Of course, no one has yet funded their entire PhD this way. It is however a fantastic way to fund a conference trip. There&#x27;ve been quite a few successful projects funding conference presentations or travel.<p>In my experience speaking with program officers and grant reviewers, particularly NSF, the public or &#x27;broader impact&#x27; section of a grant application is starting to grow in importance, because like I said above, it&#x27;s become a way for grantees to stand apart from the growing number of applicants. So having more to put in that section certainly helps, and I do know that it&#x27;s come up with a few tenure committees (successfully). It just depends on who, where you are, what field, etc.<p>CSE is always a bit of an outlier, given the lower costs but still. I realize your hostility is towards the notion of someone being entirely alternatively funded, which we&#x27;ve never claimed to do.