SSHRC CGS-D & Doctoral Fellowships 2024-2025

[FutureAssyriologist]

@JB9797 @SSHRCMyResponsibilities

Haven't heard anything either, but the whole no documents on the extranet thing (same as @torysira) is interesting, because they had to upload new ones for me on May 4 which means it hasn't been 90 days and yet they deleted them... But no press releases or anything. I also looked and none of the application information for CGS-D/Doctoral Fellowships on the website has been updated for 2024-25 yet and last year they did it mid-July. So presumably something is in the works?

They do still have 11 hours to tell us what's going on in July as promised bahaha

[JB9797]

5 minutes ago, FutureAssyriologist said:

@JB9797 @SSHRCMyResponsibilities

Haven't heard anything either, but the whole no documents on the extranet thing (same as @torysira) is interesting, because they had to upload new ones for me on May 4 which means it hasn't been 90 days and yet they deleted them... But no press releases or anything. I also looked and none of the application information for CGS-D/Doctoral Fellowships on the website has been updated for 2024-25 yet and last year they did it mid-July. So presumably something is in the works?

They do still have 11 hours to tell us what's going on in July as promised bahaha

I called the tech desk (to ask about the extranet) and all he could say was that they were in a busy period and generally behind. I also checked and my documents were also deleted, so let's just say they are preparing new ones. We might have to wait a bit longer, but would be nice if they sent a reassuring "don't worry we're on it..." sort of email.

[pugluvz]

Anybody having issues with SSHRC saying your request for first instalment form is incomplete when it's not? I've been asked to upload the form again with Part 4 completed and signed, but I already did that so I'm confused. I reached out for clarification but just wondering if anyone else has had the same issue.

[pugluvz]

Just got the new documentation... So the awards can't exceed 120,000 total, so they are now three years instead of four years? I got CGS and was hoping it would increase from three years to four years but oh well. For folks who won SSHRC and were expecting a four year award, what's the deal exactly? Do you have the option to get a lower amount and stretch it over four years? 

[JB9797]

4 hours ago, pugluvz said:

Just got the new documentation... So the awards can't exceed 120,000 total, so they are now three years instead of four years? I got CGS and was hoping it would increase from three years to four years but oh well. For folks who won SSHRC and were expecting a four year award, what's the deal exactly? Do you have the option to get a lower amount and stretch it over four years? 

Do you mean they uploaded new documents on the extranet reflecting the new amounts (ie $40k/year)? Did you get an email notifying you?

[pugluvz]

7 hours ago, JB9797 said:

Do you mean they uploaded new documents on the extranet reflecting the new amounts (ie $40k/year)? Did you get an email notifying you?

Yes, I got an email last night saying "Information regarding the increase in value to your Canada Graduate Scholarships - Doctoral award is now available in the new SSHRC extranet for applicants." The document states that the annual value of SSHRC doctoral awards cannot exceed $40,000 while the total value cannot exceed $120,000.

[JB9797]

17 minutes ago, pugluvz said:

Yes, I got an email last night saying "Information regarding the increase in value to your Canada Graduate Scholarships - Doctoral award is now available in the new SSHRC extranet for applicants." The document states that the annual value of SSHRC doctoral awards cannot exceed $40,000 while the total value cannot exceed $120,000.

Oh nice, thanks for the info. I wonder why I haven’t got the email yet, and I’m an award holder…probably just backed up? I guess our emails for award notification back in April did take a while

Edited August 1 by JB9797

[JB9797]

Or maybe it’s because you have a CGS and I have the foreign institution one. They’ll likely reduce ours to 3 years then too. 

[JB9797]

On 7/29/2024 at 6:31 PM, SSHRCMyResponsibilities said:

Where are we supposed to hear from? An official news release? An email?

 

I think we’re in the same boat right (Doctoral Fellowship and not the CGS?). Have you received the email yet?

[driftingagain005]

9 hours ago, JB9797 said:

I think we’re in the same boat right (Doctoral Fellowship and not the CGS?). Have you received the email yet?

I'm in the same boat as you, but domestic DF. I haven't received an email yet and my extranet is still empty. Not sure, but it looks like they're probably starting with the CGS folks then will do the DF holders next?

[Dedlok]

I just got my email last night with the details of the increase, directly from SSHRC. But, for anyone else in this position, the increase is not as much as they claim it is, so don't budget for it too enthusiastically.

