The US National Science Foundation has halted an initiative that enables fellows from its graduate fellowship program to study abroad, ScienceInsider reports.
Through the Graduate Research Opportunities Worldwide (GROW) program, students funded by NSF's Graduate Research Fellowship program could apply for an additional $5,000 to study abroad, ScienceInsider adds. However, it reports that FastLane, the online system through which students apply, isn't accepting GROW applications and that the agency isn't saying why applications are not being accepted or when it might resume.
That, ScienceInsider says, has disappointed students who'd been hoping for funding like Claire Fox, a PhD student at Cornell University, who wanted to go to India to study the early evolution of flatfishes. "I was counting on this funding to support the last chapter of my dissertation," Fox tells ScienceInsider.