Would it be beneficial to reach out to a DoD scientist in the field I am pursuing as a semi-finalist?

[nikkistockton]

I am a semi-finalist pursuing the cognitive/neural/behavioral field, and haven't gotten any interviews/haven't had any sponsoring facilities reach out to me. Would it be worthwhile to reach out to a scientist who's work I'm interested in at a sponsoring facility I indicated that I would like to work at? Or would this be looked down upon? Getting super antsy

[Guest]

It would be great to do this! From my reading, I believe it is only frowned upon when you reach out to the administrative staff at the SFs. I reached out to many scientists at these facilities and received excellent feedback. A couple of them recommended me to their higher ups for an interview and a couple connected me with other scientists that they believed my goals aligned more with. This shows a genuine interest in the science instead of just trying to get picked by emailing some STEM coordinator.

As for this selection year, the SFs have all already sent out their top picks to SMART to send out awards. I have been told that it is currently out of the hands of the SF and now in the hands of SMART to see if they want to fund the top picks of each facility.

[Guest]

It would be great to do this! From my reading, I believe it is only frowned upon when you reach out to the administrative staff at the SFs. I reached out to many scientists at these facilities and received excellent feedback. A couple of them recommended me to their higher ups for an interview and a couple connected me with other scientists that they believed my goals aligned more with. This shows a genuine interest in the science instead of just trying to get picked by emailing some STEM coordinator.

As for this selection year, the SFs have all already sent out their top picks to SMART to send out awards. I have been told that it is currently out of the hands of the SF and now in the hands of SMART to see if they want to fund the top picks of each facility.

ahh this is what I get for waiting too long. . . if I don't get in, looks like I'll have to apply again next year. But this is great information that I will definitely use next year!