Doctoral scholarship CRSH/SSHRC 2012

[phdined]

In Winnipeg, and letter arrived yesterday (May 2) and won a reg SSHRC for two years. CV was strong, two other major awards, one peer reviewed pub and numerous other reviewed pubs. Lots of conference presentations including national and one international. GPA 4.17, and final score of 21.7/30 applied to the education/humanities group.

Funny thing, for those who get kicked in the teeth by SSHRC, last year with a very similar proposal I scored 11.9/30:( My advisor tells me over and over that the committee scoring your proposal matter more than all the pubs/referees/etc. If they "like" your angle/methodology/conservativeness, then you win. If not, you lose. Try not to take it to heart if you don't win. It doesn't mean your work and proposal aren't excellent; it means the oddly compiled committee didn't get it. Try again next year (it took me three attempts). Happy travels, everyone.

[poseidon2012]

Finally, mail arrived in New York City. I was wrong on my mail calculations (last time was sent out Feb. 24 and arrived March 2nd= 4 business days; the postmark is only in Buffalo [2 days]).

Committee I: 16.2/30. Waitlisted.

Details: MA SSHRC, 2 yrs RA/TA, 5 year American funding, 2 OGS, 1st year of the doctoral program.

I realize there may be movement on the waitlists (people upgrading to superSSHRC, Vanier, delaying for a year), but I'll email SSHRC to see just what percentage usually is on the waitlist and what movement there usually is. I'm hoping they can give some info, but they may not.

Good luck to everyone else Stateside...

[rainforestsrain]

Received the letter in Vancouver yesterday. Got waitlisted at 16.8.

Not sure what that actually means. How could they get more funding? Is it dependent on Harper deciding to give more to the Social Sciences and Humanities? Because, yeah, that sounds likely.

Edited May 3, 2012 by rainforestsrain

[electrochoc]

You got 18/30 and you're in political science? I got 18/30 and got rejected. Womp womp.

The points are not really comparable across the fields or even in the same discipline. They're only comparable inside the committee that evaluated that pile of applications. So the both of you were in different committees, for sure. It makes it so much harder to guess things... :/

[electrochoc]

Received the letter in Vancouver yesterday. Got waitlisted at 16.8.

Not sure what that actually means. How could they get more funding? Is it dependent on Harper deciding to give more to the Social Sciences and Humanities? Because, yeah, that sounds likely.

Some people may turn down SSHRC for Vanier or Fulbright, or even decide not to do a PhD. So the money goes into the waitlist.

[dccp]

FYI: Unfortunately for me, I got a rejection letter. Oh well.

Sigh. It looks like 4th year competition was impressive.

16.3/30 with (at the time of application), multiple pubs, several conferences (2 international), great gpa, great references, uni fellowships, years of RA work, invited lectures and work experience in my field.

Congrats to everyone who got a SSHRC though!

[rainforestsrain]

Thanks, Electrochoc. Is there a way to find out where one is on the waitlist?

[canukulhead]

I got the letter today in Prince George – rejected with a score of 16.1 -- geography. I think I took a major hit with the departmental appraisal because I’m at tiny Moose U. I was ranked #1 out of 1 applicant in the department, which apparently is this kiss of death. There’s an Institutional size bias!!!! (symptomatic of second stage of grief: anger). Ah well, at least now I don’t have to quit my job to earn less money.

Courage to those unsuccessful this year ... keep moving ... we’ll get there. Congratulations to the winners. You buggers better earn it! Big hug to all ... you’ve made the waiting a little more bearable. See ya next year.

[poseidon2012]

Thanks, Electrochoc. Is there a way to find out where one is on the waitlist?

I've looked through previous forums and there is one on the SSHRC 2011 waitlist. As previous posters have mentioned, what seems to matter is the "cutoff" for your own committee and where you stand in relation to that. Depending on the luck of the draw, it seems like if you call SSHRC it's better than emailing regarding where you are on the waitlist (but that may be different year to year). From the file I mentioned, it seems like people on the waitlist actually do move up (sometimes in September or even in January), but I suspect you have to be ranked fairly high on your specific ctte. waitlist for that to happen.

[serendipitydoo]

Successful application: SSHRC

26.9/30

English

One publication, one major conference.

In North Carolina

I'm a little confused, however. I'm in the combined MA/PhD program, two years of which comprise the MA component. I'm in my third year (exam stage), but I was only awarded ONE year funding. On the SSHRC website, it says that it deducts a year of study for the joint MA program -- should I not be getting 24 months of funding instead of 12 (I've completed 24 months of study if my first year is discounted)?

