NSF GRFP Awardees at UMD

Your $37,000 stipend will pay out as monthly payments of $3,083.33 made directly into your student account. Please note that if you owe the University, any payments made will cover those costs first. 

• Summer (June) start dates will be paid  June 2025 – May 2026.
• Fall (September) start dates will be paid September 2025 – August 2026.

Monthly stipends are paid at the end of the month preceding the stipend month – for example, September stipends will be received at the end of August (provided you meet full-time status). 

Summer payments are made in one lump sum. At the end of May, you will receive a lump sum payment to cover June, July, and August. Your monthly stipend will resume at the end of August for your September payment. Please budget accordingly.

Tuition and fees for NSF GRFs are provided automatically for fall and spring semesters (up to 12 credits/semester). NSF GRFs are eligible for coverage of winter and/or summer terms but must request approval for coverage. Please email the CO to let them know the course(s) for which you are registered, how it is relevant to your research, and the cost of tuition and fees so the proper amount can be applied to your account. Note that you may need advisor consent/approval prior to receiving approval for coverage. 

As an NSF GRF, you must maintain full-time status for the fall and spring semesters for your stipend to pay out. To be considered full-time, you must be registered for 48 units each fall and spring semester. The calculation of graduate units per credit can be found here.

All doctoral candidates must pay candidacy tuition for which they will be registered for six (6) credit hours of 899 automatically defining them as full-time.

Graduate Assistants holding full assistantships (20 hrs/wk) must be registered for at least 24 units in addition to the assistantship; holders of half assistantships (10 hrs/wk) must be registered for at least 36 units.

Graduate students on 12-week terms must be registered for the equivalent of 36 units per 12-week term to be certified as full-time. Graduate Assistants holding full assistantships (20 hrs/wk) must be registered for at least 18 units in addition to the assistantship; holders of half assistantships (10 hrs/wk) must be registered for at least 27 units.

As payments are dependent on your registration status, please maintain current and upcoming full-time registrations so payments can be made to you in a timely fashion. The exception to this is for summer session registration as the University does not require you to be enrolled in summer to be considered as full-time status for your NSF GRF*. Please note that your September payments may be delayed if you are not yet registered full-time for the upcoming fall semester.

*NSF states that you should be “actively engaged in your graduate program through coursework or research under the direction of an Academic/Research Advisor, with summer enrollment status as required by the GRFP institution”. The University of Maryland does not require summer enrollment to be eligible, but particular departments/programs may – so please check with your individual programs and follow through accordingly.
 

It is strongly recommended that you sign up for direct deposit with the online enrollment form via the OSFC website. 

A credit balance on your student account will result in the Office of Student Financials and Cashiering (OSFC) issuing a refund for the balance and mailing it to the address they have on file via Testudo unless you sign up for direct deposit. You will receive your refunds faster with a direct deposit.

The NSF GRFP has strict guidelines about receiving other funds. While you may receive supplemental fellowships above the NSF GRF, extra employment is not allowed, with the exception of off-site internships or research experiences requiring travel as indicated in the Administrative Guide. Any internship or funded research experience during tenure status will need NSF approval in addition to the research advisor's approval. Fellows are expected to devote full time to advanced scientific study or work during their tenure.

Because it is generally accepted that teaching or similar activity constitutes a valuable part of the education and training of many graduate students, a Fellow may undertake a reasonable amount of such teaching or similar activity – in the case of GRFP Fellows at UMD, a half-time (10 hours/week) TA or RA in addition to your GRFP Fellow is allowable but it should be an enhancement of your educational objective and not just service to the institution. To be able to take advantage of this supplemental funding, you must request approval from the CO, in advance. If you wish to pursue this, please see the information needed below. These requests should be emailed to the CO. If approved, you will receive a confirming approval email.

1. A written statement from you, the NSF GRF, attesting as to the length of time requested for the assistantship and how having this opportunity will benefit you as an NSF GRF. Emphasis should be placed on skills acquired, research needs, etc.
2. Approval signatures from your advisor attesting to the fact that this supplemental funding will not impede in your progress toward degree nor hamper your ability to meet your obligations as an NSF GRF.
3. These items may be submitted as separate emails or as one document with statements and signatures from both parties. These requests are not intended to be a permanent situation and permission must be renewed annually.

The NSF GRFP allows for full reimbursement of an individual’s cost for health care for the Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) which can be found on the Student Health Center website. You will have to purchase SHIP and request for reimbursement. The University of Maryland SHIP plan is a platinum level insurance plan currently provided by UnitedHealthCare (UHC) through Academic Health Plans (AHP). It covers most services at the University Health Center and when using SHIP there, patients do not have deductibles, and no fee is required for covered services. An optional dental plan is available for an additional cost. The dental plan is offered through Delta Dental and is a PPO Plus Premier level. Email the CO directly to be reimbursed for health and/or dental insurances. 

