National Science Foundation – Graduate Research Fellowships (NSF-GRF)
Application:
The NSF GRFP applications are accepted annually from mid-summer through early fall. Deadlines vary each year and depend on the applicant’s field of study. Visit the program website for the latest information.
URL: Home – NSF Graduate Research Fellowships Program (GRFP) (nsfgrfp.org)
Description:
The NSF-GRF is one of the nation’s premier fellowships for graduate students. Fellowships support students pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in the sciences, engineering, and social sciences. The three-year fellowship provides a stipend, a cost-of-education allowance, international research opportunities, internships with federal agencies, and access to supercomputing facilities.
Eligible fields of study: Chemistry, Computer & Information Science & Engineering, Engineering, Geosciences, Life Sciences, Materials Research, Mathematical Sciences, Physics and Astronomy, Psychology (except clinical/counseling), Social Sciences, and STEM Education & Learning Research. See the full list of eligible fields in the Appendix of the Program Solicitation.
Ineligible fields of study: Joint professional degree-science programs (MD/PhD, JD/PhD, etc.), medical, dental, law, and public health programs, practice-oriented professional degree programs (MBA, MPH, MSW, JD, MD, DDS, etc.), and clinical study, including patient-oriented research or epidemiological and medical behavioral studies, outcomes research and health services research. Graduate study focused on community and other population-based medical intervention trials are also ineligible. However, research projects in bioengineering to aid persons with disabilities or to diagnose or treat human disease are eligible, provided they apply engineering principles to problems in medicine while primarily advancing engineering knowledge. See the GRF Program Solicitation for complete details on eligible and ineligible fields.
Eligibility:
- Applicants must be U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent residents.
- Applicants must intend to enroll or be enrolled full-time in a US research-based master’s or doctoral degree program in an eligible field of study in STEM or STEM education.
- Applicants must be one of the following:
- an undergraduate senior
- a college graduate preparing to enter graduate school
- a 1st-year graduate student
- a 2nd-year graduate student
- NOTE: Graduate students are limited to only one application to the GRFP, submitted either in the first year OR the second year of graduate school.
- Applicants must never have earned a doctoral or terminal degree in any field.
- Applicants must not have completed more than one academic year of graduate study as indicated in the academic transcript issued by the Registrar of the universities attended, as of the application deadline. Participation in pre-graduate summer activities PRIOR TO graduate status as indicated in the academic transcript issued by the Registrar before the start of the fall graduate program is not included in this total. Graduate status is understood to begin on the date indicated on the Registrar-issued transcript and ALL activities after that date will be considered graduate activities. Graduate coursework taken without being enrolled in a graduate degree-granting program is not counted in this limit.
- Individuals holding joint Bachelor’s-Master’s degrees who did not progress directly to a doctoral program the semester following award of the joint degree must apply as returning graduate students (see below);
- Individuals with prior graduate enrollment [i.e., returning graduate students] who have: (i) completed more than one academic year in any graduate degree-granting program, (ii) earned a previous master’s degree of any kind (including Bachelor’s-Master’s degree), or (iii) earned a professional degree must meet the following requirements:
- not enrolled in a graduate degree program at application deadline, AND
- two or more consecutive years past graduate degree enrollment or completion at the application deadline.
Award Disbursement:
- The GRF provides three years of funding, which can be distributed over five years. During a funded year, a Fellow is designated as “active.” During a non-funded year, the Fellow is designated as “on reserve.” Fellows can choose which three years during the five to be “active.”
- GRFs cannot be concurrently accepted or combined with another US government fellowship, irrespective of Fellow’s GRF funding status (i.e., “on reserve” or “active”).
Award Amount:
- $37,000 stipend during each of the three “active” years.
- $16,000 cost-of-education allowance during each of the “active” years.
Application Materials:
- Personal, Relevant Background and Future Goals Statement (3 pages).
- Graduate Research Plan Statement (2 pages).
- Transcripts.
- Three letters of reference.
Evaluation Criteria:
Applications will be evaluated according to NSF’s two evaluation criteria: Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts. Applicants should familiarize themselves thoroughly with these two criteria. To do this, read the Program Solicitation and the Helpful Resources listed below and talk with your advisor and other letter writers. Your essays should address BOTH criteria explicitly.
If this information is out of date, please email bret.career.development@vanderbilt.edu to let us know.