.
6. Medical researchers need not apply. Visit the NIH, instead. There are exceptions to this rule, which you can see here.
7. Recall the specific language of the call for proposals: "NSF Fellows are expected to become knowledge experts who can contribute significantly to research, teaching, and innovations in science and engineering. These individuals will be crucial to maintaining and advancing the nation's technological infrastructure and national security as well as contributing to the economic well-being of society at large." A lot of fellowships say they want movers and shakers, and I know I dismiss it as a cliche. I think that's a mistake in the case of NSF fellowships. Of all the words in this paragraph, "innovations" seems like the one to keep in mind when preparing your application.
posted by Shannon Chamberlain at 9:13 AM
1 Comments:
Great advice! This is more useful than anything I've read in all those boring pamphlets that I got in my 'welcome to UCSD' packet.
- Dan A. (UCSD CSE Masters Student)
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