FAQ | 2022 NSF Workshop

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a cost to attend the workshop?

The workshop itself is supported by NSF Division of Chemistry under award #2417805, so there is no registration fee and the grant covers meals during the hours of the workshop. Attendees are responsible for travel and lodging costs, as well as meals that do not occur during workshop hours. You are encouraged to speak with your Department Chair or Dean to request support for these costs.

Is travel support available?

Travel support is available for a limited number of applicants who do not have access to funds to support their attendance. If you are interested in applying for support, you will have the opportunity to indicate that fact and provide a reason for your request during the application process. Because funds are limited, we cannot guarantee support for all applicants who request it.

Eligible applicants must not have received federal funding as an independent investigator in direct support of their research.

If you are a PI on a grant from a non-NSF federal agency, like the Army Research Office or NIH, but you do not have NSF funding, you are NOT eligible. Due to the large number of applicants expected, funding from any federal source will disqualify you from attending the workshop.
If you are a PI or a co-PI on an NSF instrument grant (MRI) or REU grant, you are eligible. Only receipt of federal funding that can be used for direct support of a faculty member’s research group precludes being selected for the workshop.
If you participated as a PI or co-PI on a training grant such as a K99, you are eligible. If you have not received conventional funding while a faculty member, we will consider your application. If you have questions about a program not mentioned above please contact the organizers.

Applicants must be eligible to submit an NSF CAREER proposal in 2024 and/or 2025.

You can find the complete description of who is eligible to apply for an NSF CAREER grant on the NSF website. The current NSF CAREER award solicitation is available here.
If you are currently a postdoctoral fellow and will start a faculty position in the Fall of 2024, you are eligible to apply.

My research is interdisciplinary. Am I eligible to attend?

If your research could be supported by any NSF Division of Chemistry program, we will consider your application.

Why is the number of applicants from a department being restricted?

In order for mentors and program officers to provide substantive and personalized feedback to participants in the workshop, we regrettably need to limit the number of attendees. Therefore, to streamline the selection process, we are limiting each department to one applicant, see below for exceptions.

Are there any exceptions to the one nominee per department?

Yes. We will make exceptions for applicants that come from URM groups and/or EPSCoR states.

If there are two applicants from the same department and one applicant comes from a group underrepresented in STEM fields, then two nominations from the same department are permitted. For more information about groups underrepresented in STEM fields, including women, minorities and persons with diabilities, please visit this link. If one of the attendees participated in a previous year's virtual format, we will allow two applicants to come from the same department this year.

What should I do if there are two excellent potential nominees in the same department?

Other early career workshops such those hosted by NIH or ASBMBare also highly effective. One nominee could attend that workshop while the other attends this one. If the workshop is run again next year, one applicant can attend this year, and one can attend next year.

Why am I creating a presentation on my project as a participant?

In order to get meaningful feedback from mentors and program managers, we need to know more about your project. We are asking you to prepare a presentation that summarizes the scientific and integrated educational activities associated with your project. In particular, we are asking that your presentation address both NSF review criteria: Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts.