SSHRC 2011

[transboundary]

yeah, the SSHRC specifically says to only list publications under review if they've been accepted, so only list them if they've been accepted.

one of my profs is on the review committee for ACLS mellon awards and another spent years working for the SSRC as the first guy to cut proposals before they made it to committee and both have said: follow their instructions exactly. they are looking for any reason to throw out your application so don't give them a reason to cut you by doing exactly what they tell you not to do.

Ok thanks for your thoughts StrangeLight and Canuck. I have removed the 'submitted - yet to be accepted' category from my application. Instead, I suggested to one of my referees (who also happens to be co-author) that it might be good to include something about the publication in their letter of appraisal.

[Canuckonomist]

Ok thanks for your thoughts StrangeLight and Canuck. I have removed the 'submitted - yet to be accepted' category from my application. Instead, I suggested to one of my referees (who also happens to be co-author) that it might be good to include something about the publication in their letter of appraisal.

Creative, and brilliant. This is exactly what you should do. It will also land some credibility to the work.

[StrangeLight]

agreed. mentioning it in an LOR is the perfect place. "we expect it to be published, it's a strong contribution to the scholarship," blah blah blah.

i just had three of my professors rip into my proposal. they also tore into the mellon applications of two fellow students who are far more advanced in the program than i am and had larger problems to fix in their grants, but... hearing "this second paragraph killed your proposal for me" sucked. better to hear it now than in may, though.

i'm still 3 lines over 2 pages. ugh. why can't i put my name inside the 3/4" margins?! goddammit.

[transboundary]

SSHRC application submitted! woohoo!

@StrangeLight: ugh...just thinking about getting that kind of response at this point in the application process makes me feel ill...but that's just because my deadline was today. sounds like your department's internal deadline is later than mine (i hope!).

[transboundary]

i'm still 3 lines over 2 pages. ugh. why can't i put my name inside the 3/4" margins?! goddammit.

Just wait until you get it down to three words over 2 pages - that's when it gets super annoying.

[StrangeLight]

oh i can cut three words easily. changing "jurisprudence" to "law" actually got me a whole extra line of text! and more precious white space.

i have no internal deadline. i need to mail this to the SSHRC by wednesday since i'm at an american school.

i'm not really worried about it. they loved everything else about it. just basically said to really cut down one paragraph and move up another one and i'd be fine. since my bad paragraph was the second one in the whole proposal, that's what killed it. they were hooked in the intro and then they said, "what the eff is she talking about?" and by the end they were re-hooked. so... i just cut the bad stuff. it was all secondary research questions and (apparently) too much detail about the places i study. easy enough fix.

considering that i'm in the second year of my program and they told two fourth-year students that they pretty much had to rewrite their whole proposals and rethink their research questions, i felt pretty good about only being told i had one shit paragraph. they're cruel to be kind.

[ChanEcon]

You guys are really lucky to get anykind of feedback. The best I got was "looks okay" and a word change here and there.

[StrangeLight]

really? that's not terribly helpful. i've had seven professors give detailed feedback to my proposal at least once, five of them have seen multiple drafts. and four other grad students have given me feedback on it too. i feel really fortunate that so many people are taking the time to give me their thoughts, but i figured that would be standard procedure most places.

amazingly enough, i know several grad students in my program that never take advantage of any of these opportunities. one of them in particular just said to me, "well, as soon as my advisor likes it, then it'll be done." unsurprising that this gentleman is 2.5 years behind in our program.

[Canuckonomist]

oh i can cut three words easily. changing "jurisprudence" to "law" actually got me a whole extra line of text! and more precious white space.

i have no internal deadline. i need to mail this to the SSHRC by wednesday since i'm at an american school.

i'm not really worried about it. they loved everything else about it. just basically said to really cut down one paragraph and move up another one and i'd be fine. since my bad paragraph was the second one in the whole proposal, that's what killed it. they were hooked in the intro and then they said, "what the eff is she talking about?" and by the end they were re-hooked. so... i just cut the bad stuff. it was all secondary research questions and (apparently) too much detail about the places i study. easy enough fix.

considering that i'm in the second year of my program and they told two fourth-year students that they pretty much had to rewrite their whole proposals and rethink their research questions, i felt pretty good about only being told i had one shit paragraph. they're cruel to be kind.

