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Updates to NSF Research Security Policies

On July 10, 2025, NSF issued an Important Notice providing updates to the agency's research security policies, including a research security training requirement, Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program annual certification requirement, prohibition on Confucius institutes and an updated FFDR reporting and submission timeline.

Funding Information

FAQ for NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP) return without review (RWR)

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Questions

  1. Has NSF returned NSF GRFP applications without review in previous years?

    Yes. Each year, hundreds of applications are determined to be ineligible for the reasons described in Section IV of the solicitation and are returned to applicants without review. The number of applications returned without review this year has not changed substantially since last year.

  2. What are the reasons that a GRFP application may be returned without review (RWR)?

    Applications may be RWR for several reasons, including failure to meet formatting requirements, missing required documents or if the applicant does not meet the eligibility criteria related to academic status, degree program, field of study or proposed research. The solicitation lists ineligible degree programs, areas of study and areas of proposed research. Certain fields of study allow limited exceptions to ineligible proposed research, which are also listed in the solicitation. 

  3. How does NSF determine that an application's proposed research area is ineligible?

    All applications returned without review for ineligible proposed research have been screened by multiple NSF program officers with subject-matter expertise based on the field of study selected by the applicant to assess eligibility against the criteria outlined in Section IV of the solicitation.

  4. What areas of proposed research are considered ineligible?

    Examples of ineligible proposed research include research with direct health-related or human-disease goals and applied research focused on maximizing agricultural production and impacts on food safety. The list of eligible major fields of study is included in the solicitation appendix. Within eligible fields of study, there are ineligible areas of study and ineligible areas of proposed research. A description of ineligible research areas is provided in Section IV of the solicitation. Not every ineligible area of study or proposed research can be listed in the solicitation.

  5. I selected an eligible field of study on the application webform, but my application was still returned without review. Why may this have happened?

    All applications returned without review for ineligible proposed research have been screened by multiple NSF program officers with subject-matter expertise based on the field of study selected by the applicant to assess eligibility against the criteria outlined in Section IV of the solicitation.

    Within eligible fields of study, there are ineligible areas of study and ineligible areas of proposed research. A description of ineligible research areas is provided in Section IV of the solicitation. Not every ineligible area of study or proposed research can be listed in the solicitation.

  6. Have GRFP eligibility criteria changed this year?

    Yes. To be eligible, an applicant must not have completed more than one academic year in a graduate program. In addition, clinical psychology degree programs are no longer eligible. The eligibility criteria for degree requirements are described in Section IV of the solicitation.  

  7. Are Applicant Personal Statements screened to determine eligibility?

    No. NSF screened the Graduate Research Plan of the application to determine if an applicant's proposed research was eligible based on the criteria provided in Section IV of the solicitation. 

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