On 7/31/2024 at 9:11 PM, pugluvz said:

Just got the new documentation... So the awards can't exceed 120,000 total, so they are now three years instead of four years? I got CGS and was hoping it would increase from three years to four years but oh well. For folks who won SSHRC and were expecting a four year award, what's the deal exactly? Do you have the option to get a lower amount and stretch it over four years? 

It is peculiar that the press releases etc. claim doctoral students will go from $20k/yr to $40k/yr when in fact the award can't exceed $120k in total, and the doctoral fellowship is often a four-year award. 4 x $40k = $160k, which is over the limit, so they knock off $40k from the total. Perhaps they're going to change it to a three-year award in future (3 x $40k = $120k).

Either way, it's an increase, for which I'm grateful, but this concept of an "overall limit" is silly and goes against the spirit of the grant hikes. $120k/4 is still $30k/year, which is barely livable in most major Canadian university cities, especially right now!

Edited August 2 by Dedlok

[pugluvz]

9 hours ago, Dedlok said:

I just got my email last night with the details of the increase, directly from SSHRC. But, for anyone else in this position, the increase is not as much as they claim it is, so don't budget for it too enthusiastically.

It is peculiar that the press releases etc. claim doctoral students will go from $20k/yr to $40k/yr when in fact the award can't exceed $120k in total, and the doctoral fellowship is often a four-year award. 4 x $40k = $160k, which is over the limit, so they knock off $40k from the total. Perhaps they're going to change it to a three-year award in future (3 x $40k = $120k).

Either way, it's an increase, for which I'm grateful, but this concept of an "overall limit" is silly and goes against the spirit of the grant hikes. $120k/4 is still $30k/year, which is barely livable in most major Canadian university cities, especially right now!

I feel the exact same way! I am of course extremely grateful for the increase as well, but I think it's unfortunate that for months they never mentioned shortening the length of the award. I understand that CGS was always 3 years, but I definitely thought that these changes would mean that all the awards were 4 years. Otherwise, exactly as you said, the scholarship is not really increasing from 20,000 per year to 40,000 per year, but to 30,000 based on shortening the length. I think they should have included this caveat in the original budget announcement. 

[JB9797]

7 hours ago, pugluvz said:

I feel the exact same way! I am of course extremely grateful for the increase as well, but I think it's unfortunate that for months they never mentioned shortening the length of the award. I understand that CGS was always 3 years, but I definitely thought that these changes would mean that all the awards were 4 years. Otherwise, exactly as you said, the scholarship is not really increasing from 20,000 per year to 40,000 per year, but to 30,000 based on shortening the length. I think they should have included this caveat in the original budget announcement. 

Totally agree with you all. It really isn’t fair based on the announcement and how proud the government is to increase  ALL awards to $40K/Year.

I wasn’t ever going to use the entire 4 years anyways as I applied after I already started the PhD. I’ll probably only use 2 years total of funding (but I was still awarded the full four years of funding). In an ideal world, I should argue and get the 40K/Year and the funding stops if I ever reach 120K. I wonder if those who received a fellowship for two or three years will get $40K/Year. 
 

I’m still a bit confused, especially because I got this other reply. Does this mean I won’t be getting the full amount this year as I’ve already received a May instalment?:

 

The award increase will be automatically applied to all new and ongoing awards. Payments will be adjusted for the prorated value of the award increase, based on the time the award is active after September 1, 2024. 

[polyparl]

12 hours ago, pugluvz said:

I feel the exact same way! I am of course extremely grateful for the increase as well, but I think it's unfortunate that for months they never mentioned shortening the length of the award. I understand that CGS was always 3 years, but I definitely thought that these changes would mean that all the awards were 4 years. Otherwise, exactly as you said, the scholarship is not really increasing from 20,000 per year to 40,000 per year, but to 30,000 based on shortening the length. I think they should have included this caveat in the original budget announcement. 

This was to be expected. The federal government is consolidating NSERC, CIHR, and SSHRC doctoral awards into one program.

The NSERC PGS D, NSERC CGS D, CIHR CGS D, SSHRC CGS D, and Vanier CGS D were all 3 year awards. The only award that was 4 years is the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship. In the end, those with the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship are getting a 50% increase from 80k to 120k, and it is important to note that rather than waiting 4 years to get 80k, you will get 80k in 2 years which really makes a huge difference.

