Bmay

Hi Everyone,
It was also my first time applying. I received a CGS with a score of 17.49. I have no idea what committee my application was in, but I study diasporas. I'll be starting my PhD in the Fall. 
As I wrote in a previous post, just to put things in perspective for everyone, my partner applied for a Marie Currie Post Doc this year and was in the bottom 50% of the selection committee, but for a Canadian SSHRC PostDoc was number 4 out of 120 for the committee. 
It was a very similar proposal, so the takeaway was: sometimes what you're doing gels with the readers and sometimes it doesn't. Try to not get too hung up on the results. 
That being said, I imagine it must be heartbreaking. 
I gleaned quite a bit of useful information from this forum in developing my proposal, so I thought I'd give my experience here for any future applicants. I began developing relationships with potential supervisors several years ago, bouncing ideas, and meeting up for coffee now and then to discuss possibilities until a meaningful research proposal came to light. 
I started working in earnest on my proposal in June, and by July was sending drafts to people I knew, ABD PhD students in my field, all my potential supervisors, and scholars in (somewhat) related fields. Every person had their own feedback  (sometimes highly varying!) and I was able to craft my proposal to take in the good points of them all. I also made sure that my proposal highlighted the SSHRC Future Challenge areas that related to it. It also helped me to not take their feedback seriously. As I've read more, I realized that a lot of the feedback was right on point, even though at the time it felt almost like an attack. Other feedback was less helpful, but everything helped me to develop a new perspective on the issues I'm researching. Also, everyone was more than happy to help out!
I don't have a lot of scholarly experience, but I do have over a decade of professional experience in my field, which is highly competitive, so I'm sure that also helped a bit. It was important for me to think outside of the box, look at my history and see what work experiences had merit, even if they might not have been peer reviewed. 
Regardless, I still maintain that it's a crap shoot. I happened to be on the good side this time, but I've also received many rejections from other grants I've applied for over the years, both for myself, and for others through my work place. 
It's always disheartening. With the rejections, I always try and remind my self that we're so lucky to live a place that has a robust grant system in place. For all it's flaws, it does support so much good work. 
Last night I opened the email with my partner and our son - I wanted us to all see the results together.
Before opening the result letter my son asked whether or not I was nervous and I said "You know, I'll for sure be disappointed a bit if I don't get it, but either way, I'll be cooking you dinner afterwards."
 
 
 
 
 

Hey guys !
A big and honest congrats to everybody who got funded, it IS deserved and I hope you will celebrate :).
I got a 14.46/20, committee 3, and didn't get funded.
If you are curious : I have 3 published scientific papers and 6 published professional papers, 15+ scientific and professional conferences, 4 TAs and RAs, 7 doctoral grants, I was a semi-finalist for the Trudeau foundation scholarship, I have 7 years of professional experience in my field and have a GPA of 9.4/10. My research also falls under one of the SSHRC priorities.
If you ask me : I don't understand how the system worked this year. It makes no sense after reading some of your messages. If you did not get funded, do not let a biais system determined your worth as a researcher. Your research is valid and you are valid.

There must be more to it than the score which seems very odd. I thought it was the difference between committee, but I've just received an offer for the SSHRC doctoral fellowship with a score of 15.64 on committee 3 (in urban planning). It was also my 3rd time applying!
For those wondering about my studies or you're on this forum in a year from now, you can checkout my website which has some details+CV. Feel free to contact me with any questions. The wait is hard. The multiple rejections are hard. This is an arbitrary funding game without the fun. All you can do is hope for the best and keep on trying. Focus on your research and making the world slightly better with your research. All is not lost!

Just heard today - have been awarded a Doctoral Fellowship - 4th time applying - philosophy (+history, dead languages etc) committee, whatever number that is - score was 16.44 - have no publications but a small handful of conferences (5 or 6)- was a more or less identical application to last year's but with one change of referee and an updated biblio - last year's was awarded 12.5 - Am absolutely gobsmacked I had been told that the more often you apply the less likely you will be to succeed with SSHRC - Had totally lost hope and  only reapplied this year because I really really needed to find funding one way or another  - so I can only say to anyone didn't succeed this year  KEEP GOING!!!!!!

