EconForeThought Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 ...and now that most admissions notices are out, here we are waiting for the NSF decisions! Feel free to post your topic and other thoughts here. Looks like results should be out within 2 weeks. :whistle: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliephant Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 You Americans are so lucky. The Canadian equivalent - SSHRC awards - probably won't be out until early May, if that. But I'm rooting for everyone who applied for external funding. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsimonoce Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I applied, but I wrote 90% of the essays the day before the deadline. I found out late so I did it just for signaling purposes. Furthermore, I found a MAJOR typo in the first sentence of the research proposal, so I'm pretty sure I won't even get honorable mention. I may not even check when the results come out. But good luck to everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AREStudentHopeful Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 You don't have to check, they send you an email as soon as it comes out! Good luck everyone! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
econslave Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I don't think there's any reason to worry. The truth is, from what I've been told by people who have served on NSF evaluation committees, there is a lot of randomness in the selection process. In most cases, NSF fellowships simply crowd out departmental or university fellowships, so often decisions are made not completely based on merit, but on how much the applicant "needs" the funding compared to others. People I know who have applied in the past have gotten fairly disparate reviews, indicating that your fate is largely based on those reviewing your application. This is not to say that people who win an NSF are not deserving. However, if you don't, it doesn't mean you shouldn't have won, or wouldn't have won if different reviewers read your materials. Since in some ways, the NSF is a lottery, best of luck to those who applied. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EconForeThought Posted March 30, 2011 Author Share Posted March 30, 2011 Oh, and I applied to the interdisciplinary field as mine was a mix of engineering, biology, and economics. I wonder if the odds are better there or in the straight econ field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Refused Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 In most cases, NSF fellowships simply crowd out departmental or university fellowships, so often decisions are made not completely based on merit, but on how much the applicant "needs" the funding compared to others. Interesting - are you saying that NSF evaluators are aware of whether an applicant has a university fellowship already, or that once someone gets an NSF their university fellowship goes to someone else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AREStudentHopeful Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Oh, and I applied to the interdisciplinary field as mine was a mix of engineering, biology, and economics. I wonder if the odds are better there or in the straight econ field. According to the professors that I talked to who gave my recommendations, this is usually not the case. They suggested that I stress the potential for interdisciplinary gains in my proposal but to only actually submit the proposal to a single field. They said that you usually have a better chance this way. Take in mind that this was from their experience with NSF grants in general, not the graduate fellowship specifically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EconForeThought Posted March 30, 2011 Author Share Posted March 30, 2011 According to the professors that I talked to who gave my recommendations, this is usually not the case. They suggested that I stress the potential for interdisciplinary gains in my proposal but to only actually submit the proposal to a single field. They said that you usually have a better chance this way. Take in mind that this was from their experience with NSF grants in general, not the graduate fellowship specifically. Hmm... interesting. Oh well, I don't think it's going to win either way. What was your topic ARE? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AREStudentHopeful Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Yeah, I'm hoping for an honorable mention for my efforts :D. My topic involved using hedonic sorting models that include rules for forward-looking agents and moving costs to first evaluate past air quality policy changes and then calibrate it using empirical data to provide a tool for simulation of future policies for air quality regulation that can assess total welfare effects and break down to demographic (namely income) welfare effects. What about you (and any others who want to share their topic)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EconForeThought Posted March 30, 2011 Author Share Posted March 30, 2011 Wow that sounds interesting. I'd say economics was probably the least involved of any of the fields in my topic. Being from a bio sci background with some engineering knowlege, I chose to focus on those two to exploit my comparative advantage. My proposal involved using winery waste as biomass for a number of conversion processes, including microbial conversion, combustion, anaerobic digestion, and fuel cells. Also, mentioned how these technologies could be used by cooperatives etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
econslave Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Interesting - are you saying that NSF evaluators are aware of whether an applicant has a university fellowship already, or that once someone gets an NSF their university fellowship goes to someone else? There's no way to know whether evaluators know for certain whether an applicant has a university fellowship or TA-ship. But there are programs in which every person admitted has full funding. I also think that many of the evaluators know the typical funding packages offered by various university departments (for instance, Chicago is known to extend a lot of unfunded offers, and many state schools are less generous than private ones). Of course, there's no way to know for sure since it's a black box. This is just what I've gathered from people I've spoken to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliephant Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 ^ But the NSF committee doesn't know where an applicant will be matriculating at the time NSF decisions are made, so how can that information enter the deliberation process? (Or is my assumption misguided?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
econslave Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 ^ But the NSF committee doesn't know where an applicant will be matriculating at the time NSF decisions are made, so how can that information enter the deliberation process? (Or is my assumption misguided?) Those who are not already in graduate school do specified a proposed program, although it often works out that people attend programs different from those they specify. For those who apply after having started graduate school, the institution is known. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popolo2 Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 For those of us who will be applying for the NSF next year (for the first time): how long were your proposals, at least the "research plan" part? Did the NSF specify a word limit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AREStudentHopeful Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 There's a 2 page limit and you should generally try to fill that two pages to the limit. That includes your reference section, so it's a rather small space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EconForeThought Posted March 31, 2011 Author Share Posted March 31, 2011 The two page limit really hurt. So hard to cram all your ideas in there-- it definitely is an art! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AREStudentHopeful Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 It definitely is; having spent about 2-3 months developing and researching that topic made that length seem so short. That being said, it allows you to have a little more leeway once you get in the program as far as your exact research path since you can only put so many specifics in two pages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oyvey Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 bumping this thread http://www.www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/121860-nsf-funding-info.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Lime Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 I have a good friend who applied and I'm calling it right here, right now.. in fact I am guaranteeing: he will win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chisquared Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 I have a good friend who applied and I'm calling it right here, right now.. in fact I am guaranteeing: he will win. Cool. Out of curiosity, what makes you so confident about him winning? Where's your friend going to grad school, by the way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Lime Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Cool. Out of curiosity, what makes you so confident about him winning? Where's your friend going to grad school, by the way? Because he's my friend, the aura rubs off. He got into a few top programs, if I were to wager I'd say most likely he'll be at HBS bus econ in the fall, but who knows, the NSF might change that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veeting Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 Anyone out there waiting to see if they won an NSF but was shut out of all their grad schools? That's the situation I find myself in, which concerns me because one of the rules for accepting the award was admission into a grad school.... Anyone have any advice or input? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliephant Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 If you win the NSF and let them know, some schools might decide to reopen your file. This has (occasionally) happened in the past - search the forum. In particular, look for posts by jeeves0923 and Elly. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeeves0923 Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 Anyone out there waiting to see if they won an NSF but was shut out of all their grad schools? That's the situation I find myself in, which concerns me because one of the rules for accepting the award was admission into a grad school.... Anyone have any advice or input? Someone will definitely take you if you get NSF. No decision is irreversible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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