Many past fellows have kindly volunteered to make their application materials publicly available in order to make the application process more equitable. This idea has been inspired in part by websites with repositories of successful NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program applications, such as the one hosted by Alex Lang. 

In the table below, we have provided links to the full application if available, or to individual portions of the application (the research proposal, statement on previous/current research, CV, and publications list) that the fellow has chosen to share. For organizational purposes, we have labeled each application with one of the seven current NHFP Primary Science categories. These are not necessarily the categories that were used at time of application.  

As you read these examples, please keep the following in mind:

• The inclusion of an application in the bank does not imply the author's endorsement of any other content on this site.

• Please do not rehost or redistribute these application materials, in whole or in part, without the express permission of the original author. You are welcome to share links to the original application bank. 

• Reading old applications is useful for understanding how to write clearly and persuasively, but it is unacceptable to copy text, figures, or research project ideas. The content of your application must be original. It may be helpful to read applications from outside your field or that are slightly older so that you can focus more on how the application is put together rather than on the details of the specific projects. 

• The application format and review criteria have evolved over the years, so you should consult the most recent Announcement of Opportunity on the official NHFP website to ensure that your application conforms with current requirements. In particular, note that the NASA fellowships emphasized connections with specific NASA missions prior to 2008, and the Hubble, Einstein (Fermi/Chandra), and Sagan (Michelson) fellowships were awarded separately prior to 2018. Furthermore, prior to class of 2022, the previous/current research and proposed research were described in separate statements, whereas there is now a single combined research overview statement. The scope of the research overview statement was also explicitly broadened to encourage mentorship, outreach, service, etc. to be addressed.  

• These applications do not necessarily represent the full breadth of research areas supported by the fellowship program or the only possible successful strategies. You can read recent NHFP press releases to learn more about the range of projects and backgrounds of recent fellows.   

If you are a current or former fellow and would like to share your application materials, please e-mail nhfp.equity@gmail.com (contributions can be anonymous and/or redacted). We'd like to make sure that our examples are up-to-date and come from as broad a cross-section of fellows as possible.  

If you wish to sort or filter the application table, you can access this Google Spreadsheet. 

For the 2023 application cycle, we are running a program for people in the process of drafting NHFP applications to get advice on how to strengthen their applications from current and former fellows.

If you are interested in receiving feedback on your application draft, please fill out the following Google form. We are happy to provide feedback even if you are in the early stages of preparing your application. The form will close either one week before the NHFP application deadline or when we reach volunteer capacity. Anyone is welcome to seek assistance, and we aim to read as many applications as we are able to. However, if the number of submissions exceeds volunteer capacity, priority will be given to people from groups that are traditionally underrepresented among NHFP fellowship recipients, especially Black, Indigenous (including native Pacific Islander), and Latinx astronomers. Additionally, we will give priority to applicants who have not received feedback through this program in a past application year. Our guidelines for applicants and readers can be found here.