SSHRC Doctoral Fellowships & CGS D 2022-2023

[MaryE]

1 hour ago, Nlsa said:

Hi everyone! I got offered the award! But it’s saying it’s only for $20 000/year, not 35. Anyone know why that would be?

Hey this would be the diff between SSHRC (20k x 1,2,3 or 4 years) and CGS: (35 x 3 years) The application is the same and they sub-divide folks from there. Some ppl call CGS "Super SSHRC"

Edited April 26, 2022 by MaryE

[Sora.K]

@VanessaBThat's rough. I am also on the same boat for a different subcommittee so I really understand how frustrating this result is. I got an email from my university that I've been waitlisted. 

On 4/25/2022 at 7:02 PM, VanessaB said:

How do you know if you're waitlisted? I'm 13 spots away from the last funded application. I'm really conflicted about what to do. I have until this Friday to give my decision for continuing to the a PhD program. If there's a good chance of getting off a waitlist maybe I'd accept my PhD offer, but if not I'm strongly considering ending at the masters level.

 

[Sora.K]

 

I am 15 spots away form the the bottom line y'all. Congrats to everyone who got it this time! Who really declines sshrc unless they received greater scholarships? lol 

Edited April 27, 2022 by Sora.K

[Burner_Answer]

@Burner_Question I got an email acknowledging 'receipt of acceptance of a SSHRC Doctoral Award' (through no action of mine) and it says a new notice of award will be uploaded to Extranet shortly. Then it just tells me to fill out the request for installment form and to provide proof of citizenship.

[Burner_Question]

31 minutes ago, Burner_Answer said:

@Burner_Question I got an email acknowledging 'receipt of acceptance of a SSHRC Doctoral Award' (through no action of mine) and it says a new notice of award will be uploaded to Extranet shortly. Then it just tells me to fill out the request for installment form and to provide proof of citizenship.

Interesting. I still haven't heard back from them; I sent a second email today. Where did you find the request for installment form? I can't seem to find that anywhere. So, it looks like we will receive the doctoral fellowship? Also what email did you send your questions to? 

[Quicksilver25]

5 hours ago, Burner_Question said:

Interesting. I still haven't heard back from them; I sent a second email today. Where did you find the request for installment form? I can't seem to find that anywhere. So, it looks like we will receive the doctoral fellowship? Also what email did you send your questions to? 

I'm not the OP you quoted, but here's a link to the request for first installment form. It's due up to six weeks in advance of the installment date: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/_doc/Students-Etudiants/FirstInstalment_e.pdf

When you have questions for SSHRC, send them to fellowships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca

[Ana Lacerda]

Congratulations to everyone who got it!

I didn't, for 0.15 points... 75 scholarships offered, I ranked 84. I don't know if I got lucky or not (or indifferent) but one of my committee members was a prof who was going to be my supervisor at UOttawa. We exchanged emails and he accepted me, but then OISE results came and I ended up declining my offer. And he was the only one on my committee that was in my broad area. 

Do y 'all know if there's such a thing as people not accepting their offers and then others, next in line, getting it? It was my first time applying. I'm second year, so I'm pretty sad especially because I don't know how I am going to continue affording life in Toronto with OISE's base funding... 1,600 per month for RAship/GAship barely pays for a studio basement 1 hour away from campus...

Plus, would you guys say the most important thing is publications? Those of you who got it, could you tell us how many publications you had? 

[qeta]

2 hours ago, Ana Lacerda said:

Congratulations to everyone who got it!

I didn't, for 0.15 points... 75 scholarships offered, I ranked 84. I don't know if I got lucky or not (or indifferent) but one of my committee members was a prof who was going to be my supervisor at UOttawa. We exchanged emails and he accepted me, but then OISE results came and I ended up declining my offer. And he was the only one on my committee that was in my broad area. 

Do y 'all know if there's such a thing as people not accepting their offers and then others, next in line, getting it? It was my first time applying. I'm second year, so I'm pretty sad especially because I don't know how I am going to continue affording life in Toronto with OISE's base funding... 1,600 per month for RAship/GAship barely pays for a studio basement 1 hour away from campus...