There must be more to it than the score which seems very odd. I thought it was the difference between committee, but I've just received an offer for the SSHRC doctoral fellowship with a score of 15.64 on committee 3 (in urban planning). It was also my 3rd time applying!
For those wondering about my studies or you're on this forum in a year from now, you can checkout my website which has some details+CV. Feel free to contact me with any questions. The wait is hard. The multiple rejections are hard. This is an arbitrary funding game without the fun. All you can do is hope for the best and keep on trying. Focus on your research and making the world slightly better with your research. All is not lost!

Although I am checking this a little too frequently, I'm going to expect nothing until Monday, May 3rd, and be pleasantly surprised if I get any results sooner. Under promise and over deliver is my motto.
Yet, I will let y'all know the second I get any results!  stay sane my friends

Although I am checking this a little too frequently, I'm going to expect nothing until Monday, May 3rd, and be pleasantly surprised if I get any results sooner. Under promise and over deliver is my motto.
Yet, I will let y'all know the second I get any results!  stay sane my friends

definitely a correlation between the more I anticipate an important email, the more absolute junk and spam I receive.  

Thank you so much, both you and NewPhDStudent. Yeah, I guess there is no way to really know unless I ask or I wait. Those are pretty much my two options, everything else is conjecture. I guess I'll just go back to doing my daily work and just wait (with the uneasiness in the back of my mind). 
Back to having fingers crossed I guess!

You are right that stressing about it won't really help anything and that we don't have any control over the whole process but I honestly I can't help it  I will try to to do other things to keep my mind off of this but it's going to be so HARD.

Yikes. My department probably knows as well in that case. I think I'll sit and wait until more people find out and if I still haven't heard then I will msg the admin. That's what I did last year and they did tell me before SSHRC did.

Just a note, my department had my result (didn't get it), so hopefully soon we should have official SSHRC notifications!

Bahaha. Love this!
[I'm new to GradCafe and wanted to use "Imposter" as my handle but apparently it was already taken (as are so many variants thereof), so I am not that imaginative.]
I feel your pain. Holy cow, it is ridiculous how much we define ourselves by these things. I did not hear (thank goodness, a successful outcome) until May 6th, and even then my Faculty of Graduate Studies accidentally congratulated me before I got the letter from SSHRC. At least in theory, uploaded results should/could all be posted at once. 

hahaha LoL. To check or not to check, this is the question. ?

SSHRC storytellers was released this week, and SSHRC post-doc was recently released, I think. PhD SSHRC has not been released, yet. 

AHHHHH best of luck! You will slay it. I just got my reading list this week to start my Comps year in May!! 

I'm writing my Qualifying Exam, so I can totally understand what "I have sh** to do" means ?

Also I hate that we probably won't find out for another week+ yet already it's my ENTIRE FOCUS LOL. I have sh** to do, brain, let it go!

The things that admin people go through because of grad students' anxiety... ?

This disorganization doesn't cause me added anxiety at all... No sir.. 

Yes, I've not received the extranet instructions email and I assume (hope?) others have not either. Based on reading last year's thread, we should receive another email, likely next week, giving us access to the extranet, followed by yet another email notifying us that our results have been posted. However, some people last year found their results posted on the extranet before they received the notification email.

Do we know when school admins find out so I know when to start harassing them? ?

Start with a polite "harassing" email. Let them know that you know that they are going to know before you know the results, but politely. In a subtle way say this waiting is killing me and stuff. Then every five days make the "harassing" email more direct till they give up and get tired of your emails and tell you "OK we will let you know as soon as we find out". This strategy usually works  

I know my school doesn't know yet - my supervisor and I were talking about it today because she keeps checking haha.  But yes, it's so frustrating that they find out but can't tell us! But then some places tell and some won't LOL. 

The important thing to remember is that if you do get accepted, it's merit-based and you absolutely deserve it. If you're rejected, it's just luck, arbitrary, political, etc., so don't worry about it!