NSERC 2013 - 2014

[eliasg]

Good luck to all

 

I remember last year, in this period of time, 100 users were reading this topic at the same time and there was a twit each second.

 

I think that you will had news next week.

[jnoel12]

Yeah, probably next week. I'm a bit skeptical of anyone with "results," since the budget comes out today.

 

That being said, has anyone else asked their department??

[selecttext]

i don't know where this budget  myth started but yes, real humans have received real results.

[MTL18]

i don't know where this budget  myth started but yes, real humans have received real results.

 

Last year, the results were later than usual (April). NSERC was contacted by multiple people on this forum and the result was unanimous: the Federal Budget was being released later than expected, and they were waiting. This government believes in a "we get less money, so we spend less" approach to its business. NSERC waits to see if they get the cuts so that way they do not offer awards that they can't back up. 

 

Maybe the received a heads up this year that their budget wasn't changing? Or they were told to cut early? Who knows. But the budget thing is because of last year. 

[ClinPsyPhDCnd]

I just e-mailed my department, I'll let you guys know what they say. 

[WhiteRussian]

I think this needs to be re-posted because It contains a lot of useful information to as why the budget plays a large importance in the time the results are released.  I believe that only the top winners (basically guaranteed to win) are notified early.  We should all hope that the government will provide additional scholarships as they did for 2009 and 2010.  Without this, we will probably see the same success rates as last year.

 

"NSERC offered fewer CGS-PGS awards in 2011 for two reasons:

First, the Government of Canada’s Economic Action Plan (EAP) came to an end, which had provided an additional 400 CGS master’s-level awards in the 2009 and 2010 competitions, and an additional 200 doctoral-level awards in 2009. With the conclusion of the EAP, the number of available awards reverted to the 2008 baseline.

 

Second, NSERC discontinued its past practice of offering more awards than its budget allowed for in anticipation that some awards would be declined. Instead, NSERC offered the exact number of awards provided for in the CGS and PGS budgets in March, then offered additional awards in June once the number of declined offers was known. NSERC currently supports 3,834 graduate students, including the 1,703 CGS-PGS awards offered this year.

 

Fewer PDF awards were available this year because a higher-than-average number was taken up in 2010. That higher acceptance rate left a smaller proportion of the budget available to 2011 applicants. NSERC is projecting expenditures of $16.258M for PDFs in 2011-12, plus $1.61M for the Banting PDFs. This is consistent with expenditures in recent years:

2010 – $17.001M (when more awards were accepted)
2009 – $16.376M
2008 – $15.443M
2007 – $15.196M

 

As with the CGS-PGS awards, NSERC also offered only the number of PDF awards allowed by the program budget in March, followed by additional awards offered in June after the number of declined offers was known.

Leaving out the one-time injection of CGS funding under the EAP, NSERC has maintained its overall expenditures for Scholarship & Fellowship (S&F) programs in 2011 relative to 2010. Some reassignment has taken place to manage pressures within the S&F suite of programs – for instance, increasing the funding available for Industrial Postgraduate Scholarships and the CREATE program.

A package of statistics for the 2011 scholarships and fellowships competitions has been posted on NSERC’s Web site at http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/_doc/Students-Etudiants/CompStat-StatConcours_eng.pdf

 

For a number of years, NSERC has sent letters to PDF applicants who are above the quality line but did not receive an award, encouraging them to consider Industrial R&D Fellowships (IRDF). Many doctoral graduates will find employment outside academia, and IRDFs offer another way for applicants to gain valuable experience and work opportunities.

The role of selection committee members reviewing S&F applications is to rate applications, and to rank them based on quality. Those applicants at top of the order are offered a CGS, the next tier are offered a PGS, and we continue down the list until we reach the budget’s limit. Awards are distributed in proportion to the number of applications received by each of the various selection committees. This ensures the same success rate is seen across all fields."

 

Source: http://nghoussoub.com/2011/07/26/nserc-explains-the-drop-in-2011-cgs-pgs-and-pdf-numbers/

[ClinPsyPhDCnd]

mine was unsuccessful

[QueensCS]

Sorry to hear that! I guess they are only contacting the ones who got the award.

[jnoel12]

mine was unsuccessful

 

Wow, that was fast. Which school?

Sorry to hear about that. These awards are very competitive, especially in recent years.

 

Sorry to hear that! I guess they are only contacting the ones who got the award.

 

I doubt that. I think that it depends on the school/department. Most schools won't contact any of their applicants, but might release the result if you ask. NSERC will notify everyone by mail at roughly the same time (although, people closest to Ottawa will get their letters first).

Edited March 21, 2013 by jnoel12

[MTL18]

35 users viewing the topic! Here we go!

 

I contacted my department (McGill). No word from NSERC or Grad Studies. If you haven't heard yet, don't lose hope! Some schools are slower than others!

[AnotherGradStudent]

35 users viewing the topic! Here we go!

 

I contacted my department (McGill). No word from NSERC or Grad Studies. If you haven't heard yet, don't lose hope! Some schools are slower than others!

 

Same, I just asked my department (Toronto), nothing from them. They mentioned that NSERC would contact successful applicants.

[selecttext]

mine was unsuccessful

 

 

Just so we are clear, were you in fact forwarded to the national competition?

[MTL18]

Same, I just asked my department (Toronto), nothing from them. They mentioned that NSERC would contact successful applicants.