You sound like you're in a really good place with this application. I'm looking forward to seeing how it will turn out!

[thesparky]

"...so listing those on my CV would be the same as just listing every school i got into."

I don't see how this follows. From listing the fact that you were given a fellowship, even if it's university-wide, I don't see how this is the same as listing every school you got into, even if they all offered you a fellowship of sorts, so I disagree with this point.

So these should be listed?

By the way, are they called the Doctoral Fellowships or Doctoral Scholarships? Is there a difference? What if you were awarded it but declined it? (Does that mean you have the Scholarship but not the Fellowship?)

[Canuckonomist]

So these should be listed?

By the way, are they called the Doctoral Fellowships or Doctoral Scholarships? Is there a difference? What if you were awarded it but declined it? (Does that mean you have the Scholarship but not the Fellowship?)

Hey Thesparky, (I think I remember you from Testmagic!)

I'd list the ones that the university YOU WENT TO gave you. For instance, I'm at the University of Toronto. They offered me a University of Toronto Fellowship last year, but I also won OGS, so for my application this year, I put:

- 2009 OGS

- 2010-2012 University of Toronto Fellowship

- 2009 University of Toronto Fellowship (declined)

As I had to decline the UTF in '09 in favour of the OGS.

Also, I believe it's SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship, not Scholarship.

Canuck

[StrangeLight]

i agree with canuck. list the ones you declined from the school you went to, or list the external fellowships you declined because you got a bigger external fellowship (like declining the OGS for the SSHRC). but don't list the university fellowships that schools you were accepted to, but didn't enroll with, offered you.

You sound like you're in a really good place with this application. I'm looking forward to seeing how it will turn out!

yeah, i guess so. i think my optimism might bite me in the ass later. but at this point, i don't think there's anything i could change to improve my application. the proposal is as good as it's ever going to get and it does everything a proposal is supposed to do. there are still plenty of reasons they won't fund me, but i imagine those will relate to the rest of the application (transcript, CV... both of which are "good" but not mind-blowing), which i can't change now anyway.

i'm also in the really fortunate position to have full funding from my grad program, including a fellowship for my research year. so while the SSHRC would be great (for my wallet, for my CV, and for the ability to live anywhere while i write the dissertation), i don't need it to make ends meet. so if i lose this year, i'll just reapply.

[Canuckonomist]

yeah, i guess so. i think my optimism might bite me in the ass later. but at this point, i don't think there's anything i could change to improve my application. the proposal is as good as it's ever going to get and it does everything a proposal is supposed to do. there are still plenty of reasons they won't fund me, but i imagine those will relate to the rest of the application (transcript, CV... both of which are "good" but not mind-blowing), which i can't change now anyway.

i'm also in the really fortunate position to have full funding from my grad program, including a fellowship for my research year. so while the SSHRC would be great (for my wallet, for my CV, and for the ability to live anywhere while i write the dissertation), i don't need it to make ends meet. so if i lose this year, i'll just reapply.

Yeah, that's just it. You can never 'know' that you're going to win (unless you're RaaR. His profile is beastly.) But it's good to be in the position that winning or losing doesn't make or break your year. In some of the humanities, and less 'industry popular' fields, they're not so lucky. So, I suppose this makes this application season a tad less nail-biting (though no amount of job-security can really mitigate the stress come april.).

[transboundary]

really? that's not terribly helpful. i've had seven professors give detailed feedback to my proposal at least once, five of them have seen multiple drafts. and four other grad students have given me feedback on it too. i feel really fortunate that so many people are taking the time to give me their thoughts, but i figured that would be standard procedure most places.

amazingly enough, i know several grad students in my program that never take advantage of any of these opportunities. one of them in particular just said to me, "well, as soon as my advisor likes it, then it'll be done." unsurprising that this gentleman is 2.5 years behind in our program.

This must be a departmental thing. In my department it's not really done to go outside your supervisor's advice for funding applications unless you've formed your committee already - but even then I'd be hesitant to run it by the others more than once. Other grad students? No problem.

[thesparky]

Hey Thesparky, (I think I remember you from Testmagic!)

