ICYMI: Changes Made to NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program

Last month, the National Science Foundation released the latest solicitation for its Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), which is typically made available in July. The solicitation states that it still intends to announce awards in April, consistent with previous years, despite the delay in releasing the opportunity. The deadline for social, behavioral and economic sciences, STEM education and learning, and psychology is November 12.

The GRFP has seen its share of challenges over the years, most recently being the major reduction in awards in 2025 and greater emphasis on computer science among the awardees.

Several concerns have been expressed by the research community in response to this new solicitation. The first is the response deadline, which according to the NSF should be “a minimum of 90 days from NSF’s announcement…” The new solicitation provides about half that time for applications to prepare and submit their proposals. In addition, this year’s competition excludes second year students as eligible applicants, a change from past competitions. In an October 17 letter to NSF from Democrats on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Haley Stevens (D-MI) state: “While changing the eligibility requirements of the GRFP is within NSF’s authority, it is cruel and destabilizing to do so without at least a year’s warning to the graduate student community.”

Finally, while certain areas of study have been ineligible in the past, such as those in health-related and practice-oriented fields, the new solicitation now explicitly excludes clinical psychology.