Plus, would you guys say the most important thing is publications? Those of you who got it, could you tell us how many publications you had? 

People do move up waitlists and get awards as others ahead of them decline. If you read the previous years’ threads on the SSHRC doctoral fellowship, you'll see upward movement like that. People get other large, multi-year awards like Vanier, Trudeau, and US-based ones or decide to go to international universities. I have acquaintances who have declined an award or become an awardee at a late stage. It's a highly contingent process that plays out over months, so it's probably best to not dwell on it, if possible. (Saying this as a fellow waitlister.)

Also, your worries about an evaluating professor holding a grudge are the stuff of my worst nightmare. I changed countries and disciplines to get away from a political science professor with Napoleonic complex, who shall remain unnamed. On the plus side, your grudge-holding prof will probably not judge your application next year.

Edited April 28, 2022 by qeta

[Sora.K]

2 hours ago, qeta said:

People do move up waitlists and get awards as others ahead of them decline. If you read the previous years’ threads on the SSHRC doctoral fellowship, you'll see upward movement like that. People get other large, multi-year awards like Vanier, Trudeau, and US-based ones or decide to go to international universities. I have acquaintances who have declined an award or become an awardee at a late stage. It's a highly contingent process that plays out over months, so it's probably best to not dwell on it, if possible. (Saying this as a fellow waitlister.)

Also, your worries about an evaluating professor holding a grudge are the stuff of my worst nightmare. I changed countries and disciplines to get away from a political science professor with Napoleonic complex, who shall remain unnamed. On the plus side, your grudge-holding prof will probably not judge your application n@ext year.

@qeta

Hey, you are totally right. Solidarity with all waitlisters out there ?  Trying to understand how likely it is to get the scholarhsip offered in relation to the ranking at this point seems pointless at least to me. 

Im also interested in what you all think has made your applications strong.

I've compared my scores with another colleague of mine who I had helped enhance their application who in fact was awarded sshrc this time by getting a slightly higher score than me overall. Our backgrounds were similar: 3 publications, 3 conference presentations. I have had a grad level teaching experience but he didn't. The biggest difference lied in research potential. His research topic seemed to have been liked quite a bit more than mine. Also while my PhD focuses on a completely new topic his builds on his master's. I think that the reviewers like that kind of narrative in the proposal.

Thoughts anyone? 

Edited April 28, 2022 by Sora.K

[qeta]

18 minutes ago, Sora.K said:

The biggest difference lied in research potential. His research topic seemed to have been liked quite a bit more than mine. Also while my PhD focuses on a completely new topic his builds on his master's. I think that the reviewers like that kind of narrative in the proposal.

 

This is my reading of SSHRC and Canadian awards in general. They really do seem to prefer if the applicant expands their MA research during doctoral studies. Possibly the adjudicators think that the applicant has a better grounding in the topic and is more likely to finish the PhD/project if they focused on the same during their MA. In my experience, the US awards evaluators don’t focus on this dimension because most PhD programs are direct entry. Not sure what would counteract this, except publishing more, or pointing out that you received a distinction in your exams and are building on that base, or asking your recommenders to comment that you are one of the most knowledgable students they have met.

[Quicksilver25]

5 hours ago, Ana Lacerda said:

Plus, would you guys say the most important thing is publications? Those of you who got it, could you tell us how many publications you had? 

I'm a first-time applicant at the PhD level (I'm currently in the final year of my Master's). I didn't get the CGS-M for my first year, I got waitlisted the second year I applied, and now successfully got the PGS-D. Getting waitlisted was a confidence boost, so I used that same proposal and used the extra page we get to write to really flesh out my ideas.

From what I've seen with other people who've applied to SSHRC, publications aren't the be-all and end-all. I've seen people with 3+ publications get rejected, and people with only one get awarded. I'm one of the people who had only one publication and I was just the third author, so the strength of my application didn't come from publications. Instead, I had 12 conference posters (four of them first author) and a lot of research experience (I worked as an RA for a few years before starting my master's and I've done some RA work during my master's). In my applicant statement, I noted that I was working on other manuscripts that would be submitted for publication. One of those studies is registered on Open Science Framework (OSF). So, even though that manuscript hadn't been submitted yet, I cited the project and provided the link to the OSF registration instead of a DOI in my research contributions section. I did this to prove that I was indeed writing a manuscript and not just saying I was.

In terms of my research proposal, although my PhD proposal fits under the umbrella of my research area, it isn't directly related to my master's research or any of the publications/posters I've done. My proposal could honestly be read as though I'm trying to change my research focus entirely. I was concerned about this not looking good in my application, so I made sure to describe how the work I've done during my master's has prepared me to do my newly proposed research, and how conducting this research will allow me to broaden the scope of my training and expertise and start focusing on certain areas of interest as I become a more independent/senior researcher. My hope was that there would be some understanding that at the master's level, students can kind of get forced into certain research topics, but at the PhD level, students get to have more say in their research, so there's room to branch out (I didn't mention any of this, though).

TL;DR: I have only one publication where I'm third author and my proposed research is somewhat unrelated to the work I've done over the last few years. What I think helped my application was having a ton a research experience, a bunch of poster presentations, and making sure to explain how my research experience and extra-curricular activities relate to the research I proposed and how those experiences have prepared me to conduct that research.

 

Edited April 28, 2022 by Quicksilver25

[Ana Lacerda]

9 hours ago, Sora.K said:

@qeta

Hey, you are totally right. Solidarity with all waitlisters out there ?  Trying to understand how likely it is to get the scholarhsip offered in relation to the ranking at this point seems pointless at least to me. 

Im also interested in what you all think has made your applications strong.

I've compared my scores with another colleague of mine who I had helped enhance their application who in fact was awarded sshrc this time by getting a slightly higher score than me overall. Our backgrounds were similar: 3 publications, 3 conference presentations. I have had a grad level teaching experience but he didn't. The biggest difference lied in research potential. His research topic seemed to have been liked quite a bit more than mine. Also while my PhD focuses on a completely new topic his builds on his master's. I think that the reviewers like that kind of narrative in the proposal.

Thoughts anyone? 

WOW you guys, you have no idea how much yours and the previous reply have helped me make sense of everything!! I too have 3 publications, 5 conferences, BUT everything except for 1 publication and 2 conferences is in a different area! I have 1 year of TA in my past field, 1 year of RA in the current field, 6 years of RA in the previous field (normal in Brazil where I did everything except the phd). Plus lots of teaching kids and volunteering. I changed from International Relations to (secondary, history) Education. 

Plus, thanks so much about telling me that there is a 'waitlist' kind of thing. My university admin didn't know... She said my result came to them as "recommended but not offered" and she said "maybe that means waitlist?" haha. 

Thanks so much everyone!!!

[Sora.K]

Hey @qeta @Quicksilver25@Ana Lacerda!

Thanks for sharing everyone! Really insightful.

@Quicksilver25, that is a lot of presentations. What kind of conferences are they? Are they international, provincial, and/or institutional level conferences?  @qetaI think the adjudicators' rationale makes sense. I guess the strategy for those who are working on different topics/related topics which do not build on the MA topics might be to frame it as a strength, as @Quicksilver25said. 

[soulmuse]

For those applying directly, how do we receive more detailed info on the offer? Mine just says "offered", no duration no details, no nothing. 

Will they send another email with detailed info? or a package in the mail?

[Sora.K]

Hey all, did you all apply for the OGS in addition to the SSHRC? Those who applied, I hope you all got it! 

[Burner_Answer]

@Burner_Answer yeah it was the fellowships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca address, though the email didn't seem to be in reply to the initial one I sent. Does appear that we'll get the Doctoral Fellowship and the acceptance is automatic pending submission of that form.

[Quicksilver25]

4 hours ago, Sora.K said:

Hey @qeta @Quicksilver25@Ana Lacerda!

Thanks for sharing everyone! Really insightful.

@Quicksilver25, that is a lot of presentations. What kind of conferences are they? Are they international, provincial, and/or institutional level conferences?  @qetaI think the adjudicators' rationale makes sense. I guess the strategy for those who are working on different topics/related topics which do not build on the MA topics might be to frame it as a strength, as @Quicksilver25said. 

They were a mix of provincial and institutional conferences.

[qeta]

10 hours ago, Quicksilver25 said:

They were a mix of provincial and institutional conferences.

I find this talk of conferences fascinating! I’m in sociology in the US and have presented at 10+ international and national conferences and workshops, including a very prestigious dissertation workshop. I think of conference presentations as a way to demonstrate that I’m involved in the disciplinary community and/or that I’m working on a manuscript. Most professors and grad students in my program present at conferences, almost as an annual ritual. Can somebody tell me why conference participation signals merit? Is it a discipline-specific thing? (I partly want to know because I truly hate huge conferences—they generally involve vague feedback and are costly to participate in—and much prefer workshops.)

[Quicksilver25]

6 minutes ago, qeta said:

I find this talk of conferences fascinating! I’m in sociology in the US and have presented at 10+ international and national conferences and workshops, including a very prestigious dissertation workshop. I think of conference presentations as a way to demonstrate that I’m involved in the disciplinary community and/or that I’m working on a manuscript. Most professors and grad students in my program present at conferences, almost as an annual ritual. Can somebody tell me why conference participation signals merit? Is it a discipline-specific thing? (I partly want to know because I truly hate huge conferences—they generally involve vague feedback and are costly to participate in—and much prefer workshops.)

I'm one of those students who participates in conferences annually. I've been lucky because my registration fees have always been covered. I like to make use of my institutional conferences because registration is free.

For me, I think the importance of going to conferences lies in showing some sort of commitment to sharing your research. Publications are great because they'll potentially reach a larger audience, and you can get your name out there, but when you present at a conference, you have to talk about your research, answer peoples' questions, and discuss your work. And, depending on the conference, that might mean sharing your work with lay people. Those are the benefits that I see. Also, in my department, conferences look good on our yearly evaluations. Attending them is not a requirement. It just looks good.

That said, I appreciate you saying that you hate huge conferences. I hate them too, and I don't think that many people would be willing to admit this non-anonymously. Yes, I attend conferences to share my research, but to be completely honest, I mostly do it to add to my CV and strengthen my scholarship applications. I genuinely don't have the attention span for the sheer number of presentations that take place at some of these conferences, particularly when they're multi-day affairs. I find them exhausting at times, which means I'll struggle to fully engage. And I agree with you about conferences often involving vague feedback and being costly as downsides. Now that I've gotten into my PhD program, I don't think attending conferences will be a priority for me. I'll probably commit to attending one per year, and try focusing on publications instead

I've never done a workshop. What are those like?

[qeta]

I love workshops! They generally focus on a specific topic, especially emerging topics of interest (e.g.: the relationship between property and racialization across the world), and are generally interdisciplinary. Participants are asked to read carefully and comment constructively and collegially on each other’s works, so the feedback is usually good. Everybody gives tons of reading recommendations so it’s a great way to understand the state of the field. More importantly, because everybody works on related topics that are usually niche or new, people have an incentive to build an intellectual community during and beyond the workshop.

Your comments about conferences make a lot of sense. Because I’m in the middle years of my PhD program, I stopped finding medium to large conferences helpful. From what my advisors tell me, they will be helpful again in the next couple of years, at least for networking.

[artemis.okeeffe]

Hey all! I got CGS this year (first time applicant). I was truly surprised by my score (11.13/12). I have an unusual profile so I thought I'd share my thoughts on what might have helped my application. After years spent outside of academia, I thought I was now immune to the unique taste of academic rejection... nope. While this application was successful, I still have an ever-growing collection of rejection letters. The fact that we are being made to compete with one another over an ever-shrinking pool of funding just sucks. To my fellows PhDs who were unsuccessful this year and who are living precarious lives in unaffordable cities, my heart is with you. Really. The fact that you are passionate enough about understanding our world to undertake a PhD speaks volume about the person that you are and I hope you get the support you deserve. 

Ok. So here's a couple of thoughts: 

- If there are resources available within your Faculty to assist you in your application process, use them. I cannot stress this enough. The amazing research officer at my Faculty did four careful re-reading of my application. 

