SSHRC Postdoc 2024-2025

[NotForsaken]

I've been hoping a thread on this would pop up on either this site or academicjobs, but no luck. Is anyone else sick waiting for this? 

Looks like the results will be announced in a month. I'm waiting for news about this and some classes for my adjunct position, it's wild how large the swing can be between being overworked and unemployed.

Cruel fickle SSHRC.

[ArkyBarky]

I feel you. It's my first time applying for the post-doc but I never got the sshrc doctoral and I wonder how that might impact my chances (I did get other major awards, but less prestigious). 

Edited January 30 by ArkyBarky

[bookmouse]

Also anxiously wanting to know the results, and even questioning if I applied to the right committee(?!) but when I log in I cannot see any old applications.

[NotForsaken]

37 minutes ago, bookmouse said:

Also anxiously wanting to know the results, and even questioning if I applied to the right committee(?!) but when I log in I cannot see any old applications.

I couldn't see mine either, and I was worried. But I messaged them and they said they recieved it. So, I think they just erased them from our page. 

They also said results would be released at the end of February. 

[ArkyBarky]

We should also be prepared for them to be late in releasing the results which happens often, so don't fret if end of feb comes and you haven't heard!

[myhamismad]

The worst feeling is getting a publication in November and knowing the committee won't see it when they're making their decision

[ArkyBarky]

On 2/8/2024 at 1:04 PM, myhamismad said:

The worst feeling is getting a publication in November and knowing the committee won't see it when they're making their decision

That is for sure disappointing. Hopefully it's included in some form of your app under review and they can see the great work you were pursuing... I'm sure that counts for a lot.

 

[msfinley]

Waiting to hear the results as well. I wasn’t nervous until the last couple of days, and now it’s hit me. I’m really hoping to get it so as to establish my own program of research (currently employed as a postdoc on someone else’s project) and for other quality-of-life-related reasons. So…trying to stay calm and occupy myself but not really succeeding.

[NotForsaken]

Has anyone received a link or sign in information for the intranet that they say the results will be posted in?

Edited February 22 by NotForsaken

[angrycrustacean]

36 minutes ago, NotForsaken said:

Has anyone received a link or sign in information for the intranet that they say the results will be posted in?

Not yet. I am able to log in to the SSHRC Extranet for Applicants with my old credentials from the CGS-D competition, but there's nothing to see once logged in – just says I'm not authorized to view.

Echoing @msfinley above, I was pretty cool about this for months, until the last few days when suddenly I'm getting impatient. Best of luck to you all.

[msfinley]

8 hours ago, NotForsaken said:

Has anyone received a link or sign in information for the intranet that they say the results will be posted in?

Not yet, unfortunately…I have the link from two years ago when I applied, but when I try to sign in it just says “access denied.”

[Prettyflyforpolisci]

Also waiting... likely low chances as just finishing my PhD this year, and I know a lot of other applicants might have had more time since PhD to publish etc. The uncertainty about what comes next post-PhD is just unbearable though!

[msfinley]

27 minutes ago, Prettyflyforpolisci said:

Also waiting... likely low chances as just finishing my PhD this year, and I know a lot of other applicants might have had more time since PhD to publish etc. The uncertainty about what comes next post-PhD is just unbearable though!

That uncertainty is awful. I had a lot of anxiety near the end of my PhD about what comes next. This is my second year applying for SSHRC (applied for CIHR last year which was a bad decision, and then applied to SSHRC the year before that and didn’t get it). If it’s any consolation, I have a few colleagues who got a SSHRC right after their PhD, so it’s definitely possible! I hope it comes through for you.

[Prettyflyforpolisci]

4 minutes ago, msfinley said:

That uncertainty is awful. I had a lot of anxiety near the end of my PhD about what comes next. This is my second year applying for SSHRC (applied for CIHR last year which was a bad decision, and then applied to SSHRC the year before that and didn’t get it). If it’s any consolation, I have a few colleagues who got a SSHRC right after their PhD, so it’s definitely possible! I hope it comes through for you.

Thanks so much for this. Any tips for dealing? I think I should just ignore the world, apply to things as they come as much as I reasonably can, and finish the PhD. Trust that something will come along....

[msfinley]

9 minutes ago, Prettyflyforpolisci said:

Thanks so much for this. Any tips for dealing? I think I should just ignore the world, apply to things as they come as much as I reasonably can, and finish the PhD. Trust that something will come along....

I found myself really procrastinating near the end of my dissertation because I was nervous about my PhD ending and what was going to come after (not saying you’re doing this but just my experience and how I started to realize how anxious I really was). One thing that helped was setting up multiple plans: plan A, B, C, etc. and having those as solid as possible. My PhD supervisor introduced me to a researcher at another university who was applying for a big grant and would be hiring postdocs for it, so I met with her like a year before I finished my PhD and talked about joining her project if she was funded. Plan A was that I’d apply for SSHRC and she’d supervise me and I’d work part-time on the project: plan B was if I didn’t get SSHRC she’d hire me full-time as a postdoc on the project; plan C was if she didn’t get funded she’d hire me for another project; plan D was I reached out to another researcher I met on a scholarship review committee and he said he’d be hiring a postdoc in about a year so if my first plans fell through he’d be there. When I had about a year left of my PhD, I also started looking online for research assistant jobs and found a really good one at another university where I was a research coordinator for a SSHRC-funded project. I’m still working with that researcher on the side and it’s opened a lot of doors for publications and co-I roles. I did that in large part so that if my PhD ended and none of my postdoc plans worked out I’d at least have some kind of work to carry me through until I landed something.

