SSHRC Postdoc 2025-2026

[EricaFlaten]

Did not get an offer  but my score was decent... 15.38/18, committee was 4A. 21/99 in my committee were offered.

 

Guess I will try again in Sept.

[rjpg12]

I got an offer with a score of 15.81/18, committee 4A! 

[lucasol]

Someone with an offer in the committee 2B ?

Which score ?

To have an idea if I was close or not (15,47)

Thanks !

[dalgrad9]

Won an award with 16.92 in Committee 2B as a Philosophy applicant. My breakdown was:

Challenge (20%): 5.52 / 6

Feasibility (30%): 5.35 / 6

Capability (50%): 5.86 / 6

That's a high score lucaslol, probably still worth holding out some hope that you get an award later in the year from someone that declined. 

[torysira]

I was not offered, but the award letter said "although your application was recommended for funding by the merit review committee, SSHRC is presently unable to offer you an award". That said, I'm not holding my breath. 

My score was 14.57 in committee 4A. Honestly I'm just proud to have been able to submit as I pulled the application together in 3 weeks 😅

Congratulations to everyone who got one! For those who didn't, I feel you. Best of luck to everyone on their future endeavours. I don't know where I would be without the gradcafe community ❤️ 

[bookmouse]

Good job to everyone - whether you got SSHRC or not - we all worked really hard! and it's just so hard post-graduate life given the lack of jobs and opportunities at the moment. We all deserve all the funding and jobs.

I also got an offer.  It was my second time applying. Last year I applied to committee 1 - Literature and Fine Arts and scored 13.55. I was "recommended for funding" but did not receive any. This year I applied to a different committee (2A - history) and scored 16.40. In Committee 2A there were 63 applications and 13 offers made. This year a change I made was that I included a letter explaining my lack of "timely" completion of my Phd, which I did not include in my first app, which might have helped the first round(??) -- including maternity leave that I forgot to mention, which I took a year off.

This year I applied with a book contract for an edited volume with a university press, 2 new journal articles, 5 conference presentations, and 1 fellowship. This will be my second postdoc -- for the last two years I was a postdoc researcher in Europe.  

Good luck to everyone out there! This forum has helped relieve some of the stress, to know there are others like me out there  

 

[qeta]

26 minutes ago, bookmouse said:

Good job to everyone - whether you got SSHRC or not - we all worked really hard! and it's just so hard post-graduate life given the lack of jobs and opportunities at the moment. We all deserve all the funding and jobs.

I also got an offer.  It was my second time applying. Last year I applied to committee 1 - Literature and Fine Arts and scored 13.55. I was "recommended for funding" but did not receive any. This year I applied to a different committee (2A - history) and scored 16.40. In Committee 2A there were 63 applications and 13 offers made. This year a change I made was that I included a letter explaining my lack of "timely" completion of my Phd, which I did not include in my first app, which might have helped the first round(??) -- including maternity leave that I forgot to mention, which I took a year off.

This year I applied with a book contract for an edited volume with a university press, 2 new journal articles, 5 conference presentations, and 1 fellowship. This will be my second postdoc -- for the last two years I was a postdoc researcher in Europe.  

Good luck to everyone out there! This forum has helped relieve some of the stress, to know there are others like me out there  

 

These are all very useful pieces of info. Thank you! What is timely completion for SSHRC? US soc PhDs on average take 8 years. I’m finishing a few months early by that metric (lol), despite three major life/ health setbacks. I’ll remember to include this letter next time. 

 

57 minutes ago, torysira said:

I was not offered, but the award letter said "although your application was recommended for funding by the merit review committee, SSHRC is presently unable to offer you an award". That said, I'm not holding my breath. 

My score was 14.57 in committee 4A. Honestly I'm just proud to have been able to submit as I pulled the application together in 3 weeks 😅

Congratulations to everyone who got one! For those who didn't, I feel you. Best of luck to everyone on their future endeavours. I don't know where I would be without the gradcafe community ❤️ 

You may still get an offer in December as people decline! Some major UK postdoc apps have deadlines coming up and most US postdoc competitions haven’t released results yet, so it’s very possible that people will drop out of SSHRC postdoc later.

