Offered a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in my first year

[holi10]

Hi everyone,

I am writing because I am a first year graduate student in a Masters program and was offered a Post-Doctoral Fellowship and I am just curious as to know what that actually means and if that is offered to everyone in the program? If anyone has any knowledge about this, please let me know. 

 

Thanks

[TakeruK]

Maybe more details would be necessary? In North America, a post-doctoral fellowship is a position that pays for research work done by someone with a PhD (hence "post-doctorate"). So, it sounds a little odd to have this offered to you when you are not even in a PhD program yet.  Most postdoctoral fellowships require you to have completed your PhD before you can start, but they may be offered to a graduate student who is about to finish.

If this offer is coming from a Canadian school or a UK school and the wording is actually "post-graduate" instead of "post-doctoral", then I think it is a fellowship/award for graduate studies. In Canada and the UK, "postgraduate" means Masters and PhD students (post-graduate means past your graduation from your Bachelors degree). 

[holi10]

I also have found myself confused on the offer. I am a first year Masters student and I did indicate wanting to go through to the PhD program. Once I accepted my initial offer with them they then came back with a postdoctoral fellowship offer and stated that I would receive the funding for when I finish and would be relieved from teaching responsibilities to just focus on research for a year. 

I think it is really interesting and I don't want to discuss it with my colleagues because I think it is a personal situation. 

[AP]

This seems odd but I think we can help you if you provide more details.

1) Who is offering you this? What are they offering exactly? You say "Once I accepted my initial offer with them they then came back with a postdoctoral offer". Who is "them"? Your current program? They came "back"? Where?

2) You say you are a Master's student but indicated wanted to do a PhD. Who did you tell this? To your program? Is the fellowship within your program?

3) Do you have to teach right now that you want to be relieved from teaching responsibilities? What type of research exactly are you talking about?

4) If you think this is a personal situation, then be VERY cautious. This sounds iffy. If someone comes and offers to give you money after a program you haven't even started but you can't tell anyone, run away. Fellowships come in the form of letters, like admission acceptances because that's what makes them official and -somehow- real. Why would you think this is a personal situation?

 

I know you want it to be real, but so far, as you describe it, it sounds just the opposite.

 

[holi10]

I applied to an MA in Hispanic Linguistics program and they accepted me with a full graduate package. That means I work as a Graduate Teaching Assistant teaching Spanish and only pay university fees. So, I do not pay tuition. I got expected into my program by the admissions director of the department who then had me officially admitted by the graduate school. I received a letter for that and with a contract. 

After I had excepted the offer, about a week letter the director of graduate studies of the department from which I belong said they they had extra funding and due to my very strong application for the program that the committee had offered me a postdoctoral fellowship for if I was to continue into the the PhD program. He just wanted me to give an answer of a yes or a no and a signature which would be held onto until the time came for me using the fellowship. He said that during my fifth or sixth year, I would be relieved of my teaching to be able to work on research in the department. 

I find it confusing since know one else that I have talked to has been offered this package and just wast not sure if my case is special, etc. 

[rising_star]

@NicSpain16, what you've been offered does NOT sound like a post-doctorate fellowship. As TakeruK explained above, a postdoctoral fellowship would provide funding for you to use after you've completed your PhD, not during the course of your graduate program. This to me sounds like a graduate fellowship offered to entice/attract/retain top-notch graduate students. I would make sure you get this offer in writing.

[holi10]

They explained that it was for when I graduate with my PhD that they would keep me on for a year to do research. 

[AP]

OK, let's cut this into chunks, shall we?

On 10/16/2016 at 5:46 PM, NicSpain16 said:

After I had excepted the offer, about a week letter the director of graduate studies of the department from which I belong said they they had extra funding and due to my very strong application for the program that the committee had offered me a postdoctoral fellowship for if I was to continue into the the PhD program. He just wanted me to give an answer of a yes or a no and a signature which would be held onto until the time came for me using the fellowship. He said that during my fifth or sixth year, I would be relieved of my teaching to be able to work on research in the department. 

I find it confusing since know one else that I have talked to has been offered this package and just wast not sure if my case is special, etc. 

First of all, my response is based on your explanation. You have serious spelling mistakes -maybe the rush of writing?- so I may be misunderstanding something. The way you posed it is that they are offering you to go into the PhD fully funded (see highlighted text). A fifth or sixth year is a normal time to stop teaching and just write your dissertation. It sounds like they are offering you to graduate from the MA and continue the following semester into the PhD. Some departments employ their recent PhDs as visiting professors or post-docs when they finish so your DGS may also be referring to this.

Whether this is a special case or not is not the point. The question is if this is legit. For you to know that, you need to see this in writing. A written document will ensure you have that money when the time comes and it will clarify precisely when is that time.

Finally, if you are confused, I suggest you ask them instead of us because all we are doing here is guessing. And, if this is a legit offer, congratulations! It sounds exciting.

[Concordia]

Get it in writing not just for your lawyer's amusement, but so you can sit down and really figure it out.