Of course it would have been amazing if they were all increased to 4 years, but that would probably be asking for too much with the increase in award values and the eventual increase in award numbers in future competitions.

[seeveeargh]

On 8/3/2024 at 8:40 AM, polyparl said:

This was to be expected. The federal government is consolidating NSERC, CIHR, and SSHRC doctoral awards into one program.

The NSERC PGS D, NSERC CGS D, CIHR CGS D, SSHRC CGS D, and Vanier CGS D were all 3 year awards. The only award that was 4 years is the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship. In the end, those with the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship are getting a 50% increase from 80k to 120k, and it is important to note that rather than waiting 4 years to get 80k, you will get 80k in 2 years which really makes a huge difference.

Of course it would have been amazing if they were all increased to 4 years, but that would probably be asking for too much with the increase in award values and the eventual increase in award numbers in future competitions.

I do not think it is too much to ask that graduate students receive adequate funding for the duration of their degrees such that they are able pursue their studies without having to supplement their income through additional work or rely on a spouse/family member's income.

The fact that the tri-council awards have only ever offered 3 and 4 year doctoral awards is absurd given that most people take at least 5 to finish a PhD.

I think we need to keep pushing for better grad student funding (from both SSHRC and our universities) because this only seems like an increase because we've been wildly underpaid for so long. Feels like being thrown a scrap of wagyu after years of eating hot dogs.

 

[polyparl]

21 hours ago, seeveeargh said:

I do not think it is too much to ask that graduate students receive adequate funding for the duration of their degrees such that they are able pursue their studies without having to supplement their income through additional work or rely on a spouse/family member's income.

The fact that the tri-council awards have only ever offered 3 and 4 year doctoral awards is absurd given that most people take at least 5 to finish a PhD.

I think we need to keep pushing for better grad student funding (from both SSHRC and our universities) because this only seems like an increase because we've been wildly underpaid for so long. Feels like being thrown a scrap of wagyu after years of eating hot dogs.

Of course an increase in funding for ALL graduate students is still needed. However, to complain about this increase in funding as an award holder feels very tone deaf. Those who do not hold Tri-Council funding and are paid solely from supervisor grants (in general) make way less than those who do.

There are many more problems in my mind that are unfair with the way they implemented this increase. Those who activated in May 2024 will not get $120000, and instead get $113667. A small difference sure, but unfair as it's the same competition. Those who were awarded scholarships prior to 2024 do not get retroactive payments. While this was also to be expected due to how funding works, I'm sure you can agree that it feels very unfair to be in their position.

Asking for 4+ years of funding would only mean they would not increase the amount of awards for future competitions. That is just how funding works, and unfortunately funding for graduate students is way too limited. As an award holder, obviously I would prefer to get more years of funding for myself. But with how it stands, the equitable answer is to increase the amount of awards so more people may benefit later on.

[seeveeargh]

On 8/6/2024 at 6:32 PM, polyparl said:

Of course an increase in funding for ALL graduate students is still needed. However, to complain about this increase in funding as an award holder feels very tone deaf. Those who do not hold Tri-Council funding and are paid solely from supervisor grants (in general) make way less than those who do.

There are many more problems in my mind that are unfair with the way they implemented this increase. Those who activated in May 2024 will not get $120000, and instead get $113667. A small difference sure, but unfair as it's the same competition. Those who were awarded scholarships prior to 2024 do not get retroactive payments. While this was also to be expected due to how funding works, I'm sure you can agree that it feels very unfair to be in their position.

Asking for 4+ years of funding would only mean they would not increase the amount of awards for future competitions. That is just how funding works, and unfortunately funding for graduate students is way too limited. As an award holder, obviously I would prefer to get more years of funding for myself. But with how it stands, the equitable answer is to increase the amount of awards so more people may benefit later on.

I agree that all students need better funding. That's why I said we need to push for better funding from both SSHRC and our universities. 

My point was more so that we don't need to frame critiques of SSHRC's recent graduate funding increases as "asking for too much" because there are, as you note, many problems with the new awards and the way they are being implemented/disbursed. I also do not think that asking for 4+ years of funding necessarily means fewer awards for future competitions; I think the federal budget for graduate research (and academic research generally) needs to be increased so as to allow for adequate funding for the entire duration of a graduate degree for more students. In general, I don't disagree with you, I just think we should ask for more! 

