UC-23

Very well said, @fmlfmlfml. Anyone who is putting together an application is already a skilled and capable scholar. When the difference between funded/unfunded projects comes down to tenths or hundredths of a point, there is no real distinction in quality between them. The root problem is with the decay of public higher education in Canada (and elsewhere). Also, for anyone who's applying again next year, if it's helpful to see someone else's application, I'm happy to share mine. Not having a sense of the possibilities within the genre was one of the most difficult things for me in writing my app. Feel free to shoot me an email at carlinek[at]msu.edu

Oh my, that is totally fascinating, @PhDOG,ESQ. I think you and TF are absolutely right about teaching. It's shitty, but hiring committees just don't care. But I did NOT know about the geographic distribution rules. That is truly a useful insight. And a good reason for everyone to come to the Maritimes--it's great out here! Seriously. And one thing that I, at least, keep forgetting is that you don't need to take your postdoc to a big department at a big school with a big graduate program. I know someone doing a humanities SSHRC postodc at in a topic-specific research centre at a small university that doesn't have a graduate program.

Ugh, I am sorry @PhDOG,ESQand all the others who didn't get lucky this time. It really is a matter of chance, and who's reading your application that day. If it helps anyone to hear, I wasn't successful with the SSHRC doctoral until the fifth try, and even then just barely squeaked in.

My email came in at 7:30pm ET last night but didn't see it until this morning (and wasted a whole night dreaming about clicking on emails that wouldn't open) I am funded! At the time of the application I hadn't defended my dissertation yet. I had two single-author articles, a co-authored public piece with a community leader, and a small public-facing digital humanities project. My research is on histories of violence/religion/gender in the recent past, so this is easier for me to do than others, but in my application I played up the policy relevance of my topic. This might have helped (see @PhDOG,ESQ's good advice above). In committee 2A (History, Classics, Philosophy, Religious Studies) I ranked 3/47. Score 15.53. 13 applications funded in total. Last funded award 14.36. For people in future years, I note that the overall success rate this year for SSHRC postdocs was 28%. This is a big improvement from the pre-2022 average of 18-20%. Maybe that's just because fewer people are willing to apply for this totally inadequate pay.

@PhDOG,ESQ To get onto the Extranet, go here. Or just google "SSHRC Extranet for Applicants." You should see a login page that asks for a username and password. Your email is your username. Use the 'forgot password' feature to get a new password sent to you. Then login and you will see an "Applicant Library" page. But again, this might not work for everyone. If you haven't used the Extranet in the past (I think they only introduced this a few years ago) then you might not have an account set up. And for those of us who do already have accounts, maybe they'll just create a fresh one for the postdoc application. But refreshing the page is another way to pass the time!

@Smitten Pears The "application acknowledgement" email in September said that "The result of this competition will be sent by mail to the correspondence address provided in your application." But SURELY we have left the era of physical mail, SSHRC. And anyway, the discussion last year suggests that people were receiving emails that gave them access to results on the SSHRC Extranet (which is also how I was notified of a SSHRC doctoral a few years ago). It's probably a waste of my time, but I have been checking the Extranet "applicant library" where I accessed my files for the doctoral fellowship, to see if any new documents pop up there. (https://influence.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/700000/A/default.aspx/# -- I had to reset my password but it did let me in). But probably they create new logins and accounts when people apply for different fellowships.

@fmlfmlfml yup, the anticipation is so distracting. But this is (probably) the week! But they probably won't be sending things out on a Monday. Still, I'm limiting myself to checking email twice a day because otherwise I'll get nothing done.

Congrats, @SSHRCDreamson getting a backup! That must be a relief to have something in your pocket. I don't know what I'll do as a back-up plan. If I get a TT job offer I might take that. But I'm also lucky that my spouse has a real job that pays bills, so I can afford to be mostly unemployed for a while, and apply for jobs and postdocs again next fall, once I've actually graduated.

@PhDOG,ESQ Yes, I'd be glad to hear some practical advice for when I probably have to try again next year! Since there's not much we can do to seriously change our publication/past funding records at this point, what makes a good proposal? Tips for framing or structure?

@SSHRCDreams I'd take a TT job as soon as I can get one - as long as it's in a location that will work for my spouse and family. The only reason I want a SSHRC postdoc is to hold it at a university in the city where we're already living; that will buy us a couple years while we wait for a job (maybe) to turn up in a decent location. I'm sure it depends very much on the field, but I'd agree with you that adjuncting does not improve a CV. Unless, perhaps, you're applying to a teaching-focused institution and can impress them with great reviews from your adjuncting performance. I don't see any reason not to try for TT jobs right off the mark. I know more than one person (admittedly, in the US, where things are a bit different) who have gotten TT job offers while still early in the dissertation writing stage. I think hiring committees are largely looking for potential.

Ugh, it's inane how slow SSHRC is. I'm doing on-campus interviews this month for TT jobs. I really want a postdoc, and would prefer to wait a few years before starting a permanent job, but what am I going to do if I get a job offer before SSHRC results come in? The whole timeline is just terrible for promoting "talent" -- we're all adults with lives, and bills, and many of us families to take care of, and many reasons NOT to be hanging around until the end of the academic year with our future plans on hold.

@slc4a3 Re: results in February, I'm skeptical about that. If you look at last year's GradCafe discussion of the SSHRC postdoc, many people didn't get their results until the first week of March. The Banting results are earlier, of course. However, I have a little cautious optimism about the odds. Historically, the success rate for the SSHRC postdoc has been 18-20%. But the anecdotal examples of successful people who posted last year suggest that some committees were seeing a 28% success rate.