The opening paragraph of the personal statement should be long enough that the reviewers get a good sense of who you are and what you are interested in within the first few words, but short enough that your writing doesn't sound too forced and generic. A sentence can be dedicated to how you got interested in research, and what specific studies you're looking to work on in graduate school and beyond.

The main and largest portion of your NSF personal statement should be dedicated to the research you conducted during your time as an undergraduate student. Did you complete any Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) or other summer research programs, co-ops, or research internships? If so, include them here. It is best to go in chronological order of experiences, and if you have many contributions to research, limit your essay to the work that most contributed to your path as a growing research scientist. Each important research experience merits an entire paragraph. For each paragraph, list the name of the program or research experience, so that reviewers can connect this to the broad application materials that you fill out in the essay. Then, take some time to describe the objectives of the project, your contributions, and some skills that you picked up. skills you obtained during this experience. Mention any publications, presentations, or opportunities to continue your work as well.

Given that you spent a significant portion of your personal statement laying the foundations of your research background, the next important thing for reviewers to see is how your previous work inspires your current research interests.

Community involvement

NSF likes to see that their applicants are not only academically-oriented, but community-oriented as well. A good scientist cares about their work, but a great scientist cares about how their work can benefit others. If you have completed any teaching assistantships, volunteering experience, were involved in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) for STEM, or other related opportunities, describe them here.

NSF Review Criteria: Broader Impacts and Intellectual Merit

NSF values a scientist's ability to connect their work with the community. How have your past involvements with research, volunteering, and teaching shaped the scientist that you are today? In what ways do you hope or continue to contribute to your dedicated field of interest, and how do you want the broader community outside of your field to benefit from your involvement? These questions can be addressed in the Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts section of your personal statement, and is perhaps the most important component of the essay.

[something about intellectual merit here]

[something about broader impacts here]

General tips for the personal statement

It helps to have transition sentences that show the connections between each experience. Separate your sections with main headers, so that reviewers can clearly locate your research experience, community involvement, and future vision.

[describe the research plan and some tips and shit here]

Below are some examples of essays from winning NSF GRFP applications. They are listed in alphabetical order of the subject, and include the recipient name and the year the award was received.

Computational Science and Engineering, Adriana Ladera (2022), personal statement and research plan

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