NSF GRFP Fellowship workshop

1. NSF GRFP Fellowship workshop 2019 Contact: Roxanne Malé-Brune, male-bru@ohio.edu, 7-1227 Mark McMills, mcmills@ohio.edu; 593-1750 Lauren McMills, mcmillsl@ohio.edu; 593-1754 Amir Faroud, Farnoud@ohio.edu Scott Moody, moody@ohio.edu

2. Workshop Overview • How do I find fellowships opportunities? • Overview of the NSF GRFP program and tips for writing competitive applications

3. www.ohio.edu/studentresearch

4. www.ohio.edu/fellowships List of Upcoming Fellowships Search for Fellowship Opportunities List of Summer Research Internships Fellowships for International Students

5. www.ohio.edu/research/funding.cfm Undergraduate Travel Fund Provost Undergraduate Research Fund Student Enhancement Awards Graduate Student Senate Awards

6. NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program • http://nsfgrfp.org • Applications due Oct. 21-25, 2019, 5:00 pm local time, depending on field of study • Overview: • Supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported STEM and STEM education fields pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in the U.S. • Provides three years of support for the graduate education of individuals who have demonstrated their potential for significant achievements in science and engineering research. • Benefits: • $34,000 annual stipend for 3 years • $12,000 cost-of-education allowance

7. NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program • Eligibility: • U.S. citizens or nationals, or permanent resident aliens of the U.S. • Must enroll in graduate study and research by fall 2020. • Individuals are typically eligible to apply: • During the senior year of college • After graduating from college and prior to entering graduate school • During the first year of graduate school; or prior to completing the fall term of the second year of graduate school • No more than 12 months of full-time graduate study as of Aug. 1, 2019, all graduate-level study is counted except: • Disruption of graduate study of > 2 consecutive years • IMPORTANT: If disruption, MUST apply before re-entering grad school • Effective this year, joint BS/MS applicants can only apply once. • GPA is no longer a criteria but GPA >3.6 preferred (as per past experience) • GRE not Required

8. NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program • Topic Areas: • Chemistry • Computer and Info Science and Engineering • Engineering • Geosciences • Life Sciences • Materials Research • Mathematical Sciences • Physics and Astronomy • Psychology (including clinical, but must be basic, not patient-based research) • Social Sciences • STEM Education & Learning Research

9. NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program *Social Sciences include:

10. NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program • Ineligible programs of study: • Practice-oriented professional degree programs • Joint professional degree-science programs (MD/PhD and JD/PhD) • Medical, dental, law, and public health programs • Clinical practiceor patient-oriented research, epidemiological and behavioral studies, outcomes research and health services research

11. NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program • Ineligible programs of study: • Biomedical Sciences for which the goals are directly health-related, such as etiology, diagnosis or treatment of physical or mental disease, abnormality, or malfunction in humans and other animals. • Research activities using animal models of disease, for developing or testing of drugs or other procedures for treatment of disease, and statistical modeling for which the purpose is diagnosis or epidemiology also are not eligible for support. • NOTE: Some areas of bioengineering research directed at medical use are eligible. These include research projects in bioengineering to aid persons with disabilities, or to diagnose or treat human disease, provided they apply engineering principles to problems in medicine while primarily advancing engineering knowledge. Applicants planning to study and conduct research in these areas of bioengineering should select biomedical engineering as the field of study.

12. Components of an NSF Fellowship Application Personal, Relevant Background and Future Goals Statement Graduate Research Statement Each section must address Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts

13. Personal Statement, Relevant Background and Future Goals - Prompt (3 pages) • Outline your educational and professional development plans and career goals. • How do you envision graduate school preparing you for a career that allows you to contribute to expanding scientific understanding as well as broadly benefit society? • Describe your personal, educational and/or professional experiences that motivate your decision to pursue advanced study in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM). • Include specific examples of any research and/or professional activities in which you have participated. • Present a concise description of the activities, highlight the results and discuss how these activities have prepared you to seek a graduate degree. • Specify your role in the activity, including the extent to which you worked independently and/or as part of a team. • Describe the contributions of your activity to advancing knowledge in STEM fields as well as the potential for broader societal impacts.

14. Personal Statement, Relevant Background and Future Goals – Prompt (3 pages) NSF Fellows are expected to become globally engaged knowledge experts and leaders who can contribute significantly to research, education, and innovations in science and engineering. The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate your potential to satisfy this requirement. NOTE: Your ideas and examples do not have to be confined necessarily to the discipline that you have chosen to pursue.