I'd list the ones that the university YOU WENT TO gave you. For instance, I'm at the University of Toronto. They offered me a University of Toronto Fellowship last year, but I also won OGS, so for my application this year, I put:

- 2009 OGS

- 2010-2012 University of Toronto Fellowship

- 2009 University of Toronto Fellowship (declined)

As I had to decline the UTF in '09 in favour of the OGS.

Also, I believe it's SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship, not Scholarship.

Canuck

Yep, you are always helpful everywhere

That makes sense.

Hmm, it seems to be SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship, but Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS Doctoral Scholarship. Good grief, I will never get the naming convention.

[lewin]

hmm, i'm not sure i'd list the OGS if you didn't take it, but i guess it wouldn't hurt too much to write it in and then write DECLINED in capitals next to it.

but i mean... i won a 5-year highly competitive university-wide fellowship from a school i didn't go to that would've paid me way more than the SSHRC would, but i'm not listing it because i didn't ultimately go there.

I suppose it's a judgment call but, yes, I was very clear it was declined. It sounds like your fellowship was more money, but my reasoning for listing OGS was: (1) reviewers will recognize the scholarship and know what it takes to get one and (2) it's a provincial/national level competition, thus prestigious. With a university-specific fellowship it's less likely the reviewers will recognize the name and know what the competition entails.

[ChanEcon]

For all of you who are running your proposals at many profs within your department, it would be wiser to diversify. People at SSHRC will be from many disciplines, so it would be better to check with which discipline you're combined (econ is with business and poli.sci), and ask people from that discipline to judge your proposal. Ideally, departments should arrange with other departments to have their candidates evaluated by the other department. Just a thought.

[StrangeLight]

seconded. i ran my proposal through a few lit people to make sure it was comprehensible outside my discipline.

it's been mailed. i can now stop worrying about this until january, right?

[ChanEcon]

If it's been mailed, you probably won't hear anything until mid-February, beginning of March. I got my letter last year at about that time (I didn't apply through a university). If you make it to the final competition, the news come in May. If you're waitlisted you wait for the rest of your life You just never know...

[StrangeLight]

mid-feb/early march? okay. i can wait that long. i'll just need to drop all communication with my mother since she'll ask me every single week, "did you hear anything yet?"

[lewin]

yeah, the SSHRC specifically says to only list publications under review if they've been accepted, so only list them if they've been accepted.

one of my profs is on the review committee for ACLS mellon awards and another spent years working for the SSRC as the first guy to cut proposals before they made it to committee and both have said: follow their instructions exactly. they are looking for any reason to throw out your application so don't give them a reason to cut you by doing exactly what they tell you not to do.

Wanted to second this. I know somebody involved in NSERC reviews and, at a certain point, they look for ANY excuse to eliminate proposals, which includes not following instructions and sometimes even spelling mistakes (if they suggested sloppiness). "Worst case" is not being ignored, worst case is getting dropped from the competition.

[Gord]

I'm curious if anyone can provide insight as to how long it generally takes for SSHRC to provide an acknowledgement of receipt? I mailed out my application for a Doctoral Fellowship on the 9th, directly to SSHRC (I'm applying from an American school). I would have expected an acknowledgement of receipt by this point, yet I've not seen one.

Also, though I mailed this on time, if the parcel was not postmarked properly by the post office, would I still be likely to receive a note of acknowledgement indicating disqualification due to late submission?

Any input would be appreciated.

Edited November 19, 2010 by Gord

[StrangeLight]

i couriered my application from the states and i know they signed for it on the 9th, but i didn't get an email verification of its receipt until the 16th.

so give it a week from the date you assume it might've arrived at their offices.

[dramanda]

Did you send it through USPS, or FedEX/UPS? If it's the latter, you should at least have proof from the company that it was signed for in Ottawa. If it's the former, that's much tougher.

Like StrangeLight, I got a confirmation email on Nov 16th.

Edited November 19, 2010 by dramanda

[Hetty]

On the topic of declined fellowships being equivalent to listing schools you rejected, do list them if you won something extraordinary.

For example, I won the UTF (standard Toronto grant) but then I also won the Chancellor Jackman Scholarship for the Humanities (a nice exclusive little topup.)

So I put that on my CV even though I turned down Toronto for a better-for-me place, because the Jackman is extra and above.