Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

Upper  $46,000USD

An eligible applicant may submit only one application per annual competition.

Organization Limit:
Fellowship applications must be submitted by the prospective Fellow. Applicants must register with FastLane prior to submitting an application. Confirmation of acceptance in a graduate degree program in science or engineering is required at the time of Fellowship acceptance, no later than May 1 of the year the award is accepted. Prospective Fellows must enroll in a university, college, or non-profit academic institution of higher education accredited in, and having a campus located in, the United States, its territories, or possessions, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico that offers advanced degrees in STEM or STEM education no later than fall of the year the award is accepted. All Fellows from the date of Acceptance through Completion or Termination of the Fellowship must be affiliated with a graduate degree-granting institution accredited in, and having a campus located in, the United States, its territories, or possessions, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Applicant Eligibility:
Applicants must self-certify that they are eligible to receive the Fellowship.

Categories of applicants that are ineligible:
Those who do not hold United States citizenship, national, or permanent resident status by the application deadline.

Those who were previously awarded a Fellowship from the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program and accepted it.

Those who did not accept the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and failed to notify NSF by the published deadline for accepting the Fellowship.

Those who have completed the requirements for any graduate or professional degree by August 1 of the year the application is submitted, except 1) applicants who have completed a joint baccalaureate-master’s (BS/MS) program and have not completed any further graduate study outside the joint program unless the graduate coursework was required to establish or maintain credentials in a profession such as teaching; or 2) applicants that have had an interruption in graduate study of at least two consecutive years prior to November 1 of the year the application is submitted and have completed no additional graduate study as of August 1 of the year the application is submitted.

As an undergraduate:
– Individuals may apply as an undergraduate senior as well as post-baccalaureate, before beginning graduate training.

As a graduate student:
– Effective as of the 2017 competition (Fall 2016 deadlines), graduate students are limited to only one application to the GRFP, submitted either in the first year or in the second year of graduate school. An exception is provided for first-year graduate students who applied in Fall 2015 to the 2016 GRFP competition; these individuals may apply a second time in Fall 2016, if they are otherwise eligible. All other graduate students are subject to the new eligibility requirements. The community was notified of this change in Dear Colleague Letter NSF 16-050.
– Applications that are not reviewed by GRFP (i.e., are withdrawn before review or are returned without review) do not count toward the one-application limit for graduate students, submitted either in their first year or in their second year of graduate school.
– Graduate students may withdraw a submitted GRFP application without it being counted toward the one-application limit if they do so by November 15 of the application year. Any application withdrawn after November 15 of the application year counts toward the one-application limit.

As an individual returning to graduate education:
Applicants who have completed more than twelve months of graduate study or have earned a previous graduate or professional degree are eligible only if they have had an interruption in graduate study of at least two consecutive years prior to November 1 of the year the application is submitted. To be eligible, applicants must have completed no additional graduate study by August 1 of that year. Applicants must address the reasons for the interruption in graduate study in the Personal, Relevant Background and Future Goals Statement.