Vanier 2018-2019

[astralsource]

Does someone know which of the three agencies is the most competitive one. I presume CIHR has the most applications?

[Simzuki]

Does anyone know if the waitlist has moved at all in previous years?

[immunity]

5 minutes ago, Simzuki said:

Does anyone know if the waitlist has moved at all in previous years?

From previous years, it looks like there's a 3% decline rate. So chances are quite slim.

[immunity]

22 minutes ago, astralsource said:

1.Academic Excellence:6.002.

Research Potential: 5.503.

Leadership:6.00

Overall Average score: 5.83

 

I'm surprised I got so low on leadership since I had an NGO for 4 years straight and volunteering is my middle name.

Same as me...for one organization I volunteered for 10 years straight and I still got such a low score! 

[von9]

For those who did not get it this year, I know how you feel because this was me last year. However, try not to get discouraged, keep productivity up and apply again. My overall score was a 4.5 last time and this year I managed to get it (applied to CIHR both times). Hard to say which funding agency is the most competitive but historically a lot of the CIHR vaniers have gone to the MD/PhDs (I'm not one) at my institution so that may be something to think about.

[astralsource]

3 minutes ago, immunity said:

Same as me...for one organization I volunteered for 10 years straight and I still got such a low score! 

Damn weird.

I cannot apply again unfortunately since I started my PhD in May 2018. It would be over 20 months on May 2020.

Just wasn't meant to be. I applied for CIHR too so that's on my list as well.

[immunity]

Just now, astralsource said:

Damn weird.

I cannot apply again unfortunately since I started my PhD in May 2018. It would be over 20 months on May 2020.

Just wasn't meant to be. I applied for CIHR too so that's on my list as well.

This is my first and last chance too...started Sept. 2016 and fast-tracked. I applied to CIHR. Here's to hoping we at least get that one...

[astralsource]

Just now, immunity said:

This is my first and last chance too...started Sept. 2016 and fast-tracked. I applied to CIHR. Here's to hoping we at least get that one...

Edited April 1, 2019 by astralsource

[java_beans]

54 minutes ago, immunity said:

Btw for future applicants. I got waitlisted, ranked 66/183. Scores: Academic excellence: 5.85, Research potential: 6.75, Leadership: 5.75. 12 publications (8 first author), 14 awards, 5 conference abstracts, 5 presentations.

Jeez. I hadn't applied because of a lack of publications and scholarships, and it's good to know how competitive that is. 12 publications, 8 first author, is an amazing achievement so early in your career. You should be proud anyways!

[immunity]

4 minutes ago, spin_ice said:

Jeez. I hadn't applied because of a lack of publications and scholarships, and it's good to know how competitive that is. 12 publications, 8 first author, is an amazing achievement so early in your career. You should be proud anyways!

Thank you so much! I was just really luck to be in the right place at the right time! All the best with your applications  

[cchu]

47 minutes ago, spin_ice said:

Jeez. I hadn't applied because of a lack of publications and scholarships, and it's good to know how competitive that is. 12 publications, 8 first author, is an amazing achievement so early in your career. You should be proud anyways!

true, the competition is so intimitating. I just applied NSERC

[WKLP]

Yikes I did really badly (almost hilariously so) despite two books published and a few years of running workshops and giving talks etc! Congrats to everyone who was successful, especially those of you who have put so many hours of volunteer work in to try and make this a better world. Lord knows we need a better world.

[PsychBoy]

Congrats everyone!!

[TBay]

58 minutes ago, WKLP said:

Yikes I did really badly (almost hilariously so) despite two books published and a few years of running workshops and giving talks etc! Congrats to everyone who was successful, especially those of you who have put so many hours of volunteer work in to try and make this a better world. Lord knows we need a better world.

I also did very badly and was surprised at the low leadership score.  I have an MA and MBA and opened a small museum on my own, an entire city was helped economically by my work and wrote for me.  I had to go up against a very scary good old boy network to do it (I didn't even go into the details of how they harassed and threatened me for years so their Porche club could take credit for my research.  I have a book published, about 6 conferences, spearheading a conference now, I was an Incident Commander for Hurricane and Disaster Relief as well but was advised not to put that on my application and concentrate it around my museum work.  I am a bit shell shocked, but also pretty happy for those who got it.  I thought I'd be near the middle and not get it, but certainly not near the bottom.   

 

[cchu]

5 minutes ago, TBay said:

I also did very badly and was surprised at the low leadership score.  I have an MA and MBA and opened a small museum on my own, an entire city was helped economically by my work and wrote for me.  I had to go up against a very scary good old boy network to do it (I didn't even go into the details of how they harassed and threatened me for years so their Porche club could take credit for my research.  I have a book published, about 6 conferences, spearheading a conference now, I was an Incident Commander for Hurricane and Disaster Relief as well but was advised not to put that on my application and concentrate it around my museum work.  I am a bit shell shocked, but also pretty happy for those who got it.  I thought I'd be near the middle and not get it, but certainly not near the bottom.   

 

May be it is not presented well?

 

[HonestlyConfused]

LOL yeah so I did SUPER badly and didn’t get it at all. But honestly I feel better after reading this forum. You guys are actually all super amazing and very accomplished and while I was a good applicant for med school... it obviously doesn’t stack up to you people. Congrats everyone! 

[WKLP]

22 minutes ago, TBay said:

I also did very badly and was surprised at the low leadership score.  I have an MA and MBA and opened a small museum on my own, an entire city was helped economically by my work and wrote for me.  I had to go up against a very scary good old boy network to do it (I didn't even go into the details of how they harassed and threatened me for years so their Porche club could take credit for my research.  I have a book published, about 6 conferences, spearheading a conference now, I was an Incident Commander for Hurricane and Disaster Relief as well but was advised not to put that on my application and concentrate it around my museum work.  I am a bit shell shocked, but also pretty happy for those who got it.  I thought I'd be near the middle and not get it, but certainly not near the bottom.   

 

OMG, you do sound amazing! I really feel as though the whole thing depends on the two people reading your applications, and that's a crapshoot. I know they have a guidebook about biases but it seems inevitable that those in certain fields would privilege others or squash people in fields they despise etc. But congrats on being such a force, especially contra the good old boys. 

[Adelaide9216]

It sounds like NSERC and CIHR are very intense in terms of expectations for Vanier. You guys all sound amazing.

[johnstraw199]

Just checked my ResearchNet profile - I also got a SSHRC-Vanier !  Congrats to everyone who got nominated. Also, I don't think you need that many publications to get Vanier. I only have one 3rd author article and one conference presentation. It's a really subjective process, so if anyone wants to apply next year, don't hesitate ! 

[Adelaide9216]

1 hour ago, johnstraw199 said:

Just checked my ResearchNet profile - I also got a SSHRC-Vanier !  Congrats to everyone who got nominated. Also, I don't think you need that many publications to get Vanier. I only have one 3rd author article and one conference presentation. It's a really subjective process, so if anyone wants to apply next year, don't hesitate ! 

Same here, the main scientific publication I had was a book review. No formal publications, at this point except for conference presentations, research assistantships, etc. But it's a bit normal in my field since I am not yet a PhD student, so this is the stage of my career that it's more accepted that I don't have publications. Congrats to you too! 

Edited April 1, 2019 by Adelaide9216

[PhDough]

Because this thread has been supportive and informative,  I wanted to update with my result. I got a Vanier and the ranking was quite high.  All the scores were above 8, with research potential and leadership the highest and equal.

- My propsed research is very unusual and I had taken a huge risk with it and the committee I selected. To be honest, I didn't think I stood a chance. Because I fast tracked from a Masters to PhD, I had a head start on this particular project because it was supposed to be my Masters (then grew in scope). Then again, I didn't have a Masters so that seemed to counterbalance that.

- I never held a tricouncil Masters scholarship due to poor undergarduate grades. So, it looks like Vanier may not have looked at my attached undergrad transcript and likely only considered my graduate grades because if they had, there is no way I would have scored that high. 

- I have a pretty solid publication record,  so I think that helped.

- to be blunt, I am kinda old to be a PhD student (?) so my leadership as a result was stacked because I had a career and loads of volunteering before commencing graduate studies. I continued some volunteering during this time. 

- I worked extremely hard on my proposal, it took a year to write and 17 revisions. Only 3 other people agreed to read it and offer feedback, and they provided some feedback. Most of the revisions though were my own, knowing that I had to scope down and make my topic clearer. I wasn't able to attend any of the university's info sessions or workshops because I have family obligations. So I didn't get much help at all from the university,  nor was I able to view a successful application during that time. 

- I was the first person in the waitlist last year for a tricouncil doctorate and I did not apply for a Vanier because at the time I was still enrolled in my Masters. 

To be honest, the lack of mentorship and guidance on this was pretty impactful and I am still in shock I got a Vanier. I think the reviewers probably liked my proposal, it connects in a very relevant manner to my background and pubs and I think they saw that. 

I hope this helps someone for next year, because my advice is to concentrate on writing a very sincere and personally relevant proposal, and don't sell yourself short in the leadership letter! You just never know.  Don't fret about the number of pubs; instead, focus on a few great posters, talks or papers connected to your topic. If you don't have any mentors nor a record of success in your department, don't feel down because someone has to be first, afterall. I hope to be around to answer questions of anyone has any,  and congrats to the fellow scholars and best of luck to those who reapply!

[Adelaide9216]

Same here, I have done at least 10 versions of my research proposal and leadership statement and I got both of those documents commented (multiple times) by past Vanier recipients. I did not have any scientific publications other than a book review. But I had a lot of talks that I gave to the general public, media interviews (both print, tv and online) and a lot of awards/scholarships/distinctions (20+) that I have won over the years (I am involved in the community since the age of 12 and have been till this day). I also wrote a few op-eds in the media as well. I had to think very early on about my research project for PhD because I am still a master's student. So I began brainstorming around January 2018 approx, in consultation with my future thesis supervisor to have a solid ground about what I wanted to study for my doctoral studies. Then, I began working on an actual proposal. The methodology section was the hardest for me to write but I had the feeling that it was the most important section in the research proposal, especially since I am not currently a PhD student. I was very well aware that research potential would be my lowest score (and that's exactly what happened). I also had very strong reference letters for leadership and from professors. Amongst the 20+ scholarships and awards I have won, I also had tri-concil scholarships and provincial scholarship at the master's level. 

PS: I mentionned that another student in my department with the same supervisor also applied and got forwarded to Ottawa. He also got Vanier. So it seems that we've all been evaluated individually, according the our respective stage in career in academia. I think if I was a 2nd or 3rd year PhD student, my lack of publications would have been against me. But since I am not a PhD student, it's moreso "tolerated" that I don't have first-authored publications at this point. 

PPS: I have also taken a year to work on my Vanier application. Most people start in the summer, especially since they are already into their PhD programs. I committed fully to this. I was telling myself before knowing the results, that I couldn't have done more in terms of efforts. I gave my 200% because I truly believed that I could get Vanier even if I was not a PhD student yet. My ranking is about what I was expecting. I also think aside of efforts, a lot of it is luck depending on who are the reviewers, I believe there's always some subjectivity attached to these peer-reviewed evaluations, inevitably. 

PPPS: My feeling is that leadership according to Vanier (leadership is valued is a little bit more than the other two criteria) are way beyond having conference papers or publications... I think they want researchers that can interact with the general public and not just researchers and academia. I think that's why I got it. They must be looking beyond research experience and good grades, because I have 0 scientific publications. I did participate in international conferences and worked as a RA, but I don't have publications so they're definitely looking at other aspects of the applicant.

Edited April 3, 2019 by Adelaide9216

[cchu]

17 hours ago, Adelaide9216 said:

Same here, I have done at least 10 versions of my research proposal and leadership statement and I got both of those documents commented (multiple times) by past Vanier recipients. I did not have any scientific publications other than a book review. But I had a lot of talks that I gave to the general public, media interviews (both print, tv and online) and a lot of awards/scholarships/distinctions (20+) that I have won over the years (I am involved in the community since the age of 12 and have been till this day). I also wrote a few op-eds in the media as well. I had to think very early on about my research project for PhD because I am still a master's student. So I began brainstorming around January 2018 approx, in consultation with my future thesis supervisor to have a solid ground about what I wanted to study for my doctoral studies. Then, I began working on an actual proposal. The methodology section was the hardest for me to write but I had the feeling that it was the most important section in the research proposal, especially since I am not currently a PhD student. I was very well aware that research potential would be my lowest score (and that's exactly what happened). I also had very strong reference letters for leadership and from professors. Amongst the 20+ scholarships and awards I have won, I also had tri-concil scholarships and provincial scholarship at the master's level. 

PS: I mentionned that another student in my department with the same supervisor also applied and got forwarded to Ottawa. He also got Vanier. So it seems that we've all been evaluated individually, according the our respective stage in career in academia. I think if I was a 2nd or 3rd year PhD student, my lack of publications would have been against me. But since I am not a PhD student, it's moreso "tolerated" that I don't have first-authored publications at this point. 

PPS: I have also taken a year to work on my Vanier application. Most people start in the summer, especially since they are already into their PhD programs. I committed fully to this. I was telling myself before knowing the results, that I couldn't have done more in terms of efforts. I gave my 200% because I truly believed that I could get Vanier even if I was not a PhD student yet. My ranking is about what I was expecting. I also think aside of efforts, a lot of it is luck depending on who are the reviewers, I believe there's always some subjectivity attached to these peer-reviewed evaluations, inevitably. 

PPPS: My feeling is that leadership according to Vanier (leadership is valued is a little bit more than the other two criteria) are way beyond having conference papers or publications... I think they want researchers that can interact with the general public and not just researchers and academia. I think that's why I got it. They must be looking beyond research experience and good grades, because I have 0 scientific publications. I did participate in international conferences and worked as a RA, but I don't have publications so they're definitely looking at other aspects of the applicant.

But I had a lot of talks that I gave to the general public, media interviews (both print, tv and online) and a lot of awards/scholarships/distinctions (20+) that I have won over the years (I am involved in the community since the age of 12 and have been till this day).

This is way better than publication!!!

Edited April 4, 2019 by cchu

[Adelaide9216]

I want to make the announcement on social media but we’ve been told we can’t for now. Yet, I see many people who announced it already. When is the public announcement?

[cchu]

Just now, Adelaide9216 said:

I want to make the announcement on social media but we’ve been told we can’t for now. Yet, I see many people who announced it already. When is the public announcement?

who can control you?