Summer 2022 OGFA Newsletter
Summer is a great time to start working on fellowship and award applications. The Fall fellowship season is busy with most deadlines occurring between August and December. The Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards has created two new Summer Workshop Series to support graduate students in their journey to search and apply for funding opportunities. We hope that many of you will join us this summer! Please note: Space is limited for the Draft-Write-Repeat Writing Workshop Series.
Fellowship Pro-tip: Dealing with Rejection
During the Fall semester you apply for fellowships and awards. In the Spring, you hear back from many of the funding agencies. If you are not selected for an award, how do you deal with the rejection? How do you find the motivation to keep applying? How do you stay motivated about your research/work in action?
First, remember that each year, agencies receive more and more applications making the competition stiff and the selection process rigorous. Selections involve many factors; so it is important not to consider an outcome that is not in your favor, a negative judgment of your worth and work.
Graduate Student Testimony
Ryan Kim, doctorate student in the Department of Physics, recently won a fellowship from the Fermilab to carry out his dissertation research. The FermiLab is a premier particle physics laboratory managed by the Fermi Lab Alliance LLC for the Department of Energy, Office of Science. Ryan will be traveling to the lab in May and spending one or two years there. “It's certainly a great feeling to receive a fellowship after getting rejected from a number of them over the years” he said. When asked to share any advice or guidance that he has learned throughout the process of applying, being rejected, and now being successful, Ryan said:
“I have learned quite a lot in the process! I would be lying to say it feels like the result doesn't matter at all, as it has been validating to get this, yes. But I think it's definitely true that none of my previous applications have ‘gone to waste,’ as I gained valuable experience each time learning to write better about myself and my research pursuits. I'm not sure I have a whole lot of advice I can give, though. Every year I looked for opportunities that I was eligible for, as it seemed like there were funding opportunities looking for students at all different stages of graduate school, so I found and applied for the ones that matched my current status at the time. So I guess if I could say anything to other students, it would be to keep a look out for different opportunities, don't let the rejections keep us down, keep on applying, and learn from each experience.”
Faculty Testimony
Dr. Martin Munro is an Eminent Scholar, a Professor of French and Francophone Studies and the Director of the Winthrop-King Institute for Contemporary French and Francophone Studies at Florida State University. In Spring 2020, he won a coveted fellowship from the National Humanities Center (read more about it here).
"The first time, of very many, I was 'rejected' for a fellowship, I rushed to my professor to tell her the terrible news, looking for solace and sympathy. Instead, all she quite abruptly said was to forget it and move on—she didn’t want to know of how rejected I felt. She was right. Fellowship competitions, at least in the humanities, are like lotteries—you do have to be in it to win it, but your chances are slim at best. It is wrong then to think of such outcomes in terms of rejection or failure. You succeeded in putting together an application, which is always a lot of work, and you will have the chance to apply again. Sometimes, you will get feedback on your application, which you can use to improve and refine your documents. Of course, some people seem to win every fellowship with ease, but then again you do see some lottery winners winning over and again. It is not just luck, of course, but a mixture of a strong research project, a good track record, good recommendations, determination, and yes, a little rub of the green that will bring you success. That might happen with your next application, or it might take twenty years. In the meantime, as my very British professor might have said, you just have to keep applying and carry on."
As Dr. Munro and Ryan Kim attest, rejections are always difficult, but it's important to stay focused and stay positive. Even an unsuccessful fellowship application is a worthy achievement that aids your professional development, and it may help you be successful in the future. You can only win if you keep applying!
If you have won an external award for the current 2021-2022 academic year, we want to celebrate you! Submit your award information here.
If you are interested in applying for fellowships and awards but don’t quite know where to begin, check out the Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards Let’s Meet webpage for more information on how to jumpstart your fellowships and awards journey.
Summer 2022 Professional Development
Funding Your Graduate Education: Database Search
OGFA staff will facilitate small group meetings to assist graduate students with navigating award databases to identify fellowships and awards that are a good "fit" to support their graduate education.
Three-Day Finding Funding Workshop Series
July 11, 13, 15 | 10AM - 12PM | Register here
Don't know much about the process of finding and applying for external funding? This workshop series is for you!
- Day 1: Introduction to the process of finding good fit funding opportunities
- Day 2: Navigating funding databases and organizing a list of awards
- Day 3: Researching funding organizations and planning a funding campaign
Draft-Write-Repeat Writing Workshop Series
July 19, 21, 26, 28 | 10AM - 12:30PM | Register here
Are you planning to apply for a major competitive fellowship in the next six months? If so, this series is for you! Join the OGFA and the Reading-Writing Center for this exciting 4 days of learning and refining effective writing and language strategies for fellowship and award application essays.
- Day 1: Plan. Research the funder and the award, review criteria, make checklist and set goals.
- Day 2: Draft. Getting started with communicating your research and your fit. Thinking holistically across an application.
- Day 3 & 4: Edit. Receive feedback (one on one consultations), edit, & edit more. Set up a plan to turn what you have into a complete application.
Funding Alerts
Funding for International Students
Upcoming Fellowship Deadlines
Humanities Funding Opportunities
Graduate Students in the News
FSU students awarded Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation scholarships for marine science research
Two Florida State University students have received the Guy Harvey Scholarship Award, an honor that recognizes students from Florida colleges and universities whose research focuses on the biology, ecology, habitat or management of fish in Florida’s marine environment. Read more.
FSU students included in the first-ever class of John Lewis Scholars and Fellows
Shaina Ruth, a third-year law student from Jacksonville, is one of 12 fellows who received the honor. The John Robert Lewis Scholars & Fellows Program was established by the Faith and Politics Institute in honor of former congressman and civil rights and voting rights icon John Lewis. Read more.
FSU Career Center recognizes student employees of the year
Honorine Rouiller, Graduate Assistant of the OGFA (The Graduate School) emerged as the top winner at the Florida State University Career Center’s eighth annual Graduate Student Employee of the Year (SEOTY) awards ceremony on April 13. Read more.
FSU chemistry doctoral students awarded Department of Defense SMART scholarships
Jason Kuszynski and Catherine Fabiano, students in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, received the SMART Scholarship Program. The award provides full tuition for up to five years, plus a stipend, summer internships and full-time employment with the Department of Defense after graduation. Read more.
Celebrating Graduate Education
The work and research in action of graduate students at Florida State University broadly impacts the campus community and the world around us. OGFA initiated the Grad Impact: Digital Narratives Project to capture and amplify the lived graduate student experience at FSU. Check out some of our grad student highlights below.
Shari Petti
Film Production
"Knowledge is a gateway, do it"
View Profile
Hannah Smith
Interior Design
"To advance knowledge, innovation, and creativity"
View Profile
Guanxiong Qi
Religion
"Doing scholarship as a profession"
View Profile
Alberto Garcia Marrero
Juris Doctor
"It changes how you think, dramatically"
View Profile
Amber Noor Mustafa
International and Multicultural Education
"Exploration is life!"
View Profile
Mark Buckwalter
Finance
"Education positively impacts future generations"
View Profile
Click here to see more #Gradimpact student profiles.
Graduate Assistantship Hub Coming Soon!
Your voices have been heard! Over the years, students have inquired about assistantship opportunities and more importantly where to find them. To answer that call, OGFA is pleased to announce a new resource for FSU Graduate Students, the Graduate Assistantship Hub (GA Hub). The Hub serves as a One Stop Shop to advertise GA positions campus wide at Florida State University, making it easier for students to find relevant GA positions for funding and professional development. Departments and offices across campus will be posting their Fall 2022 GA positions to the Hub in the coming weeks, so keep an eye out for our Canvas announcements when the site is LIVE!
Coffee and Conversation Video Series
Coffee and Conversation video series was created to build community amongst graduate students during pandemic when all things teaching and learning shifted to a remote space. The virtual video chats are informal and allow graduate students to engage in discussion about their research, a typical day in the life as a graduate student, and other topics. During these interviews, graduate students serve as an inspiration to others by sharing their lived graduate student experiences. To date, 66 video interviews have been published on The Graduate School's YouTube page.
Interested in an interview? Reach out to Honorine Rouiller (hrouiller@fsu.edu), Digital Narratives Program Manager! To share your story or nominate a Rockstar graduate student for us to highlight, submit information here.