If you have other insurance and can provide proof of cost and payment, we may be able to reimburse you if it is comparable in cost to SHIP and is not a university health insurance plan. You may enroll in health insurance for you and your family, but the reimbursement will be for the cost of the individual fellow only. If you also hold a half-time assistantship, you are eligible for health insurance through the state via the assistantship – if you choose to use this coverage, there will be no reimbursement of health insurance costs as it is a benefit of the assistantship. If you have questions, email the CO directly with any specific cost information you may have.

Regardless of your declared Tenure Status, ALL Fellows are required to submit an Annual Activities Report (AAR) by the required deadline. The AAR must be reviewed and approved by the Academic/Research Advisor, who signs the Academic/Research Advisor Confirmation Form. The Fellow completes the AAR and uploads the Academic/Research Advisor Confirmation Form before they can declare their tenure status for the next year. Failure to do so will result in termination of the fellowship. Reminders will be sent but this is ultimately your responsibility. 

NEW CHANGE – Individual Development Plan (IDP) Certification has been added to the Annual Activities Report–Advisor Confirmation Form to address the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedure Guide (PAPPG) requirement for all graduate students to have an IDP. Your IDP must include (1) educational goals (2) career exploration (3) professional development.

There is an NSF requirement regarding training in the responsible conduct of research (RCR). The 2007 America COMPETES Act directed NSF to require that all funded students and postdocs undergo training in the responsible conduct of research (RCR). The implementation of this requirement became effective January 4, 2010, when all institutions submitting proposals to NSF must certify that they have a training plan in place for undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral scholars who will be supported by NSF to conduct research. Please see the Division of Research’s website for Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR). You can fulfill the requirements via workshops offered by the Division of Research or by completing the CITI Training for RCR. Your individual programs/departments may also have information on RCR.

Once you have completed your training, please notify the CO and email confirmation (certificate of completion, etc.). If you have yet to complete the training, please do so (as soon as possible within the constraints of offerings) and notify the CO with confirmation of completion when done.

Non-compliance with this requirement may affect your funding, so please do not ignore this request. Some of you may be required to do this within your individual departments, others may have already completed this requirement, but it needs to be reported to the CO.

As an NSF GRFP Fellow, you are responsible for assuring that an acknowledgement of NSF support is made in any publication (including webpages) of any material based on or developed during the fellowship, in the following terms:

“This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Grant No. DGE 2236417. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.” 

NSF support also must be orally acknowledged during all news media interviews, including popular media such as radio, television and news magazines. Fellows should also note their obligations with respect to copyrights and their responsibilities as members of the scientific and engineering community to disseminate and share research results.

Upon graduation, your student status ceases to exist and your NSF GRFP fellowship will terminate as of the month of graduation (May, December or August) regardless of whether you still have stipend months available.

Should you find it necessary to voluntarily discontinue your fellowship before completion of the fellowship, you are required to initiate and submit a Request to Terminate the Fellowship. The CO will review and approve your request prior to NSF review and action.

This award is for up to a total of $1,000 in each active tenure year. It is possible to have a total of 3 awards ($3000!) over the lifetime of your NSF GRF. This is not a new NSF GRF program, but the University of Maryland’s decision to use part of our institutional allowance to help fund travel for our NSF GRFs. These travel awards are not a true reimbursement but are supplemental funds given to assist in covering the cost of travel expenses incurred by the NSF GRF. Taxes may apply.

Please contact Maria S. Palmaira to request for the NSF GRFP Travel Award form which lists the requirements and eligibility, and if you have any questions. 

Once items are received and the Travel Award is approved, the funds will be deposited into your student account as a supplemental NSF MISC fellowship. 

Note: With regard to travel at UMD, the University uses Concur SAP as our travel system. As such, it is available to all current full-time UMD employees including GAs. However, as an NSF GRF (if you do not also have a half-time assistantship), you are not considered part of that group and must therefore go through a different process. Please reach out to your department’s business office to assist you with travel. They should be able to guide you with what may need to be done for your circumstance.

Stipends may be considered taxable income. Fellows may find it helpful to consult the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Tax Topic 421: Scholarship, Fellowship Grants, and Other Grants as well as Publication 970: Tax Benefits for Education. Specific questions regarding the taxation of fellowship funding and personal tax liability should be referred to the IRS as neither NSF nor the University will respond to tax questions.

Fellows are not, in any sense, considered salaried employees of NSF nor are they considered employees of the University. Neither NSF nor the University will deduct funds from the stipend or pay any additional amounts, such as social security taxes. There will not be a W-2 or 1099 Form issued, but there will be a 1098-T form available on the Office of Student Financials and Cashiering website. This form will report tuition and stipend information. The Graduate School also has a webpage - Tax Information for Fellows. Fellows bear the responsibility of filing and paying any taxes due.