Quicksilver25

I love workshops! They generally focus on a specific topic, especially emerging topics of interest (e.g.: the relationship between property and racialization across the world), and are generally interdisciplinary. Participants are asked to read carefully and comment constructively and collegially on each other’s works, so the feedback is usually good. Everybody gives tons of reading recommendations so it’s a great way to understand the state of the field. More importantly, because everybody works on related topics that are usually niche or new, people have an incentive to build an intellectual community during and beyond the workshop.

Your comments about conferences make a lot of sense. Because I’m in the middle years of my PhD program, I stopped finding medium to large conferences helpful. From what my advisors tell me, they will be helpful again in the next couple of years, at least for networking.

Hey all! I got CGS this year (first time applicant). I was truly surprised by my score (11.13/12). I have an unusual profile so I thought I'd share my thoughts on what might have helped my application. After years spent outside of academia, I thought I was now immune to the unique taste of academic rejection... nope. While this application was successful, I still have an ever-growing collection of rejection letters. The fact that we are being made to compete with one another over an ever-shrinking pool of funding just sucks. To my fellows PhDs who were unsuccessful this year and who are living precarious lives in unaffordable cities, my heart is with you. Really. The fact that you are passionate enough about understanding our world to undertake a PhD speaks volume about the person that you are and I hope you get the support you deserve. 
Ok. So here's a couple of thoughts: 
- If there are resources available within your Faculty to assist you in your application process, use them. I cannot stress this enough. The amazing research officer at my Faculty did four careful re-reading of my application. 
- Make sure all the parts of the application work together to tell a story about who you are, what you accomplished, what you learned and how it prepared you for your doctoral adventure. My working theory is : all humans, including SSHRC reviewers, love a good story. Give them one. (My quite unofficial goal here was that I wanted the reviewer, upon finishing reading my application, to tell themselves: I wish to continue this conversation over a drink).
- I only have one peer-reviewed publication (in a completely different field) but I have a ton of non-refereed publications. In my statement, I highlighted my commitment to make complex problems intelligible for a broad audience. I would say, don't underestimate the weight of non-refereed publications. Bonus point: in the "normal" (non academic) publishing world, you get to work with professional editors who will help you write in an accessible and engaging manner. 
- I'm doing my PhD in a completely different discipline than my master's. My PhD research intervenes in a whole different field. And I was outside of academia for seven years before choosing to come back. I think reviewers are looking for coherence over continuity. Identifying a common thread to all of your experiences and naming the skills you learned along the way and how they will help you carry your research forward might be a good way to look at this. I see the personal statement as a good place to "breath life" into your C.V and list of publications. Whatever you got, make it shine!
 

I'm one of those students who participates in conferences annually. I've been lucky because my registration fees have always been covered. I like to make use of my institutional conferences because registration is free.
For me, I think the importance of going to conferences lies in showing some sort of commitment to sharing your research. Publications are great because they'll potentially reach a larger audience, and you can get your name out there, but when you present at a conference, you have to talk about your research, answer peoples' questions, and discuss your work. And, depending on the conference, that might mean sharing your work with lay people. Those are the benefits that I see. Also, in my department, conferences look good on our yearly evaluations. Attending them is not a requirement. It just looks good.
That said, I appreciate you saying that you hate huge conferences. I hate them too, and I don't think that many people would be willing to admit this non-anonymously. Yes, I attend conferences to share my research, but to be completely honest, I mostly do it to add to my CV and strengthen my scholarship applications. I genuinely don't have the attention span for the sheer number of presentations that take place at some of these conferences, particularly when they're multi-day affairs. I find them exhausting at times, which means I'll struggle to fully engage. And I agree with you about conferences often involving vague feedback and being costly as downsides. Now that I've gotten into my PhD program, I don't think attending conferences will be a priority for me. I'll probably commit to attending one per year, and try focusing on publications instead
I've never done a workshop. What are those like?

They were a mix of provincial and institutional conferences.

I'm a first-time applicant at the PhD level (I'm currently in the final year of my Master's). I didn't get the CGS-M for my first year, I got waitlisted the second year I applied, and now successfully got the PGS-D. Getting waitlisted was a confidence boost, so I used that same proposal and used the extra page we get to write to really flesh out my ideas.
From what I've seen with other people who've applied to SSHRC, publications aren't the be-all and end-all. I've seen people with 3+ publications get rejected, and people with only one get awarded. I'm one of the people who had only one publication and I was just the third author, so the strength of my application didn't come from publications. Instead, I had 12 conference posters (four of them first author) and a lot of research experience (I worked as an RA for a few years before starting my master's and I've done some RA work during my master's). In my applicant statement, I noted that I was working on other manuscripts that would be submitted for publication. One of those studies is registered on Open Science Framework (OSF). So, even though that manuscript hadn't been submitted yet, I cited the project and provided the link to the OSF registration instead of a DOI in my research contributions section. I did this to prove that I was indeed writing a manuscript and not just saying I was.
In terms of my research proposal, although my PhD proposal fits under the umbrella of my research area, it isn't directly related to my master's research or any of the publications/posters I've done. My proposal could honestly be read as though I'm trying to change my research focus entirely. I was concerned about this not looking good in my application, so I made sure to describe how the work I've done during my master's has prepared me to do my newly proposed research, and how conducting this research will allow me to broaden the scope of my training and expertise and start focusing on certain areas of interest as I become a more independent/senior researcher. My hope was that there would be some understanding that at the master's level, students can kind of get forced into certain research topics, but at the PhD level, students get to have more say in their research, so there's room to branch out (I didn't mention any of this, though).
TL;DR: I have only one publication where I'm third author and my proposed research is somewhat unrelated to the work I've done over the last few years. What I think helped my application was having a ton a research experience, a bunch of poster presentations, and making sure to explain how my research experience and extra-curricular activities relate to the research I proposed and how those experiences have prepared me to conduct that research.
 