[rupaul]

Hi - sorry if this is addressed elsewhere on the forum. Does anyone know much about accepting (or "activating") a SSHRC while switching disciplines? I'll be changing universities as well.

Also, have folks had experience with trying to keep the whole SSHRC in a funded program, maybe be being quiet about it? I wouldn't lie about receiving the SSHRC if asked directly about outside funding, but I'm moving to an incredibly expensive city and wouldn't mind not going into debt.

[ltam]

Hi - sorry if this is addressed elsewhere on the forum. Does anyone know much about accepting (or "activating") a SSHRC while switching disciplines? I'll be changing universities as well.

Also, have folks had experience with trying to keep the whole SSHRC in a funded program, maybe be being quiet about it? I wouldn't lie about receiving the SSHRC if asked directly about outside funding, but I'm moving to an incredibly expensive city and wouldn't mind not going into debt.

I don't think it's possible to lie about the SSHRC as the activation of payment form requires that the dean of your graduate school sign it. I suppose you could forge this signature in theory, but along the way you will get caught as you need to submit annual progress reports and I think faculty in your department get involved in these reports. Even after all of that, you would be in a lot of trouble with either your own department or SSHRC eventually. I wouldn't risk your reputation over this. SSHRC permits you to work 450 hours a year on campus. Perhaps you can supplement your stipend with a job?

Edited May 4, 2012 by ltam

[Dakon]

I know in the committee of selection for one of the programs here (as the present of a student organization, I get to participate in it), there are two stages of evaluation. First, all applicants receive a number grading (out of 70). This is the number that they use to build an initial list of award recipients. Usually two people evaluate the application in detail, but everyone reads it. Second, there is a discussion based on the proposed list. Here, people would argue why a certain candidate was too high in the list or why they should be given the award instead of another. In this way, only the first two or three candidates were considered automatic (because people didn't have any complaints about them). Afterwards, a lot of moving occurred - which led to the effect that people with higher evaluations were often lower on the list, or were replaced by someone who didn't even appear as a possibility for the wait list according to the initial list (for instance, there was one student with two MAs, a substantial amount of publications, and ok references; although ranked 4 or 5 on the original list, he ended up being put on the wait list and his spot was given to a student from Africa who just had finished his BA, with no publications, but whose letter of references, from professors who were known by the committee, said that he was without a doubt the best student that had had in the past decade, and absolutely deserves the award - with the added detail that he was able to keep his near perfect jobs while working full-time to support himself). I suspect something similar happens.

[checkeredBlanket]

no sshrc today either :-( Mailman has already left

[mackie]

Where are you located, checkeredBlanket?

[checkeredBlanket]

Where are you located, checkeredBlanket?

Berlin, Germany

[mackie]

Thanks! I'm in Cambridge and haven't checked yet... I suppose there's very little chance that it's there

[Ziz]

If it's not today or tomorrow it will be a 2 day wait due to Monday's bank holiday in the UK :'(

[mackie]

That's right! This is just terrible.

[Dakon]

Nothing in France either. Mail just came.

[Ziz]

Mail has come and gone in Oxford with nothing for me .

[SCY]

Hi All:

I received my letter yesterday (Thursday, May 3) in Michigan.

Received 3 years of Doctoral Fellowship.

My application stats:

MA SSHRC awarded, but declined (not tenable in the U.S.)

1 first-author journal article

1 co-author journal article

2 under review first-author journal articles

4 co authored book chapters

4 talks at major conferences

8 posters at major conferences

4.0/4.0 grad transcript

3.6/4.0 undergrad transcript

various TA/RAships. Taught 2 undergrad classes.

Also, FYI - the US letters are mailed from Buffalo, NY and were postmarked May 1(my previous letter informing me of my A list status was too). Thus, it appears that US letters are mailed a few days later, but will arrive fast (due to the speed of the US postal service). This may be of interest to next year's US applicants who will no doubt check the contents of this year's forum to see when their letters will arrive.

[oxforddphil]

No news for me in Oxford either. :-(

[Ziz]

This is getting REALLY annoying.

[rontron]

Hi - sorry if this is addressed elsewhere on the forum. Does anyone know much about accepting (or "activating") a SSHRC while switching disciplines? I'll be changing universities as well.

Also, have folks had experience with trying to keep the whole SSHRC in a funded program, maybe be being quiet about it? I wouldn't lie about receiving the SSHRC if asked directly about outside funding, but I'm moving to an incredibly expensive city and wouldn't mind not going into debt.

my partner holds a sshrc doctoral award at his american university and he didn't explicitly tell his department for that exact purpose - so that he could retain his funding from them. it has worked out for the last two years!