NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

The purpose of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) is to help ensure the quality, vitality, and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing full-time research-based master's and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) or in STEM education. The GRFP provides three years of support over a five-year fellowship period for the graduate education of individuals who have demonstrated their potential for significant research achievements in STEM or STEM education. NSF actively encourages submission of applications from the full spectrum of diverse talent in STEM.

The five-year fellowship provides three years of financial support inclusive of an annual stipend of $37,000 as well as professional development opportunities.

Eligibility Requirements

• Be a U.S. citizen, national, or permanent resident
• Intend to enroll or be enrolled in a research-based master’s or doctoral degree program in an eligible Field of Study in STEM or STEM education (listed below)
• Have never previously accepted a Graduate Research Fellowship
• If previously offered a Graduate Research Fellowship, have declined by the acceptance deadline
• Have never previously applied to GRFP while enrolled in a graduate degree program
• Have never earned a doctoral or terminal degree in any field
• Have never earned a master’s or professional degree in any field, or completed more than one academic year in a graduate degree-granting program, unless (i) returning to graduate study after an interruption of two or more consecutive years immediately preceding the application deadline, and; (ii) not enrolled in a graduate degree program at the application deadline
• Not be a current NSF employee

Deadlines

Application deadline varies by academic discipline (must received by 5 p.m. local time of applicant’s mailing address):

October 11, 2024: All reference letters must be submitted

October 15, 2024: Chemistry; Geosciences, Mathematical Sciences; Physics and Astronomy

October 16, 2024: Life Sciences

October 17, 2024: Engineering

October 18, 2024: Computer and Information Science and Engineering; Materials Research; Psychology; Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences; STEM Education and Learning

Information Session

On September 12, 2024, the Office of Graduate Student Assistantships and Fellowships hosted an information session about this award. Please refer to the information session slide deck below to learn more:

Eligible Fields of Study

CHEMISTRY

Subfields:

• Artificial Intelligence
• Chemical Catalysis
• Chemical Measurement and Imaging
• Chemical Structure, Dynamics, and Mechanism
• Chemical Synthesis
• Chemical Theory, Models and Computational Methods
• Chemistry of Life Processes
• Computationally Intensive Research
• Environmental Chemical Systems
• Macromolecular, Supramolecular, and Nanochemistry
• Other (specify)
• Quantum Information Science
• Sustainable Chemistry

COMPUTER AND INFORMATION SCIENCES & ENGINEERING

Subfields:

• Accessibility
• Algorithms and Theoretical Foundations
• Artificial Intelligence
• Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality, Graphics, and Visualization
• Bioinformatics and Bio-inspired Computing
• Communication and Information Theory
• Computationally Intensive Research
• Computer Architecture
• Computer Security and Privacy
• Computer Systems
• Computer Vision
• Cyber-Physical Systems and Embedded Systems
• Cybersecurity
• Data Science, Data Mining, Information Retrieval and Databases
• Electronic Design Automation and Design of Micro and Nano Computing Systems
• Fairness, Explainability, Accountability and Transparency in Analytics
• Formal Methods, Verification, and Programming Languages
• Human Computer Interaction
• Information Sciences
• Machine Learning
• Natural Language Processing
• Other (specify)
• Parallel, Distributed, and Cloud Computing
• Quantum Information Science
• Robotics
• Scientific Computing
• Social Computing
• Software Engineering
• Wired and Wireless Networking

ENGINEERING

Subfields:

• Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineering
• Artificial Intelligence
• Bioengineering
• Biomedical Engineering
• Chemical Engineering
• Civil Engineering
• Computationally Intensive Research
• Computer Engineering
• Electrical and Electronic Engineering
• Energy Engineering
• Environmental Engineering
• Industrial Engineering & Operations Research
• Manufacturing Engineering
• Materials Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Nuclear Engineering
• Ocean Engineering
• Optical Engineering
• Other (specify)
• Quantum Engineering
• Quantum Information Science
• Systems Engineering
• Wireless Engineering

GEOSCIENCES

Subfields:

• Aeronomy
• Artificial Intelligence
• Arctic-Antarctic
• Atmospheric Chemistry
• Biogeochemistry
• Biological Oceanography
• Chemical Oceanography
• Climate and Large-Scale Atmospheric Dynamics
• Coastal Marine Science
• Coastal Studies
• Computationally Intensive Research
• Earth System Science
• Environmental Science
• Geobiology
• Geochemistry
• Geochronology
• Geodynamics
• Geoinformatics
• Geology
• Geomorphology
• Geophysics
• Glaciology
• Heliospheric Physics
• Hydrology
• Magnetospheric Physics
• Marine Biology
• Marine Ecology
• Marine Geology and Geophysics
• Ocean Technology (ROVs, AUVs, sensors)
• Other (specify)
• Paleoclimate
• Paleontology and Paleobiology
• Petrology
• Physical and Dynamic Meteorology
• Physical Oceanography
• Quantum Information Science
• Remote Sensing
• Sea Ice
• Sedimentary Geology
• Solar Physics
• Tectonics
• Volcanology

LIFE SCIENCES

Subfields:

• Artificial Intelligence
• Biochemistry
• Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
• Biophysics
• Cell Biology
• Computationally Intensive Research
• Developmental Biology
• Ecology
• Environmental Biology
• Evolutionary Biology
• Genetics
• Genomics
• Microbial Biology
• Neurosciences
• Organismal Biology
• Other (specify)
• Physiology
• Proteomics
• Quantum Information Science
• Structural Biology
• Systematics and Biodiversity
• Systems and Molecular Biology

MATERIALS RESEARCH

Subfields:

• Artificial Intelligence
• Biomaterials
• Ceramics
• Chemistry of Materials
• Computationally Intensive Research
• Electronic Materials
• Materials Theory
• Metallic Materials
• Other (specify)
• Photonic Materials
• Physics of Materials
• Polymers
• Quantum Information Science

MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES

Subfields:

• Algebra, Number Theory, and Combinatorics
• Analysis
• Applied Mathematics
• Artificial Intelligence
• Biostatistics
• Computational and Data-enabled Science
• Computational Mathematics
• Computational Statistics
• Computationally Intensive Research
• Geometric Analysis
• Logic or Foundations of Mathematics 
• Mathematical Biology
• Other (specify)
• Probability
• Quantum Information Science
• Statistics
• Topology

PHYSICS & ASTRONOMY

Subfields:

• Artificial Intelligence
• Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics
• Computationally Intensive Research
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Nuclear Physics
• Other (specify)
• Particle Physics
• Physics of Living Systems
• Plasma Physics
• Quantum Information Science
• Solid State Physics
• Theoretical Physics

PSYCHOLOGY

• Artificial Intelligence
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Comparative Psychology
• Computational Psychology
• Computationally Intensive Research
• Developmental Psychology
• Industrial/Organizational Psychology
• Neuropsychology
• Other (specify)
• Perception and Psychophysics
• Personality and Individual Differences
• Physiological Psychology
• Psycholinguistics
• Quantitative Psychology
• Quantum Information Science
• Social/Affective Neuroscience
• Social Psychology

SOCIAL SCIENCES

Subfields:

• Anthropology, other (specify)
• Archaeology
• Artificial Intelligence
• Biological Anthropology
• Communications
• Computationally Intensive Research
• Cultural Anthropology
• Cybersecurity
• Decision Making and Risk Analysis
• Economics
• Geography
• History and Philosophy of Science
• International Relations
• Law and Social Science
• Linguistic Anthropology
• Linguistics
• Medical Anthropology
• Other (specify)
• Political Science
• Public Policy
• Quantum Information Science
• Science Policy
• Sociology
• Urban and Regional Planning

STEM EDUCATION AND LEARNING RESEARCH

Subfields:

• Artificial Intelligence
• Computationally Intensive Research
• Engineering Education
• Mathematics Education
• Other (specify)
• Quantum Information Science
• Science Education
• Technology Education