In the Season 2 Finale, Jill sits down with Dr. Alena Alamgir, Director of Technical Communication for Materials Science at Georgia Tech. The two discuss preparing documentation and application materials for the highly competitive National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program, or NSF GRFP. 

Show Notes and Timestamps:

• 00:54 Intro and Welcome
• 01:33 The Basics: What is NSF GRFP?
• 04:07 How many years does the Fellowship fund?
• 04:59 Restraints on who can apply
• 05:59 Documentation and Composing Required Documents
• 13:48 Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts as Criteria in Practice
• 18:00 Practicing Framing Research Problems to Align with NSF Priorities
• 20:38 Questions for advisors before applying
• 22:14 Considering and soliciting recommendation letters
• 30:13 Preparing for Applicant Workshops and Primary Purpose of Workshop Attendance
• 36:05 How to get the most out of attending the workshops and actionable steps for applying
• 39:43 When the solicitation comes out and episode wrap up

A transcript of this episode is available here. 

We will return for Season 3 of Communication Mechanics in the Fall of 2025. 

Episode edited by Lee Hibbard.