- Make sure all the parts of the application work together to tell a story about who you are, what you accomplished, what you learned and how it prepared you for your doctoral adventure. My working theory is : all humans, including SSHRC reviewers, love a good story. Give them one. (My quite unofficial goal here was that I wanted the reviewer, upon finishing reading my application, to tell themselves: I wish to continue this conversation over a drink).

- I only have one peer-reviewed publication (in a completely different field) but I have a ton of non-refereed publications. In my statement, I highlighted my commitment to make complex problems intelligible for a broad audience. I would say, don't underestimate the weight of non-refereed publications. Bonus point: in the "normal" (non academic) publishing world, you get to work with professional editors who will help you write in an accessible and engaging manner. 

- I'm doing my PhD in a completely different discipline than my master's. My PhD research intervenes in a whole different field. And I was outside of academia for seven years before choosing to come back. I think reviewers are looking for coherence over continuity. Identifying a common thread to all of your experiences and naming the skills you learned along the way and how they will help you carry your research forward might be a good way to look at this. I see the personal statement as a good place to "breath life" into your C.V and list of publications. Whatever you got, make it shine!

 

Edited April 29, 2022 by artemis.okeeffe

[remote13]

@Burner_Question @Burner_Answer @NateL

I'm in the same boat as you three, with a CGS-D award but enrolled at a foreign institution. 

I need to "downgrade" to a SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship so I can take up the award.

I emailed and phoned (left a voicemail) Monday night, got the cryptic email the next day, with the link to the instalment form, and a promise for new documents to be uploaded to Extranet. They also gave me a "new" award number with what seems to be a typo in it, and that is pretty much the same as my old award number.

Radio silence since then. Have any of you got anything further?

I know so many people are disappointed and I don't mean this to be complaining, but man, the suspense of getting this award and not being able to use it is really getting me. I'm refreshing every hour.

[cangrad11]

I'm wondering about this too - I'm worried they'll only give 3 years like CGS-D. I haven't heard back but I sent an email Monday and they're forwarding me to a program officer. Have you heard about how many years you would get the 20k for since we have to give up the 35k one? I'm really hoping for the full 4 because it feels unfair otherwise.

[cangrad11]

13 hours ago, remote13 said:

@Burner_Question @Burner_Answer @NateL

I'm in the same boat as you three, with a CGS-D award but enrolled at a foreign institution. 

I need to "downgrade" to a SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship so I can take up the award.

I emailed and phoned (left a voicemail) Monday night, got the cryptic email the next day, with the link to the instalment form, and a promise for new documents to be uploaded to Extranet. They also gave me a "new" award number with what seems to be a typo in it, and that is pretty much the same as my old award number.

Radio silence since then. Have any of you got anything further?

I know so many people are disappointed and I don't mean this to be complaining, but man, the suspense of getting this award and not being able to use it is really getting me. I'm refreshing every hour.

I'm wondering about this too (i'm a first year international student)- I'm worried they'll only give 3 years like CGS-D. I haven't heard back but I sent an email Monday and they're forwarding me to a program officer. Have you heard about how many years you would get the 20k for since we have to give up the 35k one? I'm really hoping for the full 4 because it feels unfair otherwise.

 

Edited April 30, 2022 by cangrad11

[Burner_Answer]

19 hours ago, remote13 said:

@Burner_Question @Burner_Answer @NateL

I'm in the same boat as you three, with a CGS-D award but enrolled at a foreign institution. 

I need to "downgrade" to a SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship so I can take up the award.

I emailed and phoned (left a voicemail) Monday night, got the cryptic email the next day, with the link to the instalment form, and a promise for new documents to be uploaded to Extranet. They also gave me a "new" award number with what seems to be a typo in it, and that is pretty much the same as my old award number.

Radio silence since then. Have any of you got anything further?

I know so many people are disappointed and I don't mean this to be complaining, but man, the suspense of getting this award and not being able to use it is really getting me. I'm refreshing every hour.

Yeah, got only as far as this as well (including the 'new' award number which is exactly the same as my old one). Nothing new uploaded to Extranet yet. I haven't submitted any documents yet - waiting for the thing to actually show up on Extranet with everything outlined.