NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) is one of the oldest and most prestigious fellowships in the country. The University of Wisconsin-Madison is proud to be a leading university in GRFP recipients and strongly encourages senior undergraduates, and early-career graduate students to apply to this fellowship. The GRFP is fundamentally an investment in graduate students as future researchers, not in a specific research project. In Fall 2020, the Graduate School offered 4 workshops for GRFP applicants. Links to workshop recordings and materials can be found below.

Some reasons to apply include:

• 3 years of full funding, including tuition, fees, and health insurance benefits
• Annual stipend of $34,000
• No work requirements

Eligibility Requirements

• US citizen or permanent resident
• No more than 1 completed year of graduate studies
• Enrollment in research-focused STEM or STEM-education program

2020 Deadlines

• Life Sciences – October 19th 
• Computer and Information Science and Engineering; Materials Research; Psychology; Social Sciences; STEM Education – October 20th
• Engineering – October 21st
• Chemistry; Geosciences; Mathematical Sciences; Physics; Astronomy – October 22nd

Application materials

• Personal information
• CV
• Transcripts
• Proposed field of study
• Graduate school information
• 2-3 letters of reference
• Personal, relevant background and future goals (3 pages maximum)
• Graduate research plan statement (2 pages maximum including figures and citations)

Key criteria to address in both written sections and letters of reference

• The Broader Impacts of your work as a researcher, or the potential of your research to improve social outcomes
• Your Intellectual Merit as a researcher, or potential to advance knowledge in your field

2020 Workshop Materials and Recordings

Informational session and student panel recording (password hFXxmnZ5) & slides

Broader Impacts workshop materials and recording (you must be logged into Google with your netID to access)
Cosponsored by the Delta Program, WISCIENCE, and the Discovery Building’s public
engagement with science programs supported by the Wisconsin Alumni Research
Foundation, Morgridge Institute for Research, and the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery 

Faculty Review Panels

Engineering

Biological and Physical Sciences

STEM education and Social Sciences

Peer Review Guide (you must be logged into Google with your netID to access)

If you have questions about the GRFP or would like support with your application, please contact the Graduate School's Fellowships Officer, Nathaniel Haack, at offr@grad.wisc.edu or 608-265-5522. The Writing Center is also available as a resource for applicants.