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Tuition, Terms, and Conditions

Payment is for student course tuition. Tuition is due 30 calendar days after the date of invoicing. A 1.5% late fee shall accrue for every 30 calendar days that tuition is past due.

Per student tuition includes:

• Access to online, asynchronous course “How to Win an NSF GRF”
• 3 individual consultations (approximately 1 hour each)
• Participation in a flipped classroom course that integrates students’ asynchronous course work with weekly live sessions (via zoom). (Approximately 6 hours of live instruction)
• Access for student’s faculty mentor to faculty orientation course

The first consultation is available when the student submits the Brainsteering worksheet; the second consultation is available when the student submits a draft of the personal essay; the third consultation is available when the student submits the research plan. Students are responsible for scheduling the consultations.  Three consultations are not guaranteed for students who do not complete lessons in a timely fashion—specifically, we may not be able to provide all three consultations in the 2 weeks prior to a deadline.

Participation in the flipped classroom is optional but strongly encouraged. We will schedule several flipped classroom cohorts to start at different times in the months prior to GRFP deadlines. We will vary the times in an effort to accommodate everyone’s schedule. However, students’ participation in the flipped classroom depends on their availability.

Course Completion and Refunds

Once a student has had their first consultation, that student’s enrollment is complete for the purposes of billing (i.e., that student’s tuition is no longer eligible for refund).

If a student either does not engage with the online course at all, or if the student does engage with the course but does not use a consultation, then the sponsor institution shall be given 1 enrollment in the course for the following year’s GRFP competition at no additional cost (assuming that Brainsteering offers its course during that year).

If a student completes at least one consultation but decides to delay applying to GRFP until the following year for whatever reason, then that student may re-enroll in the course for $250. Such re-enrollments include all course components covered under standard tuition except access to the flipped classroom.

Privacy Policy

Brainsteering stores student submissions and video recordings of consultations on our secure, privately hosted server. Video recordings shall be shared only with the student for their individual use. Student work and consultation recordings may be used internally by Brainsteering for training and curriculum review purposes. 

Unpublished scientific ideas or data discussed during course participation by students shall remain the intellectual property of the original holder, and shall not be disseminated in any way by Brainsteering. Brainsteering shall obtain the express permission of a student to share the student’s work with anyone other than the student.

Students may share individual consultation recordings privately with those at their institution who are supporting their application efforts. Consultation recordings may not be posted publicly or shared with any parties not mentioned in this paragraph. Students must obtain the express permission of Brainsteering to use consultation recordings in any other way.

Students will discuss their research with others enrolled in the course, especially if they participate in the flipped classroom. Students have the expectation of privacy in such discussions. All students agree not to use or disseminate the intellectual property of others about which they may learn through their participation in the course. 

Details about students’ progress in the course may be shared by Brainsteering with students’ institutional sponsors.

Student Conduct

During their participation in Brainsteering activities, students shall be held to the same code of conduct in place at their sponsor institutions. This includes but is not limited to policies regarding intellectual property, confidentiality, or bullying. Violations may result in students being removed from the course without refund.