15. Graduate Research Statement – Prompt (2 pages) • Present an original research topic that you would like to pursue in graduate school. • Describe the research idea, your general approach, as well as any unique resources that may be needed for accomplishing the research goal (i.e., access to national facilities or collections, collaborations, overseas work, etc.) • You may choose to include important literature citations. • Address the potential of the research to advance knowledge and understanding within science as well as the potential for broader impacts on society. • The research discussed must be in a field listed in the Solicitation.

16. NSF Application Review Criteria What is the potential for the proposed activity to: • Advance knowledge and understanding within its own field or across different fields (Intellectual Merit); and • Benefit society or advance desired societal outcomes (Broader Impacts)? To what extent do the proposed activities suggest and explore creative, original, or potentially transformative concepts? Is the plan for carrying out the proposed activities well-reasoned, well-organized, and based on a sound rationale? Does the plan incorporate a mechanism to assess success? How well qualified is the individual, team, or organization to conduct the proposed activities? Are there adequate resources available to the PI (either at the home organization or through collaborations) to carry out the proposed activities?

17. NSF Application Review Criteria When evaluating NSF proposals, reviewers will be asked to consider: • what the proposers want to do, • why they want to do it, • how they plan to do it, • how they will know if they succeed, and • what benefits could accrue if the project is successful. Intellectual Merit: the potential to advance knowledge; and Broader Impacts: the potential to benefit society and contribute to the achievement of specific, desired societal outcomes.

18. Application Review Criteria • Convince reviewers that you will become a globally engaged knowledge expert and leader who can contribute significantly to research, education, and innovations in science and engineering. • Globally – how will you involve and be inclusive of a diversity audiences? • Engaged – how will you be involved in a meaningful way? • Knowledge expert – what skills and knowledge are you developing? • Leader – how will you take the initiative to make a difference?

19. Application Review Criteria You must address Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts in both essays. “It is recommended that applicants include headings for Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts in their statements.”

20. Review Criteria: Intellectual Merit • Q: How has the applicant demonstrated their potential to advance knowledge based on a holistic analysis of the complete application, including: • Personal, Relevant Background, and Future Goals Statement, • Graduate Research Plan Statement, • Strength of the academic record, • Description of previous research experience or publication/presentations, and references?

21. Review Criteria: Broader Impacts • Q: How has the applicant demonstrated their potential to benefit society and contribute to the achievement of • specific, desired societal outcomes through their: • Personal experiences, • Professional experiences, • Educational experiences, and • Future plans?

22. What are Broader Impacts? • NSF values the advancement of scientific knowledge and activities that contribute to achievement of societally relevant outcomes. • For example: • Full participation of women, persons with disabilities, and underrepresented minorities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)*; • Improved STEM education and educator development at any level; • Increased public scientific literacy and public engagement with science and technology; • Improved well-being of individuals in society; • Development of a diverse, globally competitive STEM workforce; • Increased partnerships between academia, industry, and others; • Improved national security; • Increased economic competitiveness of the US; and • Enhanced infrastructure for research and education. • *Note: Appalachians and 1st-generation college students are considered underserved groups.

23. Essay 1: Essay Prompt and Intellectual Merit • Outline your educational and professional development plans and career goals. • How do you envision graduate school preparing you for a career that allows you to contribute to expanding scientific understanding as well as broadly benefit society? • Describe your personal, educational and/or professional experiences that motivate your decision to pursue advanced study in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM). • Include specific examples of any research and/or professional activities in which you have participated. • Present a concise description of the activities, highlight the results and discuss how these activities have prepared you to seek a graduate degree. • Specify your role in the activity including the extent to which you worked independently and/or as part of a team. • Describe the contributions of your activity to advancing knowledge in STEM fields as well as the potential for broader societal impacts (See Solicitation, Section VI, for more information about Broader Impacts).

24. Essay 1: Intellectual Merit • Emphasize your: • Strength of academic record, advanced-level, special classes • Science expertise –technical skills, knowledge of field • Leadership skills • Communication skills

25. Essay 1: Essay Prompt and Broader Impacts • Outline your educational and professional development plans and career goals. • How do you envision graduate school preparing you for a career that allows you to contribute to expanding scientific understanding as well as broadly benefit society? • Describe your personal, educational and/or professional experiences that motivate your decision to pursue advanced study in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM). • Include specific examples of any research and/or professional activities in which you have participated. • Present a concise description of the activities, highlight the results and discuss how these activities have prepared you to seek a graduate degree. • Specify your role in the activity including the extent to which you worked independently and/or as part of a team. • Describe the contributions of your activity to advancing knowledge in STEM fields as well as the potential for broader societal impacts (See Solicitation, Section VI, for more information about Broader Impacts).

