Overview of the DOE Office of Science Graduate Fellowship Program

1. Overview of the DOE Office of ScienceGraduate Fellowship Program Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee Meeting March 3, 2010 Julie Carruthers, Ph.D. Office of the Deputy Director for Science ProgramsOffice of Science, U.S. Department of Energy

2. DOE Office of Science Graduate Fellowship Program • DOE SCGF Purpose: • Support outstanding students pursuing advanced degrees in basic research in areas of physics, biology, chemistry, mathematics, engineering, computational sciences, and environmental sciences relevant to the Office of Science and DOE mission, and • Encourage the development of the next generation of scientific and technical workforce in the U.S. in order to stay at the forefront of science and innovation. • FY 2010: About 160 awards will be made this Spring • $5M [appropriated] will support the first year of ~ 80 graduate fellowships • $12.5M [Recovery Act] will forward fund ~80 graduate fellowships for 3 years • FY 2011 Request: $15M • $10M increase will support a new cohort of ~170 students DOE SCGF

3. DOE SCGF Program Development & Management • The Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS), in consultation with the SC Office of the Deputy Director for Science Programs, developed the program plan and schedule. The program plan was approved by the Deputy Director for Programs. WDTS Leads: Bill Valdez, WDTS Director Sue Ellen Walbridge, WDTS Program Manager • The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) is providing administrative support for the peer review of applications and administration of awards. • A Working Group of Office of Science program managers from all Science programs was developed to provide technical input and assistance with the peer review of applications. DOE SCGF

4. Fellowship Benefits The DOE SCGF is a three-year award, totaling $50,500 per year • $35,000 annual living stipend • $10,500 towards tuition and fees • $5,000 annual research stipend for research supplies, travel to conferences, and travel to DOE user facilities Annual DOE SCGF Research Conference Each year WDTS will hold a summer research conference at one of the DOE national laboratories. The conference will: • Provide an opportunity for fellows of the DOE SCGF program to present their research to other fellows and to invited researchers from universities and the DOE laboratories. • Include guest lectures, tours of the host laboratory, professional development seminars, and workshops on how to access the DOE user facilities and collaborate with national laboratory researchers. • Serve as an orientation for new fellows. DOE SCGF

5. Eligibility and Application Eligibility • U.S. citizen • A senior undergraduate or first or second year graduate student at the time of applying • Pursuing an advanced degree in areas of basic research important to the Office of Science and DOE missions Application • Application: Academic history, awards, publications, two essays (personal statement, proposed plan of research) • Transcripts • Three letters of recommendation DOE SCGF

6. Review Process for Applications The peer review process was developed to handle 8,000 to 10,000 applications • Eligibility and Compliance Review (internal) • Determine whether applications were responsive to the call. • Online Peer Review: • Each application receives three independent reviews by subject matter experts in the application’s area of proposed graduate research • Onsite Merit Review Panels • The top 500-600 applications based on the reviews from the online peer review are selected to be the focus of the onsite merit review panels. The goal of the merit review panels is to evaluate fellowship applications across the scientific disciplines based on the established merit review criteria. DOE SCGF

7. DOE SCGF Working Group Office of Science program manager participation is integral to the execution of the DOE SCGF program in its inaugural year. • Expert program managers were nominated by their Associate Directors. • 2-3 program managers from each Office of Science program participate in the Working Group. • Program managers provide valuable technical advice on the peer review process, and have participated in the peer review by: • Reviewing applications in the Eligibility Review • Recruiting and selecting reviewers for the Online and Onsite Reviews • Serving as proctors for the Online and Onsite Reviews DOE SCGF

8. DOE SCGF Working Group (Thank you!) DOE SCGF

9. Timeline • September 30, 2009: Program Announced, Accepting applications • November 30, 2010: Applications Due [~3200 received] • Jan. 22-Feb. 21, 2010: Online Peer Review • Mid-March, 2010: Onsite Merit Review Panels • ~ March 31, 2010: Announcement of Selections http://www.scied.science.doe.gov/SCGF.html DOE SCGF

10. Next Steps Following the selection of the FY 2010 awards: • Solicit feedback on the process from reviewers and the Working Group • Compile lessons learned; establish plan for implementing changes for the FY 2011 process • WDTS COV, May 2010 • Finalize FY 2010 awards, May 2010 • Disperse funds for tuition to academic institutions, August 2010 • Disperse first stipends to students, September 2010 • Issue FY 2011 call for applications, Fall 2010 DOE SCGF

11. Thank You julie.carruthers@science.doe.gov DOE SCGF