Ironmonkey66

Good point! I'm all for that

Congratulations to you marmoor, I also got my feedback. Got ranked 18 out of 116 in the same group, so I'm watching your back Joking aside, I am not holding my breath for declined awards. I decided to find a job in industry and accepted a postdoc position in the meantime. So I'm good

Actually the date format is MM/DD/YYYY, so I believe it is meant to be January 4, 2012. But thanks anyway, it's still interesting info.

Well I support the idea of putting "waitlist" status on a CV since it has become so darn difficult to get a PDF! Based on last year's standards, we would have gotten one almost for sure. So to me it's like earning a silver medal.... without the podium

Hi winter2012, how did you calculate the number of PDF holders this year ? I believe the official results have not been posted on NSERC's website yet: http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/nserc-crsng/fundingdecisions-decisionsfinancement/index_eng.asp Somebody in this forum asked by telephone an NSERC agent about the number of PDF for this year competition (2012-2013), and she said around 100.

You used the correct email address to contact NSERC regarding feedback on your application. In my case, a lady (Linda.Brown 'at' nserc-crsng.gc.ca) responded with a confirmation that they will send the feedback in June.

I think you just convinced me to "let go" of the academic dream job I will start looking for a "real" job from now on

Thanks for your investigating efforts! Based on 100 PDF awards and a projection of a total of ~1500 applications, I expect the success rate to be below 7% for this year crop.

What! Only 70 ~ 80 PDFs ! Where did you get these numbers ? If correct, that would be a slap in the face to PhD education geared towards academic positions... I am still hoping for the same numbers posted last year ~ 130 PDFs , so around 9% chance (I mean literally) of getting lucky.

I am also on the waiting list for a PDF (with pre-approved IRDF). I initially thought that practically all hope was lost; but now I am wondering whether I have a good chance of getting an award since NSERC has recently stopped the practice of awarding more fellowships than the budget initially allows by predicting the number of declined awards... Just like many on this thread, I emailed NSERC asking about my ranking in the waitlist and was replied: "Congratulations! Unfortunately, we cannot disclose that information." I mean, why congratulate me? ... for my pre-approved IRDF ? This is not exactly what I was wishing for.

Also got my PDF rejection letter with IRDF pre-approved. I'm sorry to say this, but reading your credentials must make a lot of us better... You surely seemed to have a very strong application. At least you already are in a postdoc position in good school, so good luck to you!

Too bad. I was hoping to get my letter in Montreal before going on long vacation.

This is about the same number offered in 2010 and 2011. So I guess we might expect similar results for other awards such as PDF.

Do you know if they have the PDF results ? And by "department", do you refer to the office of burseries and scholarships ? Merci.

You're welcome.

This seems either arrogant or enticingly naive...

You bring a good point that "significance" is the key word here. Whether 1, 10 or 100 names are on a paper, each contributor should be able to describe explicitly its own contribution. And Yes! that is significant for someone's application.

A 9 people collaborative paper is not surprising to me at all. At least in the physical sciences (and somewhat in engineering), you can find more than 10 people collaborating on a single paper quite frequently. And this is increasingly the case since interdisciplinary research is encouraged nowadays. One the famous example is the "The D0 Collaboration" which have some hundred persons listed: click "Show All Authors/Affiliations" on http://prl.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v106/i2/e022001

If my memory is correct, last year's success rate for FQRNT Postdoc competition was in the 40% range. So I guess I'm sorry to get your hopes up