26. Examples of Broader Impacts • Emphasize your: • Previous and ongoing personal experiences with broader impacts • This includes outreach and mentoring, science-related and other • Previous and ongoing professional experiences with broader impacts • This includes outreach and mentoring related to your research • Broader impacts of your previous and ongoing research to other fields • Definitely include experiences with under-represented or underserved groups.

27. Examples of Broader Impacts • Personal Experiences • Training/mentoring outside of education/research • Participation in educational outreach? • Translation of your research to education • e.g., Tours of lab for public • e.g., Outreach to K-12 through lab demos • e.g., Talks at library • Research training/mentoring of young scientists • General science outreach: K-12; community; university? • Inclusion of diverse populations? • e.g., K-12 outreach in Appalachia • e.g., Participation of under-represented minorities (race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, interest)

28. Tips for Writing Statements • Be concise and format your statements effectively • Clearly label different sections • Explicitly address each requirement • Keep in mind that NSF does not just seek to fund scientists and engineers; NSF seeks to fund future STEM leaders. • show leadership potential, self-starter capabilities, and the ability to work well with others (scientists, students, people in the community, etc.).  • Show passion, motivation for a STEM career, and initiative in your past research and other experiences. • Convey a clear sense of who you are as a person • Use appropriate scientific form (hypothesis, figures, references) in the Graduate Research Statement. • Don't get bogged down in the specifics, or be overly technical. • While reviewers will generally be knowledge experts in your general field, they probably will not be experts in your specific proposed research topic. • Develop a consistent theme in both of the statements, • Weave together your personal story with your academic and career plans and past experiences to make a compelling case why NSF should award you the fellowship.

29. Essay 1: Essay Prompt • Outline your educational and professional development plans and career goals. • How do you envision graduate school preparing you for a career that allows you to contribute to expanding scientific understanding as well as broadly benefit society? • Describe your personal, educational and/or professional experiences that motivate your decision to pursue advanced study in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM). • Include specific examples of any research and/or professional activities in which you have participated. • Present a concise description of the activities, highlight the results and discuss how these activities have prepared you to seek a graduate degree. • Specify your role in the activity including the extent to which you worked independently and/or as part of a team. • Describe the contributions of your activity to advancing knowledge in STEM fields as well as the potential for broader societal impacts (See Solicitation, Section VI, for more information about Broader Impacts).

30. Essay 1 – Important questions to ask yourself before writing the statement: • Why are you fascinated by your research area? • What examples of leadership skills and unique characteristics do you bring to your chosen field? • What personal and individual strengths do you have that make you a qualified applicant? • How will receiving the fellowship contribute to your career goals? • What are all of your applicable experiences? • For each experience, what were the key questions, methodology, findings, and conclusions? • Did you work in a team and/or independently? • How did you assist in the analysis of results? • How did your activities address the Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts criteria?

31. Essay 1 – Essay Prompt and Tips • THERE IS NO ONE WAY TO WRITE THIS ESSAY. • State your educational and professional development plans and career goals. • e.g., plan to pursue a PhD in XXX with emphasis on YYY and a career in ZZZ with a focus on AAA. • What motivated you to choose this path?

32. Essay 1: Essay Prompt • Outline your educational and professional development plans and career goals. • How do you envision graduate school preparing you for a career that allows you to contribute to expanding scientific understanding as well as broadly benefit society? • Describe your personal, educational and/or professional experiences that motivate your decision to pursue advanced study in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM). • Include specific examples of any research and/or professional activities in which you have participated. • Present a concise description of the activities, highlight the results and discuss how these activities have prepared you to seek a graduate degree. • Specify your role in the activity including the extent to which you worked independently and/or as part of a team. • Describe the contributions of your activity to advancing knowledge in STEM fields as well as the potential for broader societal impacts (See Solicitation, Section VI, for more information about Broader Impacts).

33. Essay 1 – Essay Prompt and Tips • Consider grouping experiences, e.g., education, outreach, previous research • When describing research experience, consider the following format: • Objectives of the project (e.g., for research: hypothesis if quantitative or research questions if qualitative; for other experiences: mission/goal) • Timeline (e.g., duration and chronology during UG or G career) • Your Role: (leader, team member) • Methodology (scientific language but no jargon!) • Intellectual Merit:(1) How did research further the knowledge in your field? (2) Skills Gained/Lessons/Learned? (3) Reference your publications/presentations/ significant fellowships/grants. • Broader Impacts: (1) How did research or other experience benefit society? (2) How did you share your research expertise to be more inclusive?

