lewin
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Posts posted by lewin
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I'm in a similar position as well. There are a few reasons why I want the award. The first is definitely the prestige. It's nice to have that kind of validation, especially during a part of the Ph.D. program when courses are over and I'm just working on the proposal, mostly on my own. It would be nice and significant bit of feedback that I'm going in the right direction. During the SSHRC grant-writing courses at my school, the instructor also drilled into us how much getting a SSHRC or CGS will shape our future opportunities. Speaking from his own experience, as someone who only got an OGS and didn't really try for the SSHRC (in an era when the OGS was worth a lot more), he seemed to really regret not having tried harder for a SSHRC. I've browsed a lot of CVs on the web, and I definitely get the sense that receiving something like the SSHRC is the norm for people who end up in tenure-track jobs. Not only that, I think getting a SSHRC will help me look like a better candidate for other awards in the future. It's all about the Matthew Effect.
The second is the financial freedom. At my university, we're guaranteed a decent level of minimum funding, and getting the SSHRC isn't actually an increase over the standard package. But since our standard funding includes a certain amount of TAing, getting a SSHRC means either not having to spend time grading or running tutorials, or that I can choose to TA for extra money. I'm not struggling at the moment (my partner works a 9-5 job, though we share expenses evenly), but it would be nice to have a bit more of a cushion.
The third is just that my department basically requires us to apply for SSHRC and other external awards as a condition of continuing to receive the standard internal package, so we actually have little choice about whether we want to or not. It's another hoop to jump through.
I just wanted to echo these points, especially the one about the Matthew Effect. At my university people with an external scholarship (SSHRC or OGS) get a release from 75% of their TA work, which frees up an astounding amount of time for research. Research is what gets you a job, so the real boost to one's CV isn't the award per se (though it helps) but the freedom you get to pursue research and not get bogged down teaching.
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I'm a long-time lurker here, as I've been a bit too shy to post
But I need some advice! I received a one-year Master's SSHRC for this last year of my degree. I elected to start my payments in September 2009, with my grad secretary assuring my that I would still receive three payments (Sept 2009, Jan 2010, May 2010). I found out now that as I plan to graduate this June I have forfeited my third payment. This is NOT clear on SSHRC's website (I checked there before I checked the little box on the form!) and I'm wondering if anyone else has been in this situation? My graduate school contact says that with OGS it's easy to backdate the payment, but she's not sure about SSHRC. I'm preparing for my defence in two weeks and I really don't want to postpone it four months, as I'll be starting my doctorate then. Anyone been here? What happened? Thanks so much for any insights you can share!That situation sucks, but I kind of side with SSHRC here. Your MA took 8 months and they funded 8 months. Are you paying tuition this summer? Why should they continue to pay you if you're no longer a student?
Is there any way you can defend in two weeks and just submit your graduation papers later? Then you're still a student throughout the summer and could get a head start on your PhD research.
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Here's a question: what if you are in a PhD program where the MA is is rolled into it. It's a PhD program, but you get an MA along the way (if you want to). It was appropriate to apply for the PhD award, but are my chances possibly higher because technically I am at a master's level? (Probably not, but I figured I'd ask.)
I hate to say, but your chances might be a bit lower because if you applied to the PhD award then you'll be evaluated against other PhD students (who could already have an MA and now be in first, second year PhD). (Unless I'm misunderstanding your situation.)
My program is also organized like this and it's more common for people to get PhD SSHRC's in second year, though people do get them in year one. If you get one now that's exceptional news, but don't be too discouraged if it doesn't happen.
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Well, I find this to be a key issue actually (background of whomever judges your file). From what I gather you can choose which sub-committee will read your file (from the 5 committees mentioned in the application), but then in this sub-committee you have people from multiple fields, so it's not really read by people from your field specifically. This is in fact why a siginificant portion of the outcome depends on 'luck' and randomess; you might have people from other fields reading your file, and they'd have no idea what you're talking about in your research statement, and will not know your referees or your department that well (and of course, it could also be the other way around). This is why I tried to write my propsal as simple as possible without too many technicalities, so that pretty much everybody can understand it (they actually mention it somewhere that it should be done this way). I hope it would help somehow. We'll see shortly I guess.
This is a common complaint about SSHRC and one reason why SSHRC results are seen as more random than NSERC. I'm in social psychology and the consensus is you'll be lucky to get a psychologist on your committee, much less a social psychologist. There's just a danger that somebody in, say, English will use different criteria to evaluate candidates than, say, someone in Sociology. This creates error variance in the ratings. It's also easier to unintentionally say something that will make somebody dislike you because different fields have different triggers.