Edited Thursday at 02:04 AM by qeta

[soccoast]

Anyone else not got an email yet? I'm not sure how long to wait before thinking there's a problem...

[emerald_hedgehog]

This is my first time applying. I'm in art history, so committee 1. I scored 14.72 / 18 and was "recommended for funding" but was not funded. Bummer is that I scored higher as an applicant than on the project itself 😅 I'm torn on whether I want to know the cut-off score or if it will bum me out.

I'm finishing my PhD this year (either June or in the fall - the decision was going to be partially dependent on the result of this) and I'm in my 4th year at a US state school. I have 4 peer reviewed articles in the bag, with 4 forthcoming (2 book chapters and 2 journal articles, one in a top journal in my field). I also included 5 conference presentations and 1 chaired panel at CAA.

Feeling pretty bummed but already have thoughts on how to retool the project. I'm taking this as a positive sign that I scored decently, despite writing the app in a fever state after a summer of research. Planning to tweak/refocus it and resubmit this year because the committee clearly had issues with the project more than me.

Edited Thursday at 03:28 AM by emerald_hedgehog

[Adelaide9216]

also, if you did not get the fellowship, please, do not see it as a reflection of your worth. I know academia pushes all of us to see ourselves through our accomplishments, but we've all worked very hard, and those scores would probably be different from year to year, depending on the committees, the evaluators, who is competing in a specific year. You're all doing great. It has happened to me multiple times to not get an award the first time, and to get it the second or third time I'd apply.

[y_t]

got an offer this year on my third app cycle. I did nserc my first cycle and this is my second cycle with sshrc (both with committee 4b). got close last year with recommended but not funded. will be turning it down since i also got the banting this cycle (also the third cycle applying), so hopefully it will go to someone else. if anything, this really has just convinced me that it really all is to some degree persistence at it, so don't feel too disheartened if you didn't get it this year! currently at a postdoc funded by my advisor if that gives context.

[pagogo90]

7 hours ago, diegoab said:

I’m unable to login… all I see is 500 Internal Server Error, did anyone else encounter the same issue?

Chrome in android won't open the website on the email. I did it on Mozilla Firefox and at last got to see the documents

[shifgrethor]

My score was 16.04 in committee 2B. I did not get an offer.

[data.]

Adding my info for future years. What I never appreciated was the weights of the three criteria. Something to keep in mind, future applicants.

Congratulations to those who were offered funding. Pay it forward in the future. 

To those who did not get funding, it sucks. I am sorry. You will be successful in future endeavours! You either already have or will soon have a PhD ... ! That is already mightily impressive.

To all, never forget that our contributions are more than funding results.

Funding Decision: Offered

Challenge (20%): 4.90/6

Feasibility (30%): 4.70/6

Capability (50%): 5.39/6

Total score (weighted): 15.26/18

Committee 5 (Economics; Law; Political Science; Management, Business and Administrative Studies; Industrial Relations)

Applications: 133

Fellowships offered: 28

Fellowships not offered: 105

All data will eventually make it into SSHRC's database at https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/about-au_sujet/facts-faits/index-eng.aspx. Go to and then navigate down to "Competition results" for a full database of results. Doctoral and postdoctoral funding awards are part of the "Talent" category.

 

 

Edited Thursday at 04:02 PM by data.
trying to fit different link in.

[Acapulco202]

16 hours ago, diegoab said:

I’m unable to login… all I see is 500 Internal Server Error, did anyone else encounter the same issue?

I had the same issue on Chrome on my phone (which is an Android). Was able to open the documents on Chrome on my laptop!

 

I got an offer with a score of 15.69 in committee 4a. Congrats to everyone on their offers; and to those who did not get funding, just know that your worth as a researcher is so much greater than one single PDF score. You will go far, and you will research interesting things, I'm sure of it.