I'm a first-time applicant at the PhD level (I'm currently in the final year of my Master's). I didn't get the CGS-M for my first year, I got waitlisted the second year I applied, and now successfully got the PGS-D. Getting waitlisted was a confidence boost, so I used that same proposal and used the extra page we get to write to really flesh out my ideas.
From what I've seen with other people who've applied to SSHRC, publications aren't the be-all and end-all. I've seen people with 3+ publications get rejected, and people with only one get awarded. I'm one of the people who had only one publication and I was just the third author, so the strength of my application didn't come from publications. Instead, I had 12 conference posters (four of them first author) and a lot of research experience (I worked as an RA for a few years before starting my master's and I've done some RA work during my master's). In my applicant statement, I noted that I was working on other manuscripts that would be submitted for publication. One of those studies is registered on Open Science Framework (OSF). So, even though that manuscript hadn't been submitted yet, I cited the project and provided the link to the OSF registration instead of a DOI in my research contributions section. I did this to prove that I was indeed writing a manuscript and not just saying I was.
In terms of my research proposal, although my PhD proposal fits under the umbrella of my research area, it isn't directly related to my master's research or any of the publications/posters I've done. My proposal could honestly be read as though I'm trying to change my research focus entirely. I was concerned about this not looking good in my application, so I made sure to describe how the work I've done during my master's has prepared me to do my newly proposed research, and how conducting this research will allow me to broaden the scope of my training and expertise and start focusing on certain areas of interest as I become a more independent/senior researcher. My hope was that there would be some understanding that at the master's level, students can kind of get forced into certain research topics, but at the PhD level, students get to have more say in their research, so there's room to branch out (I didn't mention any of this, though).
TL;DR: I have only one publication where I'm third author and my proposed research is somewhat unrelated to the work I've done over the last few years. What I think helped my application was having a ton a research experience, a bunch of poster presentations, and making sure to explain how my research experience and extra-curricular activities relate to the research I proposed and how those experiences have prepared me to conduct that research.
 

I believe the CGS-D is $35k and the fellowship is $20k? According to the selection criteria, "top-ranked candidates who meet the relevant criteria are offered a CGS D Scholarship. All other successful candidates are offered a SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship."
It appears they prioritize the $35k awards first, then the $20k (makes sense)

Got the PGS-D ($20,000 per year for four years).
Total score: 10.14/12 Rank: 56/160 Subcommittee 752-4B Last funded application: 9.90 Fellowships offered: 75

Got the PGS-D ($20,000 per year for four years).
Total score: 10.14/12 Rank: 56/160 Subcommittee 752-4B Last funded application: 9.90 Fellowships offered: 75

I haven't even received an email from SSHRC. Anyone else still waiting for an email?
I don't understand how these emails are automated, but they aren't being sent to all applicants simultaneously. Same thing happened with the email from last week.

Got the lil guy - awarded 4 instalments of $20,000 for a total of 80k! (I'm currently a master's student).
Sub-committee: 752-3B; total score: 10.12/12; rank 62/151
:))))
 
 

I haven't even received an email from SSHRC. Anyone else still waiting for an email?
I don't understand how these emails are automated, but they aren't being sent to all applicants simultaneously. Same thing happened with the email from last week.

I haven't even received an email from SSHRC. Anyone else still waiting for an email?
I don't understand how these emails are automated, but they aren't being sent to all applicants simultaneously. Same thing happened with the email from last week.

Just got the heart attack email. Good luck to everyone who applied!
 
Dear applicant,


 



Information regarding your doctoral application will be uploaded next week to the SSHRC Extranet for applicants.

                       

You will receive a separate system generated notification with steps on how to activate your extranet account in order to access the information.

If you encounter technical issues in accessing the SSHRC Extranet for Applicants, please contact the Helpdesk at webgrants@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca.


For any other questions, do not hesitate to contact us at fellowships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca.  


Sincerely,



The Research Training Portfolio


Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council



 

I just heard back this morning that I received one.
I'm a former grad student there and I still get the emails meant for grad students. The department head sent an email a few weeks ago saying that all graduate classes will be held online in the fall, with the "only potential exception involves labs in our first-year assessment classes in the clinical psychology program". Haven't gotten any emails about TA-ships, but in the past we weren't emailed about that until June/July.

Done bugging you guys with questions about whether or not UCalgary's started sending out their offers. Got my letter yesterday and officially accepted my offer today for experimental psych. Yay!

Done bugging you guys with questions about whether or not UCalgary's started sending out their offers. Got my letter yesterday and officially accepted my offer today for experimental psych. Yay!

Done bugging you guys with questions about whether or not UCalgary's started sending out their offers. Got my letter yesterday and officially accepted my offer today for experimental psych. Yay!

Done bugging you guys with questions about whether or not UCalgary's started sending out their offers. Got my letter yesterday and officially accepted my offer today for experimental psych. Yay!