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ste Urbain: I did review the application and find couple of typos in my Master's thesis summary! that's it! will writing "offers" instead of "offered" and forgetting the "as" in "as well as", make me lose the scholarship?! If that's the case, then they must be looking for perfection! I guess God will only win this award then
I'm not saying this had an effect in your case, but I've heard through the grapevine that all of the candidates, once they reach NSERC Ottawa, are so exceptionally well-qualified that they look for almost any excuse to exclude somebody. If you have a comparable record to others and they don't have typos, a typo might make the difference.
It's not the typos per se, but that they suggest carelessness or inattention to detail (because typos are so easy to fix!).
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I'm a grad student in social at Waterloo. We've had visiting students this month so I suspect all the offers have been made already.
Some of our undergraduates visited UBC a few weeks ago for visitation weekend, so those who were waiting for UBC may also be out of luck.
I'm happy to answer questions via PM if anybody has a question about a specific prof. Many people didn't take students this year.
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I think in my program we generally tend to imagine that students going out on the job market should have at least: one first-authored pub (or accepted paper, not R&R) in a top journal (e.g. JPSP, Psych Science). Maybe we have no idea how the job market works, but we're always aiming for that one first-authored JPSP. Of course, a second-authored pub is better than nothing...
This.
I think it might be a warning sign worth looking into, but it's not necessarily a kiss of death.
Of course given the lengthy review process and time-to-publication for JPSP, the grad students in OP's department might have some articles on the cusp of publication but not out yet. I think that's common for senior grad students. A post doc year is not just for new work, but also to allow one's grad school publications to get out there.
All that said, I know people who have gotten great jobs with much less than a first-author JPSP, but they often come from Ivy league schools or have exceptionally prestigious advisors.
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May I suggest that you're having trouble recruiting participants because volunteering 30-45 minutes is a lot to ask of people? (The estimated time listed on your ICL.)
I also receive these types of invitations on the professional social psychology listserv--a half-hour survey with no remuneration. Even a draw for a couple of $50 amazon gift certificates would be better than nothing.... and a cheap too, for 250 participants.
All that being said, I did the survey. I thought it was the least I could do after giving you a hard time
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Princeton not in the top 32? Really? Not buying it...
Its absence is a bit unusual, I agree.
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Scholarships and bursaries are tax free. Anything that's employment (TA/RA) is taxable but the tax credits received from tuition, textbooks, and student status will more than outweigh any taxes you might need to pay. For example, you can claim all of your tuition and (typically) $400 per month tax credit for each month you're a full-time student. Just be sure to fill out your T1 properly when you start employment so they don't deduct too much off of each paycheque.
T1 is the tax form where you estimate how many credits you'll have each year so that your employer deducts an appropriate amount for income tax each month. At the end of the year, on your tax return, you reconcile how much you actually made, how many credits you actually have, and how much tax you paid; usually this results in a refund.
(This is the process for Canadians; it may be different for international students.)
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I got PhD SSHRC but not OGS... and had received OGS for my MA.
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Successful/unsuccessful: Successful
MA/PhD (if PhD, specify SSHRC/SSHRC CGS/Vanier): PhD SSHRC
Department: Psychology
# of years into program: This will be 1st PhD, finishing MA this year
MA Major Awards & Value: NSERC Master's CGS ($17,500*2 years), internal university awards ($10,000 * 2 years), OGS ($15,000--declined for NSERC)
PhD Major Awards & Value: n/a
Undergraduate GPA: 4.05/4.50
Graduate GPA: 97%
Research contributions/Publications so far: 1 chapter, 5 conference presentations
Strengths of application: Research proposal was novel and relevant to social issues, high GPA
Weaknesses of application: Switching from NSERC to SSHRC, MA referees knew me less well than BA referees so maybe letters less detailed
Level/Form of Departmental Support (i.e. SSHRC workshops): Departmental SSHRC workshop, really good admin asst. who proofreads well
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Maybe I'm going to take some heat for this, but I must ask: Why do people keep emailing/calling SSHRC (read=pestering SSHRC). You already know results will come out this week. What is calling them going to accomplish, besides annoying the SSHRC staff? This same question applies to anybody who keeps calling their faculty of graduate studies.
Take it from a current graduate student: The last people you want to irritate are your administrative staff... even more than your advisor. Your advisor is probably more forgiving than the admins.
You guys are going to be PhD students. Get used to delaying gratification.
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While I agree with the above posters about looking for a good advisor, there's something to be said for applying to top programs too. Here's one such list:
SSHRC 2010
in The Bank
Posted
That is very unfortunate and I sympathize. I still understand why SSHRC has its rule (i.e., if you've graduated your not a student and theoretically could do something else for the summer). All that said, it really seems to be the grad department's fault for not having you start the award last May.
Good luck -- I hope you can postpone convocation.