A SciGal Guide to the NSF GRFP

By Briley Lewis

Photo of a woman running a lab experiment courtesy of the National Cancer Institute

A SciGal Guide to the NSF GRFP

I should probably start by saying that I’m not a tax expert and I’m not a representative of the National Science Foundation — for official, up-to-date information, be sure to check the NSF’s official website. But, I am a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow (oof, what a mouthful!), and can share what I’ve learned from my experiences.

As an undergrad, hoping to get into grad school to get my PhD in astronomy, I heard the same refrain often: “Make sure you apply to the NSF fellowship! It could help your chances of getting in if you get it!” 

Yet, no one really told me what the fellowship was, what it meant (and what it didn’t), or what would be different about grad school if I actually became a fellow. Hopefully this guide can help give you a better idea about what you can expect.

What is the NSF GRFP?

The National Science Foundation, a federal agency founded to “promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense”, funds scientific research in the United States. They administer a fellowship known as the Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), which funds STEM graduate students, paying their tuition, fees, and stipend. Something unique about this funding opportunity is that it is tied neither to a particular research project, nor to a location—instead, the funding follows the graduate student fellow.

What are the benefits?

If offered a fellowship, a graduate student receives “an annual stipend of $34,000 and a cost of education allowance of $12,000 to the institution” for three years. This means that you, the grad student, get a yearly salary of $34,000 and your tuition covered by NSF for about half of your time spent in grad school (assuming you take 6 years).

Most STEM graduate programs already cover a stipend and your tuition if you work as a teaching assistant (TA) or student researcher (GSR)—so what’s the benefit here? At some schools, the $34,000 NSF stipend is more than the average TA/GSR salary, so you could be making more money! Even if that’s not the case, one of the big draws of the GRFP, other than the prestige, is the flexibility it allows you as a graduate student. 

With the GRFP, you’re not tied to finding a TA position or grant money to fund you as a researcher. Instead, you’re guaranteed that yearly salary and don’t need to worry about who is funding you. This means that you can spend more time focusing on research instead of spending time teaching, if that’s important to you. I personally found the GRFP very useful during the year I was taking my comprehensive exams—because of the fellowship, I didn’t have to work on teaching responsibilities at the same time as I was studying for a stressful exam. The GRFP also gives you flexibility to work on any project that interests you, whether or not the project advisor has grant money to fund that work, since your work is paid for by the fellowship.

Being a GRFP awardee also opens the door to other NSF funding opportunities, only available to fellows, such as the GROW program that enables international collaborations.

And if you’re an undergrad approaching grad school apps, you’re probably still wondering: does it actually help with admissions? The short answer is not really. Graduate school offers are usually sent out anywhere from January to March (or even beyond if you’re on a waitlist), but NSF GRFP awardees aren’t usually announced until late March. The GRFP might help if you’re on the cusp of being accepted or if the PI you want to work with would accept you if only they had the funding. It’s still worth a shot, since in the worst case scenario you get practice writing proposals and you can tell prospective advisors that you applied.

What happens when you become a fellow?

As a GRFP fellow, you’ve got 5 years total where you’re part of the program: two “reserve” years and three “tenure” years. This means that you have two years where you need to find funding elsewhere and three years of NSF funding. The fact that you have 5 years in which to use your funding gives some flexibility in planning, in case you want to teach or have other sources of funding from your university. You can either have your funding start in the summer or at the start of the school year in the fall.

These choices—if/when you take your funding each year—are submitted each spring as part of a fellow’s annual report. The one big responsibility you have to NSF each year, which you must complete in order to retain funding, is to submit this report and your funding status choice on time. The report isn’t particularly high stakes, just a way to show NSF how you’ve made use of your funding and what progress you’re making in your professional development and towards your degree.

Not much else is different about your life as a graduate student when you become an NSF fellow—other than some extra opportunities, some congratulations from your colleagues, and a few more emails from the NSF contact person at your institution. And, of course, your taxes.

What does NSF mean for my taxes?

This is the tricky part! Unlike most money you earn as an employee of a university, taxes are usually not deducted from fellowships like the GRFP. That means at the end of the year you can be stuck with a huge tax bill, which can be anything from inconvenient to tragic when you’re not expecting it.

Although the university can’t give you tax advice, there are thankfully some great new resources available online. I personally learned all I know through whispers from older grad students (make sure to talk to them—they have lots of knowledge!) and Emily Roberts’ Personal Finance for PhDs. The most basic step you can take is setting aside a percentage of your income each month (take a look at your tax bracket to see how much it should be) so you have the money you need come tax season. 

When it comes to actually doing your taxes, I personally do everything using an online service like TurboTax—combined with my knowledge about fellowships, qualified education expenses, and my 1098T tax form (Thanks, Emily!), this has been sufficient for me to figure it out so far. The best advice I can give is to start thinking about taxes early, and talk to any other fellows at your institution and in your department to get a feel for the specific financial situation you can expect to be in.

Photo of a woman working at a laptop courtesy of J. Brito

How do you apply?

Knowing more about the GRFP now, you may want to consider applying! 

To be eligible, you must be a U.S. citizen, national, or permanent resident who is intending to enroll in a “research-based Master’s or Ph.D. program in a GRFP-supported field” at an “eligible program at an accredited United States graduate institution, with a US campus, by fall following selection.” You also can’t already have a graduate degree in any field (with some exceptions) or be an NSF employee. 

There are two ways to apply: before graduate school or in the beginning of graduate school.

Before grad school, you’re not limited in the number of times you apply—but can only apply when you intend to start grad school in the upcoming fall term. For example, let’s imagine you apply to both the NSF GRFP and grad school. You don’t get the GRFP, and also you’re not offered admission anywhere (or you decide to defer). You’re allowed to apply again next time you try for grad school, whenever that is! You can not apply twice during grad school, and can’t apply after you’ve finished more than one academic year in grad school. So once you’re enrolled in grad school, you can only apply once during your first or second year of graduate study.

Applying as an undergrad is an interesting challenge—you likely don’t yet know where you’re going, and you don’t yet know what you’ll be working on or who you’ll be working with. The NSF reviewers know this, and you’re not bound to the project you propose; from what I can tell, it’s mostly an exercise in being able to write coherently and knowledgeably about science. Applying as a grad student is a bit more straightforward, since you likely have an idea of your options or maybe have even started to dive into a research project.

One thing that’s important to remember is that although the GRFP is a great opportunity and does come with some prestige, it’s also just one fellowship. As any senior scientist will tell you, part of the job is trying and failing many times until you succeed—especially with grant applications. A wildly large number of qualified scientists apply each year, so if you don’t end up with an award, it’s not a reflection of your ability as a scientist!

There are also some critiques of the NSF GRFP, including that it privileges more traditionally “prestigious” schools. Despite its flaws, I think it’s worth a shot to apply—there’s not really a downside to trying!

Follow Briley’s journey on Twitter @Briles_34 or at her website.