Alpha_orionis

Thanks! I got it at 18:29 Swiss time (GMT+1)

I also got it! Physical sciences panel! ?

Haven't heard anything yet either.

Congratulations! ? ? That's a little weird, as you are also a Gates finalist you should have the same acceptance deadline as they gave me. You can try emailing them about this, it might be a mistake (they could have missed the fact that you are shortlisted for Gates and given you the standard deadline). I am anyway going to send them a reply today to thank them for the offer, let them know that I am planning to accept the award unless I end up also receiving a Gates scholarship, and tell them that I'll be in touch shortly after the Gates results with a final answer.

I'm in disbelief right now! I just got offered a Harding scholarship, they are giving me until after the Gates results to reply ?

That's a fun thread! My hobbies are figure skating, skiing, playing the piano, astrophotography and volunteering for science outreach events

They seem to be sending some rejection emails today. I received one a few minutes ago and almost had a heart attack, as I was notified last week that I am a finalist! Turned out to be nothing: I applied to 2 departments and they can only pick one of the two applications to move forward, so they had to reject the other one. But it gave me quite the scare before I finally noticed that the department name was different from the one for which I am finalist ???

I heard back on Tuesday from the Physical Sciences panel. Don't know anyone in Engineering though.

No, they are not doing interviews for us either. The finalists that have been notified are the people who would usually be interviewed, but the email says that this year they will do a paper review of application documents instead.

@ethanmendell No idea, sorry! I hope you get good news soon. Does someone know if the "finalists" are all the people who were nominated by their departments, or if there has already been further shortlisting by Gates?

International applicants, check your email! I just got notified that I am a finalist

I don't think you need to do anything special to be eligible. Your department will rank (or has already ranked) applicants based on academic merit and nominate the best ones for Gates and all the other scholarships. Some departments will tell you if you've been nominated, others not. This step is based on what you originally submitted in your application, so it doesn't require any further action from you. Congrats for getting an offer and good luck!

Same here! Good luck to you all

Congratulations, that is an amazing achievement! Would you mind briefly sharing your profile? As an international applicant who still has a while to wait and freak out, I'd be interested in knowing more about the people they select

I just received my conditional offer for a PhD in Physics today! Does someone know if the physics department usually notifies offer holders about funding nominations?

Hi! I heard that admissions staff sometimes just forget to tick a box while passing the application along. I don't think you should give up hope, you might receive an interview invite without having seen any status change! Some people went straight from submitted to GAO.

Congrats @Afro Aniyunwiya! ? I ranked Trinity and Caius. My first application (I applied to 2 departments) is now at GAO stage. Fingers crossed!

@Clif Bainbridge You can still be considered for the Cambridge Trust scholarships and funding schemes from the Colleges. From what I read, not being a finalist for Gates does not affect your chances of getting an offer or funding from other sources. Good luck, I hope you will get in!

Hi everyone! Now that my first two applications have been submitted and the wait has begun, I have been having massive impostor syndrome and wracking my nerves about my chances of getting a place and funding. My research interests lie in computational and theoretical aspects of cosmology, mainly related to early-universe physics and modified gravity. I am aware that applying to Oxbridge is a bit of a crapshoot, but I found amazing prospective supervisors and thesis topics there, so I guess it is worth a try... My main fear is that the admission officers won't understand the Swiss grading system: in my country, the main goal is to pass, it is frequent for people to barely get 4/6, and any grade above 5 is considered very good. But compared to students from USA or Canada who arrive with straight As and perfect GPAs, I am afraid my 5.42/6 average won't look impressive... Also, despite having some publications, none of them are both peer-reviewed and directly in my field. Can anyone estimate my chances, so that I know what to expect and don't get too crushed in case of multiple rejections? Applying to: Cambridge Physics PhD, Oxford Astrophysics DPhil, Manchester Theoretical Physics PhD, McMaster/Perimeter Institute Physics PhD Previous Institutions: Bsc + Msc at EPFL (Switzerland), exchange year at UBC Vancouver (Canada) Major: Physics Years out of school: 0, will finish my master in July 2021 GPA: 5.42/6 at EPFL, 4.24/4.3 during exchange year GRE: not required, not taken Relevant Background: Honours thesis in radioastronomy (published online, but not in a peer-reviewed journal), semester projects about gravitational lensing and dark energy (might result in a publication, but waiting for additional data from another group), master project about machine learning applied to gravitational cosmology (in progress). Relevant coursework in general relativity, observational and theoretical cosmology, computational physics, quantum physics. Currently taking PhD-level courses in advanced quantum field theory, gauge theories, conformal field theory and gravity. Relevant Work Experience: 3 teaching assistantships, volunteer work as a coach and juror in a Swiss science competition Other experience: 2 gold and 2 bronze medals after 4 participations in an international physics competition, top 10 placement in a Canadian national physics exam, poster presentation in the Swiss finals of a young researchers contest. 5 outreach conferences, 1 first-author publication in social sciences (related to a project about space debris cleaning), another publication in a Swiss science education journal (related to my volunteer work). Languages: French (native), English (IELTS 8.5), intermediate German LOR: unknown strength (haven't seen them), from project supervisors in the 3 labs I have done research with

Sorry for the spam, I thought this was a general profile evaluation thread and didn't realize it was focused on government affairs. ? I deleted the post and will check if there is a similar thread for science programs

Does anyone here have experience applying to 2 different departments at Cambridge? I recently submitted an application with a supervisor at the Department of Physics, and another professor just got back to me, willing to supervise me at the Institute of Astronomy. Am I allowed to tick the box for Gates in both applications? Is it acceptable to submit mostly identical documents (personal statements, Gates reference, etc) and just change the research proposal for the 2nd application, or could this negatively affect my chances?

Hi @LivKa, nice to meet you! Congratulations for getting an offer and good luck for the funding competition. ? I submitted my application last week, the day before the Gates deadline for my course. How long did it take for you to get an offer after submitting?

@EggplantFondue that sounds very interesting! I'm actually also interested in AI, but in my case it's related to cosmic inflation and the CMB. Good luck to you too!

Hi, thanks for starting the thread! I'm an international applicant (from Switzerland), applying for a PhD in astrophysics. Still have to adjust a few details of the research proposal before next week's deadline, and then the long wait will start... ? @EggplantFondueit's nice to meet a fellow physicist! What area of physics are you interested in? Good luck to all of you with your applications!