 

[JB9797]

On 8/7/2024 at 1:32 AM, polyparl said:

Of course an increase in funding for ALL graduate students is still needed. However, to complain about this increase in funding as an award holder feels very tone deaf. Those who do not hold Tri-Council funding and are paid solely from supervisor grants (in general) make way less than those who do.

There are many more problems in my mind that are unfair with the way they implemented this increase. Those who activated in May 2024 will not get $120000, and instead get $113667. A small difference sure, but unfair as it's the same competition. Those who were awarded scholarships prior to 2024 do not get retroactive payments. While this was also to be expected due to how funding works, I'm sure you can agree that it feels very unfair to be in their position.

Asking for 4+ years of funding would only mean they would not increase the amount of awards for future competitions. That is just how funding works, and unfortunately funding for graduate students is way too limited. As an award holder, obviously I would prefer to get more years of funding for myself. But with how it stands, the equitable answer is to increase the amount of awards so more people may benefit later on.

Actually, I'm not sure about the $113,667 figure. I'm one of the 4-year award holders with a May 1, 2024 start date. While they mention the 44 months after September 1, 2024 in contrast to the 48 months total, my award ($80,000) is increased by $40,000. So I guess I would received a prorated amount in my next instalment.

[torysira]

HI folks, popping in with info for those who are on the "waitlist" (spoiler: it doesn't look great for us).

Since Budget 2024 mentioned increasing the number of awards available, I emailed SSHRC asking if we would hear any information. I finally heard back from a program officer who said this:

"Thank you for your email. Budget in the previous year may occasionally allow SSHRC to offer awards to meritorious candidates who were not offered an award at the time of the release of results.

At the moment, no additional awards are available. We highly encourage you to submit a new application in the new 2024 competition."

Wish I had better news to share but I hope this information will at least be helpful. I can't apply since I've passed the 48 month window but best of luck to anyone else who will reapply!

[jiko1]

19 minutes ago, torysira said:

HI folks, popping in with info for those who are on the "waitlist" (spoiler: it doesn't look great for us).

Since Budget 2024 mentioned increasing the number of awards available, I emailed SSHRC asking if we would hear any information. I finally heard back from a program officer who said this:

"Thank you for your email. Budget in the previous year may occasionally allow SSHRC to offer awards to meritorious candidates who were not offered an award at the time of the release of results.

At the moment, no additional awards are available. We highly encourage you to submit a new application in the new 2024 competition."

Wish I had better news to share but I hope this information will at least be helpful. I can't apply since I've passed the 48 month window but best of luck to anyone else who will reapply!

Hi! Do you know what happened to the declined awards? Did they already re-award those?

[torysira]

12 minutes ago, jiko1 said:

Hi! Do you know what happened to the declined awards? Did they already re-award those?

Unfortunately I don't know. My speculation is that they likely didn't have as many declined awards as usual due to the funding increase and the few they did have may have already been re-awarded

[jiko1]

22 hours ago, torysira said:

Unfortunately I don't know. My speculation is that they likely didn't have as many declined awards as usual due to the funding increase and the few they did have may have already been re-awarded

Hey! I asked around and I honestly think they did not re-award any declined awards. I know some people who declined, and others who were on top of the waitlist, but received nothing at all. It is very strange. The sshrc might have retained the funds. 

[jiko1]

Has anyone received an alternate yet?

[SSHRCMyResponsibilities]

On 8/9/2024 at 6:06 AM, JB9797 said:

Actually, I'm not sure about the $113,667 figure. I'm one of the 4-year award holders with a May 1, 2024 start date. While they mention the 44 months after September 1, 2024 in contrast to the 48 months total, my award ($80,000) is increased by $40,000. So I guess I would received a prorated amount in my next instalment.

I am actually a bit confused about these figures. Like you I started in May and got 10k already in my bank. Why does my letter from SSHRC say that I have around $113,333 left to disburse?

[jiko1]

Hey everyone. The list of winners has been posted and only 477 awards were awarded. 130 awards for the postdocs. These numbers are very low compared to previous years. Anyone know why this happened? What about budget 2024?