snowshoes

I think that was just a ploy - make it seem like severe austerity measures are around the corner so that everyone anticipates it and will feel relieved when you show them the real thing. I don't know why I check every day either - I'm guessing mid-late next week at the earliest. It isn't like NSERC is rushing off to mail them hours after the budget or today. I'm in Gatineau and my guess is I'll be getting a letter on Wednesday or Thursday (mark my words).

I'm working in a gov. lab and everyone was on their toes over the budget coming out. There were rumours, but I don't think NSERC knew what to expect either.

Well, we are going to get what we deserve: more money for prisons and punishment, less environmental regulations, and less funding going to education. I hope NSERC survives the cuts unscathed, but I doubt it will.

haha wow! 13,290 citations too, but then again that was a pretty ground-breaking paper. But like I said, I've seen too many papers with dozens of authors and you *know* many of them simply sequenced a bunch of taxa as their contribution. Oh well, it is a big game and as young researchers we have to play the game a little as well - just don't get caught up in it and lose track of what is really important.

I have seen phylogeny papers with 100+ authors... basically, if you get someone a coffee you can get your name put on it I'm in Gatineau and still no word. I'm not surprised really; the budget is going to have a big impact across the public sector and it wouldn't be a shock if NSERC has to wait on the new numbers. Oh well, I'm glad the Conservatives are huge proponents of education

My supervisor told me the opposite, but who knows. European grad studies are typically less course-based and more thesis-based, similiar to Canada. As a result, we probably come out of our MSc./PhD. with more publications than our American peers. But, of course, American schools are considered to be number one around the world, so they have that going for them.

These practices are endemic to the research field, especially in bigger labs. It is an abhorrent mentality, but what do you expect when people need to pump up their annual review to keep funding or stroke their ego? I know of many “respectable” labs where the head researcher tacks his name on literally every paper that comes out. Obviously people know what the game is, but they bring in the money so people aspire to do the same thing. The very concept of “high impact journal” is a joke and doesn’t belong in science in my opinion. I refuse to buy into that. What is wrong with publishing in a respectable (preferably open source) journal that is relevant to your field? The idea that one Science journal equals 10 “Impact Factor X” journals is quite simply the wrong attitude in my opinion. And yes, I have a publication in PNAS so it isn’t a case of sour grapes with me. I just feel this attitude detracts from what a researcher should be pursuing.

Interesting, I'm in Gatineau and I'm pretty sure the mailman has already been around (I didn't get anything). I applied for PGS, so maybe the PDFs are coming out first?

Does Grad Studies typically inform the student before NSERC, or is that dependent on the school? I'd assume they would wait until the student is "officially" notified.

I hope we find out this week! I'm in Ottawa, so I'll let you guys know what today's mail brings.

I looked at the letter I received from grad studies that said my application was recommended and being forwarded to NSERC... it said to expect to hear from them "sometime in April". I'm guessing that was just a conservative estimate? Oh well, no point in getting worked up about it. We'll hear about it soon enough. (You know I'm getting anxious when I'm re-reading that grad studies email)

Really?? I'm in Gatineau, I hope it is Monday!

Haven't heard anything yet. My prediction is I'll hear on Thursday!

Thanks!

I was looking at the stats and was surprised at last year's PDF awards... why was the number so low - funding was cut or something? I applied for the PGS-D last year and didn't have much hope for it, so there wasn't much anticipation. I saw this website and laughed at how people were going crazy waiting on their response - now I'm the same way! Only 10 more days until I can check my mailbox with some hope!

It was tough to fit everything. I really condensed everything as much as possible and had amost a page for my statement. I wrote it as concise as I could and made every word and sentence count. I figure I may hear from my former supervisor if he finds out earlier, but I don't think I'll call the secretary. It is hard enough waiting for the mail, I don't want to start bugging other people to save a couple days! So there isn't much point in expecting it before the 20th?

I just double-checked my application... I have 4 peer-reviewed journal papers (I'm first author), 3 refereed contributions (published conference abstracts), and 7 non-refereed contributions (regional talks, workshop presentations, a magazine article related to my field). 93% average for my MSc. marks and I forget the average for my BSc. marks, but it was not stellar by any means. I'm not sure how competitive my package is relative to the other PGS-D applicants... but my proposal is pretty solid and I think that will help out. I just wish I spent more time on the application... I worked on it at the last minute and polished it as much as I could. I never thought I'd be so excited about hearing back about the NSERC, but it is kind of fun checking the mailbox everyday and thinking about it.

I am applying for the PGS-D and have four first-author publications (papers, not conference abstracts), 4 conferences, etc. My MSc. marks were excellent but my BSc. marks were all over the place, so that'll be a handicap. I'm really happy that my applicant was at least sent in to NSERC this year. Too bad about the Conservatives cutting funding (yet hiring tens of thousands more bureaucrats...). Good luck to all!

Mid-March? Sounds awesome! I'm looking forward to finally hearing how my PGS-D goes.

Thanks a lot. I checked out the numbers before, but was wondering if there was a percentage of successful applicants per school (I doubt it). I'll be happy if I have a 75-80% chance!

I'm sorry to hear that. If you search around the NSERC site there are routes for making appeals, although I'm not sure how difficult it is to actually get them to review your appeal/application. You can get comments for the Discovery grants, but maybe you can check around with the PGS comments too. Good luck! http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/NSERC-CRSNG/Policies-Politiques/appeals-appel_eng.asp

I'm not sure why it took so long, but I received notice that my application was forwarded to NSERC last week. Last year my application didn't make this step, so I'm pretty happy about it. I'm curious though - how many applications do the schools send to NSERC? Are there any numbers out there? Thanks!