Naveen Raman

PhD Student Carnegie Mellon University
Previous MPhil @ University of Cambridge, Undergrad University of Maryland

naveenr [AT] cmu.edu


With Fellowship applications starting up, I wanted to post some examples of fellowship essays, successful and unsuccessful, along with a few tips for each. A lot of information on fellowships is either hidden or spread through word-of-mouth, so I wanted to eliminate some guessing and give info I've heard about different programs. I've posted example essays for each fellowship below, then described some tips and thoughts on each.

Essays and Materials

Fellowship Name 2021 2023
Churchill Scholarship Awarded [essays]
DOE Computational Science Fellowship Not Awarded [essays]
Gates-Cambridge Fellowship Not Awarded [essays]
Hertz Fellowship Semi-Finalist [essays] Not Awarded [essays]
NDSEG Fellowship Not Awarded [essays]
NSF GRFP Fellowship Awarded [essays]
Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship Not Awarded [essays]

Overall Tips

  1. Read through the fellowship's website - Fellowships typically list their criteria on their website, and different fellowships look for very different things. For example, while the Churchill Scholarship looks for people who excel at research, the Gates-Cambridge program takes a more holistic approach beyond just research. Use these criteria to tailor your essays and application toward each fellowship.
  2. Go through multiple rounds of drafts - As with many things, starting early can be incredibly beneficial when applying for fellowships. It takes me at least 2-3 drafts (often 5-6 or more) before I'm satisfied with my writing. This happened to me with my NSF application, where I completely switched over my research proposal with only a few weeks left. Starting early helps you excise some of the early bad drafts that, at least for me, are inevitable.
  3. Transfer your personal statement across applications - Almost every application includes some version of the personal statement, which connects your past research and interests with your future pursued directions. By crafting a good personal statement early on, you can re-use this statement (with minor tweaks) for each new application.

Tips for Specific Fellowships

Churchill Scholarship

Fellowship Materials
  1. Personal Statement - Standard 2-page personal statement that focuses on past experiences + future interests
  2. Program of Study - Details the types of research and course-based activities you would pursue during your time at Cambridge. For research-based programs, this essay serves essentially as a research proposal, while for course-based programs, it details the types of courses you would take. For some people, conversations with a prospective PI can shape the program of study. I contacted my initial PI, Jon Crowcroft, in July, and very (< 100 words) briefly chatted with him about my proposal + plans. My proposal focused on ways I could build upon Jon's prior work in mechanism design and listed out two different potential avenues. Although I applied with Jon as my PI/advisor, after getting to Cambridge, I ended up switching advisors, though I have heard this does not hold for all situations.
Tips
  1. I would recommend looking through different advisors/PIs for your course/proposed program to find which fits you best. Doing so before you start your application allows you to get an idea of both the types of programs available and the research being pursued in each.
  2. The scholarship's website lists that they look for "jagged edges"; in English, this means that they focus more on your scientific/research accomplishments than other "extracurriculars" (in our handbook, they were fairly explicit about not selecting based on leadership skills or other metrics). Your application should be focused on research rather than extracurriculars.

DOE Computational Science Fellowship

Fellowship Materials
  1. Course Plan - Essentially a list of potential courses you'll take in graduate school, including those in and out of your field.
  2. Field of Interest - What general field do you plan to work in + what are the big questions in this field
  3. Computational Power - How can the DOE's computational resources assist you with your research? My understanding is that they look for projects that are enhanced by access to computational power. For my essay, I tried to relate how AI can benefit from more data, and how we can develop more efficient models.
Tips
I don't have too many tips on this fellowship. It seems that they're looking for researchers who sit at the edge of computation and application, such as those working in bioinformatics.

Gates-Cambridge Scholarship

Fellowship Materials
  1. Why Gates-Cambridge? - In contrast to the Churchill essay, Gates-Cambridge cares more about their applicants' overall profile. The essay is a space to tell the story weaving your past research and extracurriculars together, and where Gates-Cambridge fits in.
Tips
  1. I would highly recommend reading through the criteria listed on the Gates-Cambridge website and writing your essay revolving around these themes. From my understanding, they seem to assess candidates loosely based on those criteria, so the better your match between experiences and the criteria, the better your chances.