[B_Rad]

Seems like committee 2B was super competitive this year. My score was 15.08 and I didn't get an offer. This was my 2nd round applying to SSHRC, it's frustrating and exhausting. I published my first book based on my PhD dissertation in November 2024 with Bloomsbury, and have articles, book chapters, and review articles in numerous publications.

Edited Thursday at 04:31 PM by B_Rad

[qeta]

9 hours ago, pagogo90 said:

Chrome in android won't open the website on the email. I did it on Mozilla Firefox and at last got to see the documents

They don’t like the chrome app on any mobile devices, it seems. I could log into the site on chrome on my iPad, but couldn’t see the docs.

 

19 minutes ago, B_Rad said:

Seems like committee 2B was super competitive this year. My score was 15.08 and I didn't get an offer. This was my 2nd round applying to SSHRC, it's frustrating and exhausting. I published my first book based on my PhD dissertation in November 2024 with Bloomsbury, and have articles, book chapters, and review articles in numerous publications.

I’m really sorry you are feeling so burned-out. It seems that people on this forum have gotten it on their third try. Multiple people have told me that getting postdocs was harder for them than getting TT jobs. There are so few postdoc fellowships and an overwhelming number of applicants. Sending you lots of warmth and good thoughts!

Edited Thursday at 04:38 PM by qeta

[B_Rad]

7 minutes ago, qeta said:

They don’t like the chrome app on any mobile devices, it seems. I could log into the site on chrome on my iPad, but couldn’t see the docs.

 

I’m really sorry you are feeling so burned-out. It seems that people on this forum have gotten it on their third try. Multiple people have told me that getting postdocs was harder for them than getting TT jobs. There are so few postdoc fellowships and an overwhelming number of applicants. Sending you lots of warmth and good thoughts!

Thanks, I appreciate it. Yeah the post-PhD job market in the Humanities and Social Sciences is ferociously competitive. I'm going to re-apply next cycle for my third and final attempt. The creative interpretation of the SSHRC results is always a frustrating process, but my hope is that I can strengthen my application for next time. 

[jakeadam]

20 hours ago, qeta said:

These are all very useful pieces of info. Thank you! What is timely completion for SSHRC? US soc PhDs on average take 8 years. I’m finishing a few months early by that metric (lol), despite three major life/ health setbacks. I’ll remember to include this letter next time. 

 

You may still get an offer in December as people decline! Some major UK postdoc apps have deadlines coming up and most US postdoc competitions haven’t released results yet, so it’s very possible that people will drop out of SSHRC postdoc later.

What do you mean "in December"? We'll have to wait until December to find out if people have declined their offers and they've moved on to others? 

Anyway, I applied for the first time in Committee 1 and did fairly well (15.31), but no offer. Same language as others here, that it was recommended for funding but there wasn't enough funds, which is why I ask the above question. Am frankly feeling very, very bummed and unmoored about this, but have appreciated reading all your posts before and after the results. Thanks all. 

[lookingbackwards]

I received a score of 17.17 (Challenge 5.65, Feasibility 5.54, Capability 5.86) and an offer from Committee 1. It was my first time applying for a SSHRC postdoc but they supported my doctoral studies. I was rejected by eight postdocs last year.

[B_Rad]

I've been reflecting on my SSHRC results. I was not offered funding (my 2nd time around applying).

Here are my results for 2025, 2b:
Challenge (20%): 4.58 / 6 Feasibility (30%): 5.00 / 6 Capability (50%): 5.22 / 6.

I am wondering if I should re-apply with the same research project proposal but try to strengthen it to bring my overall score up. Or, should I propose a different project altogether where I can perhaps more clearly show that my project makes a significant contribution to a gap in existing literature? I'm wondering about this since neither of my 2 attempts passed the merit review committee as being "recommended for funding". So even though my overall score this time around was decent, the project wasn't even recommended for funding which tells me that the reviewers didn't find it important enough.

Since I only have one more attempt next year to apply to SSHRC for the 2026-27 funding, I want to ensure that I do everything that I can to strengthen my project proposal.

Any ideas?

[bookmouse]

On 2/26/2025 at 9:03 PM, qeta said:

These are all very useful pieces of info. Thank you! What is timely completion for SSHRC? US soc PhDs on average take 8 years. I’m finishing a few months early by that metric (lol), despite three major life/ health setbacks. I’ll remember to include this letter next time. 

 

You may still get an offer in December as people decline! Some major UK postdoc apps have deadlines coming up and most US postdoc competitions haven’t released results yet, so it’s very possible that people will drop out of SSHRC postdoc later.

Timely completion -- I have no idea what they consider to be timely, especially since it ranges so much based on discipline as well as Canada vs. US or other places. I did my PhD in the US and took 8 years -- but 2 were officially in-absentia and maternity leave. 

[Statius]

I was recommended for funding, but alas mo offer here in 2B. I think I had a pretty decent score. Hoping something might pan out on the waiting list.

My score was 16.30, with the breakdown:

Challenge (20%): 4.70 / 6 Feasibility (30%): 5.61 / 6 Capability (50%): 5.62 / 6.

Woof! Tight competition.

 

 

[ronetnivek]

Only discovered this forum a couple of days ago, but very helpful to learn a bit about what SSHRC won't tell us about other people's applications.

This year was the second time I applied, much improved result this year, but like many others "recommended for funding" but not enough funds. I was in committee 1, and I've seen already 2 people in a similar situation with higher scores ... so I guess the queue is not necessarily small ...

I wrote to SSHRC to ask about what this situation means in 'practical terms' and they said: "we regret that we cannot predict if or when alternate offers can be made. Should we be in a position to offer an award before the end of the calendar year, we will contact you by email". I've written bank to see if they can at least tell me which position in the queue I am, but not necessarily hopeful they will.

Last year, my results included the "Score of the last application recommended for funding" ... but this year not. But I'm also gathering that that score was not the score of the last application that received funding (then 13.55 in committee 1).

Anyway, I think it is great that people can know as much as possible, and I like that people here have given me insights into this system. Here are my scores (in Committee 1).

 

Challenge (20%): 4.51 / 6

Feasibility (30%): 4.70 / 6

Capability (50%): 4.99 / 6

Total Score (weighted): 14.42

[emerald_hedgehog]

34 minutes ago, ronetnivek said:

Only discovered this forum a couple of days ago, but very helpful to learn a bit about what SSHRC won't tell us about other people's applications.

This year was the second time I applied, much improved result this year, but like many others "recommended for funding" but not enough funds. I was in committee 1, and I've seen already 2 people in a similar situation with higher scores ... so I guess the queue is not necessarily small ...

I wrote to SSHRC to ask about what this situation means in 'practical terms' and they said: "we regret that we cannot predict if or when alternate offers can be made. Should we be in a position to offer an award before the end of the calendar year, we will contact you by email". I've written bank to see if they can at least tell me which position in the queue I am, but not necessarily hopeful they will.

Last year, my results included the "Score of the last application recommended for funding" ... but this year not. But I'm also gathering that that score was not the score of the last application that received funding (then 13.55 in committee 1).

Anyway, I think it is great that people can know as much as possible, and I like that people here have given me insights into this system. Here are my scores (in Committee 1).

 

Challenge (20%): 4.51 / 6

Feasibility (30%): 4.70 / 6

Capability (50%): 4.99 / 6

Total Score (weighted): 14.42

I appreciate this insight, thank you for sharing! The absence of the "score of the last application..." part is the most frustrating. I remember when I was rejected by SSHRC for the Doctoral award back in 2022, I at least knew my ranking and had a sense of how to improve for my (successful) application for the next cycle. I wonder if it might end up being possible to crowdsource this information, if enough people from the different committees chime in.