I wrote this post in the summer of 2022 and a lot has changed since then! While it is still a useful primer for getting a general overview of what candidacy can look like, it doesn’t provide more granular, experiential details. Now that I am a PhD Candidate, I want to tell my story and answer questions I have been asked by eager PhD students. *I will reference the candidacy exam as the “A-Exam” as that is the terminology of my university. ...
Okay, I wrote “The Qualifying Exam” and “A PhD Candidacy Postmortem,” so check those out too. This post is going to be more straightforward questions I have been asked and my perspective on them! What is “candidacy” or “the qualifying exam”? See The Qualifying Exam for a thorough answer, but for here: it is a milestone that marks the transition from student to candidate, which typically means that you begin dissertation work. ...
The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program is widely considered “the” fellowship to win. Not only does it provide some of the most generous funding available, but it also lends a type of academic credibility unmatched by other fellowship programs. It’s reputation is so significant that STEM and STEM-adjacent fields simply refer to it as “the NSF.” As mentioned above, the NSF GRFP has both a unique function and funding package. The goal of the NSF GRFP “… is to help ensure the quality, vitality, and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States.” Ultimately, the GRFP is a retention tool, it is a sure fire way to ensure students finish the PhD, which is not a guarantee. This is reflected in the funding package, which is valued at $159,000. Broken down, that is three-years of funding covering $16,000 for education and $37,000 of living stipend each year. Fairly unique to this fellowship is the duration (three-years is a long time) and holistic funding (both education and living expenses). This essentially provides the winning students three-years of independent, research-focused study (and rent!). A dream for any graduate students who have balanced (multiple) teaching assistant positions, courses, and fitting in research. The outcome is three full academic years of research agency. All with no requirement for publication/topic consistency. It’s pretty clear that this is a life-changing form of funding. ...