I’m not sure if this is helpful but basically I just had a bunch of contingency plans and also made it known to EVERYONE that I was defending soon and looking for a postdoc. A lot of opportunities pop up randomly, like, one project I was working on as an RA was winding down and the PI mentioned to the program director of another department the work I had done for her, and then the program director asked if I would teach a course in her program on my area of expertise. Finishing the dissertation is already exhausting enough so hustling like that was exhausting, but it set me up really well by the time I defended—I was actually overworked at one point and had TOO many hours a week I was trying to juggle between projects.

[ArkyBarky]

1 hour ago, Prettyflyforpolisci said:

Also waiting... likely low chances as just finishing my PhD this year, and I know a lot of other applicants might have had more time since PhD to publish etc. The uncertainty about what comes next post-PhD is just unbearable though!

I am also finishing the PhD (the planned date to submit my monograph is March 11th) and I'm also worried. I think the expectations for publications are adjusted based on where you are at in your career, though, so I wouldn't be overly worried about that (but maybe it depends on the committee, too). However, I have been warned that if you have taken a long time in your program and have not yet graduated, it can greatly impact your feasibility score. I included reasons for my delays on the allowable inclusions page, like the loss of my brother and lab shut downs during Covid, but I am emotionally prepared for this to impact me (currently in my 8th year). I have a few interviews coming up (one tt position at a research university, two others for liberal arts colleges), and the pressure of what happens if I don't get SSHRC and can't secure a reasonable alternative feels like it will really impact my performance. 

In any case, I'm rooting for all of us, in our varied situations. There are a lot of variables outside of our control, and the truth is we are all deserving...

[cndougherty]

I just sent an email to SSHRC asking about a timeline for results and received this response:

The results of the Postdoctoral Fellowships competition will be sentelectronically via the SSHRC extranet. We anticipate that the results will be available by the end of February 2024.  You will receive an e-mail with more details next week.

[NotForsaken]

Best of luck this week everyone

[msfinley]

Good luck, everyone! Is anyone else having a hard time focusing on work today? I just want to know the results regardless to be able to move on.

[torontonian27]

4 minutes ago, msfinley said:

Good luck, everyone! Is anyone else having a hard time focusing on work today? I just want to know the results regardless to be able to move on.

🙋‍♂️Yep! I keep checking my email every few minutes... nothing to see yet.

[myhamismad]

They're really gonna take us all the way to March aren't they, sigh.

[msfinley]

I just checked the email notifying me that the results were available from when I applied in 2021, and I received it at 7:12 pm (March 3rd). So I guess it can come anytime. 

[AWD]

Hello everyone,

I am wishing all of you the best luck. 
This is my first time applying and I am newly in research without publications. Although I think my research proposal is good, but based on my impression, I am not going to score very high for the SSHRC system. I applied SSHRC doctoral scholarships and didn’t even pass the faculty level of evaluations. Based on my impression, the chances of winning this scholarship are higher for those who had succeeded in SSHRC doctoral level scholarships with many publications. 
 

I know everyone is patiently waiting for the results these days, and I have to be honest that my application this time will determine whether I stay in Canada or go back to my home country. 

Saying I have no expectations is just untrue, but based on my years of experiences living and studying in Canada, I am really not confident (disappointed to be honest). I am not having much luck here in my studies and I hope people in my field have better learning experiences. 
 

We all know the hot research topics are having the highest chances. And this is very much the last chance that I have here in Canada. Last year, I was determined to apply this scholarship many times, but I am not that ambitious now. 
 

Wishing you all the best and keep going for the research you love and care. 
 

Sleep well too. 

[bookmouse]

On 2/23/2024 at 8:51 PM, cndougherty said:

I just sent an email to SSHRC asking about a timeline for results and received this response:

The results of the Postdoctoral Fellowships competition will be sentelectronically via the SSHRC extranet. We anticipate that the results will be available by the end of February 2024.  You will receive an e-mail with more details next week.

Can someone give the link? I am very confused: is extranet the same as this: https://webapps.nserc.ca/SSHRC/faces/logon.jsp?lang=en_CA ???

[Kamzee]

18 hours ago, msfinley said:

I just checked the email notifying me that the results were available from when I applied in 2021, and I received it at 7:12 pm (March 3rd). So I guess it can come anytime. 

I checked last year and it arrived February 28 at 7:59 pm. So it seems like they send them out in the evenings which is brutal as we wait all day to hear 😩 Good luck everyone!