Hertz Fellowship

Fellowship Materials
  1. Hobbies and Interests - This seems to be the most unique and important essay for Hertz. I interpreted this to mean they're looking for interesting/creative things you pursue outside of research. At first, it was difficult to come up with one hobby; I tend to bounce around between different things, so it's hard to select one activity. Instead, I decided to talk about a variety of hobbies and the commonalities underlying them.
  2. How is it science/engineering - I always thought that this essay was a weird one. For those who work on things that aren't clearly within the science or engineering spheres, it's an opportunity to explain why the Hertz fellowship was reasonable/related to them. For others (and how I interpreted it), it demonstrates the connections between their interest and different branches of science + engineering.
  3. Why X Graduate School - This one is similar to the last paragraph of a PhD statement of purpose. In my essays, I tried to discuss both the research fit and the types of connections or opportunities available in a particular university or city. For those who aren't in graduate school yet, I would select one or two schools on your list, and talk about them.
  4. Personal Statement - Standard personal statement that talks about past + future research.
Tips
  1. The hobbies and interests essay seems to be the most important, so I would spend some time on that. The goal of that essay is to try to portray your personality, so I would talk about any activity that reveals other parts of you.
  2. After the initial screening phase, there are two interview-based stages before the Fellowship is awarded. These interviews are with super smart experts in your field. They last about an hour and ask in-depth questions about topics related to your research. I would recommend brushing up on the fundamentals, and specifically for computer science, it can be helpful to brush up on algorithms questions and similar brain teasers. For my interviews, I was asked about matching algorithms and Markov chains (and promptly forgot all my Linear Algebra); I've attached some notes from my interview here: [notes].

NDSEEG Fellowship

Fellowship Materials
  1. Research Proposal - The goal here is to propose research that is well-aligned with the Department of Defense's interests.
  2. Personal Statement - Fairly routine personal statement, with the only caveat being that they require all personally identifiable information to be redacted or removed.
Tips
  1. Every year, the Department of Defense releases a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) which lists the types of research that the DoD is interested in. I would read through this BAA, try to find some section that relates to your research, and discuss that in the application.

NSF GRFP

Fellowship Materials
  1. Research Proposal - Note that the research is non-binding for NSF; they typically aim to award a person rather than a particular project, so the goal is to assess your capability for performing good research. In your research proposal, you should specify both the intellectual merits, which is the connection to other fields, and the broader impacts, which is how your research can have an impact in the real world. Even better if you can relate this to your prior work.
  2. Personal Statement- Lists out the previous research you've done along with any outreach and other activities that belong broadly in the category of broader impacts.
Tips
  1. Discuss broader impacts for both the research proposal and personal statement. For the research proposal, broader impacts include connections to other applications, while for the personal statement, broader impacts include ways you can perform outreach or have an impact beyond research.
  2. Try to find a topic you're knowledgeable about for the research proposal so you can discuss the contributions in-depth. Because the research proposal is non-binding, you can discuss your research in-depth even if you never end up pursuing it.
  3. Make sure your formatting is correct; I've heard of situations where applications get rejected for even small formatting mistakes.

Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship

Fellowship Materials
  1. New American Essay - This is probably the most interesting (and also difficult) essay that I had to write. The essay asks you to relate your past experiences as a "new American" (which includes 1st and 2nd generation Americans I think) to your development and the way you see your world. If you can relate this to the type of work you pursue, that's even better.
  2. Personal Statement - The PD Soros Fellowship looks for people outside of just research. Because of this, I would discuss both your research interests and anything else that you pursue outside of research, especially if the two are related. I remember at a PD Soros informational session, I met people who talked about their research and their music passions.
Tips
  1. For the New American essay, I would recommend talking to your family members to understand their past + your upbringing, and any stories that might be interesting to unearth. The New American essay is very personal, so I would spend time trying to think through your life experiences and family heritage.
  2. For the personal statement, I would think about yourself holistically; consider both the research you pursue and any activities outside of research.

Other Useful Links

Some more examples from the NSF
More tips for Fellowships
Naveen Raman
naveenr [AT] cmu.edu