34. Essay 1 - Tips • Finish with a strong statement about how your experiences as a whole allow you to become a globally engaged knowledge expert and leader who can contribute significantly to research, education, and innovations in science and engineering.

35. Essay 2: Essay Prompt • Present an original research topic that you would like to pursue in graduate school. • Describe the research idea, your general approach, as well as any unique resources that may be needed for accomplishing the research goal (i.e., access to national facilities or collections, collaborations, overseas work, etc.) • You may choose to include important literature citations. • Address the potential of the research to advance knowledge and understanding within science as well as the potential for broader impacts on society. • The research discussed must be in a field listed in the NSF GRFP Solicitation.

36. Essay 2 – Important questions to ask yourself before writing the statement: • What issues in the scientific community are you most passionate about? • Do you possess the technical knowledge and skills necessary for conducting this work, or will you have sufficient mentoring and training to complete the study? • Is this plan feasible for the allotted time and institutional resources? • How will your research contribute to the "big picture" outside the academic context? • How can you draft a plan using the guidelines presented in the essay instructions? • How does your proposed research address the Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts criteria?

37. Essay 2 – Essay Prompt and Tips • Describe the research idea, including: • your general approach, include details as known but no discipline-specific jargon • unique resources that may be needed for accomplishing the research goal (i.e., access to national facilities or collections, collaborations, overseas work, etc.) • Limit citations to no more than 5; otherwise takes too much space. • Make sure to state: • Objectives of the project (e.g., for research: hypothesis if quantitative or research questions if qualitative; for activity: mission) • Methodology • Intellectual Merit: • Broader Impacts:

38. Essay 2: Intellectual Merit • IM should be written as a separate paragraph with the subheading “intellectual merit”: • Skills you will learn. • How will the proposed research contribute to/further the field?

39. Essay 2: Broader Impacts • BI should be written as a separate paragraph with the subheading “broader impacts”: • How will the proposed research contribute to society? • How will you contribute to society? (e.g., outreach, with your research)? • NOTE: This subsection CANNOT be an afterthought. You need to provide specific ideas/details about intended/scheduled plans.

40. Essay 2 – Essay Prompt and Tips • Convince reviewers that you will become a globally engaged knowledge expert and leader who can contribute significantly to research, education, and innovations in science and engineering.

41. Reference Letters • Three reference letters should be submitted electronically by the reference writers by the reference letter deadline, November 01, 5:00 p.m. ET • If two reference letters are not received by the reference letter deadline and time, the application will be returned without review. • Applicants can list up to 5 potential references, but then must rank the references. Note: One should be your current research mentor.

42. Reference Letters • Limited to 2 pages; 12-point font Times New Roman • Use letterhead and include the following information: • Name and title of reference writer • Department • Institution or organization.

43. Reference Letters - Tips • Include details explaining: • The nature of the relationship to the applicant; • The applicant's potential for contributing to a globally-engaged United States science and engineering workforce; • Statements about the applicant's academic potential and prior research experiences; • Statements about the applicant's proposed research; and • How the applicant meets the NSF Merit Review Criteria of Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts

44. Reference Letters - Tips • Indicate his or her department and institution, and how long they have known you, and in what capacity. • On the basis of knowledge of your past and current research experience and activities, comment on your potential to do the following: • Succeed in graduate school Conduct original research • Communicate effectively Work cooperatively • Make unique contributions to your chosen discipline and to society in general. • If he or she has known or supervised other NSF Graduate Research Fellows, compare you with them. Otherwise, compare you to other successful graduate students or senior undergraduates that he or she has known in their institution or through interactions with other institutions. • Comment on the broader impacts of supporting you, including your leadership potential in the chosen field of graduate work and in general, as a member of the scientific and technical community. • Note that the more specific (as opposed to generic) a letter the referee can provide, the better. • If the referee is your research supervisor, the referee should comment on the originality of your proposal, and communicate what role he or she played in assisting you with the proposal.

45. Moving Forward? • Here are the steps: • Tell the following people you are moving forward with an application: • your research mentor/potential faculty mentor • your references • us, male-bru@ohio.edu • Share this ppt with your mentor/references • Work out a plan for how you will tackle the 2 essays. • What order makes the most sense for you? • Who can help with each of the essays? • If you would like help with your application: • Tell us, male-bru@ohio.edu • IF your faculty mentor has not recently mentored an NSF GRFP application, they MUST meet with Roxanne (or one of the other faculty advisors) to go over the guidelines and expectations for mentors. • Email us, male-bru@ohio.edu, your CV/resume • We will review early drafts of the Personal Statement. • Please work with your faculty advisor on early drafts of the Research Statement; we will review later drafts.