 

Everyone gets a letter. Grad studies will get sent a spreadsheet of all those that applied and who was successful vs. unsuccessful. That happened for me in 2010 and 2012. The letters only trail by a couple of days.

[EvolBiol]

I imagine a lot of grad/scholarship offices choose not to respond to each inquiry with personal results, maybe to save time, and simply say "we don't know yet". Its an easy punt.

 

(I've heard nightmares about McGill's biology grad admin offices,...so people waiting for news from them will likely be better off waiting for their letters!!)

[ClinPsyPhDCnd]

Just so we are clear, were you in fact forwarded to the national competition?

 

yes...

[lhommependu]

i hope i get the thing

[Zourob]

I think this needs to be re-posted because It contains a lot of useful information to as why the budget plays a large importance in the time the results are released. I believe that only the top winners (basically guaranteed to win) are notified early. We should all hope that the government will provide additional scholarships as they did for 2009 and 2010. Without this, we will probably see the same success rates as last year.

"NSERC offered fewer CGS-PGS awards in 2011 for two reasons:

First, the Government of Canada’s Economic Action Plan (EAP) came to an end, which had provided an additional 400 CGS master’s-level awards in the 2009 and 2010 competitions, and an additional 200 doctoral-level awards in 2009. With the conclusion of the EAP, the number of available awards reverted to the 2008 baseline.

Second, NSERC discontinued its past practice of offering more awards than its budget allowed for in anticipation that some awards would be declined. Instead, NSERC offered the exact number of awards provided for in the CGS and PGS budgets in March, then offered additional awards in June once the number of declined offers was known. NSERC currently supports 3,834 graduate students, including the 1,703 CGS-PGS awards offered this year.

Fewer PDF awards were available this year because a higher-than-average number was taken up in 2010. That higher acceptance rate left a smaller proportion of the budget available to 2011 applicants. NSERC is projecting expenditures of $16.258M for PDFs in 2011-12, plus $1.61M for the Banting PDFs. This is consistent with expenditures in recent years:

2010 – $17.001M (when more awards were accepted)

2009 – $16.376M

2008 – $15.443M

2007 – $15.196M

As with the CGS-PGS awards, NSERC also offered only the number of PDF awards allowed by the program budget in March, followed by additional awards offered in June after the number of declined offers was known.

Leaving out the one-time injection of CGS funding under the EAP, NSERC has maintained its overall expenditures for Scholarship & Fellowship (S&F) programs in 2011 relative to 2010. Some reassignment has taken place to manage pressures within the S&F suite of programs – for instance, increasing the funding available for Industrial Postgraduate Scholarships and the CREATE program.

A package of statistics for the 2011 scholarships and fellowships competitions has been posted on NSERC’s Web site at http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/_doc/Students-Etudiants/CompStat-StatConcours_eng.pdf

For a number of years, NSERC has sent letters to PDF applicants who are above the quality line but did not receive an award, encouraging them to consider Industrial R&D Fellowships (IRDF). Many doctoral graduates will find employment outside academia, and IRDFs offer another way for applicants to gain valuable experience and work opportunities.

The role of selection committee members reviewing S&F applications is to rate applications, and to rank them based on quality. Those applicants at top of the order are offered a CGS, the next tier are offered a PGS, and we continue down the list until we reach the budget’s limit. Awards are distributed in proportion to the number of applications received by each of the various selection committees. This ensures the same success rate is seen across all fields."

Source: http://nghoussoub.com/2011/07/26/nserc-explains-the-drop-in-2011-cgs-pgs-and-pdf-numbers/

[Zourob]

Considering that i am new to all this, Who declines NSERC scholarships? Like why?

[bluejayek]

Considering that i am new to all this, Who declines NSERC scholarships? Like why?

 

One thing that can happen is somebody gets a NSERC CGS, but wants to take it up outside canada. In this case they are only allowed a PGS, so they can decline the CGS to accept a PGS. At the doctoral level the difference is thousands of dollars, so if a few people do this, another PGS award opens up.

 

Also, situations can simply change. They apply thinking they are going to grad school, something comes up in life, and they decide not to.

[iwtebaoTO]

I heard that results were up as of Tuesday for scholarship liaison officers.  But NSERC is asking them not to announce the results until they get permission!

I also heard I got a CGS-M 

[lhommependu]

Considering that i am new to all this, Who declines NSERC scholarships? Like why?

I've heard of people declining their second CGS-M so they would be eligible for the 3 year CGS-D. seems sorta risky though.

[selecttext]

you can't get a second year of -M anymore. people sometimes turn down nserc if their fellowships or provincial funding are better

[lhommependu]

oh really? weird. i hadn't heard about that.

[MTL18]

Considering that i am new to all this, Who declines NSERC scholarships? Like why?

 

 

One thing that can happen is somebody gets a NSERC CGS, but wants to take it up outside canada. In this case they are only allowed a PGS, so they can decline the CGS to accept a PGS. At the doctoral level the difference is thousands of dollars, so if a few people do this, another PGS award opens up.

 

Also, situations can simply change. They apply thinking they are going to grad school, something comes up in life, and they decide not to.

 

Vanier awards as well. 50 of them awarded out and you'd assume that if you get a Vanier, you also got a PGS or CGS.

[Zourob]

Vanier awards as well. 50 of them awarded out and you'd assume that if you get a Vanier, you also got a PGS or CGS.