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Wenner Gren 2014


Nrrrdgrrrl

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How strange - they e-mailed your advisor but not you? No word for me yet. I guess I could start pestering my advisor...

 

On Aug 3, 2015, at 9:19 PM Funding Decision <fundingdecision@wennergren.org> wrote to my advisor that I got it. 

 

Curiously I dont have any email from WG at all (it also went into my spam last time)

 

I hope you get it!

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@Argentina-- thanks for sharing the news - and glad to hear it! Wenner-Gren readers are tough. It's awesome to get to the second round though, so be proud!

 

I'm beginning to think this lack-of-notification (even in spam folder) doesn't bode well for my proposal. Is anyone else still waiting?

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  • 1 month later...

Yes, from what I understand, all applicants who got through the first round get feedback from three reviewers. A bit nervous about it but hopefully the feedback will help us to create a stronger application if we need to resubmit in November. I've heard that some people get really mixed feedback tho...what one person liked the next might poke holes into...so I guess you have to weigh that as best as you can.

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Yes, from what I understand, all applicants who got through the first round get feedback from three reviewers. A bit nervous about it but hopefully the feedback will help us to create a stronger application if we need to resubmit in November. I've heard that some people get really mixed feedback tho...what one person liked the next might poke holes into...so I guess you have to weigh that as best as you can.

Thanks! This cycle was a resubmission for me-- as I imagine is the case for many May applicants-- and last round I only got one reviewer's comments. I'm 100% out of energy & time to do a third round. At this point I need to pay exclusive attention to feedback which will actually help me DO the project (not propose it more elegantly)!

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Thanks! This cycle was a resubmission for me-- as I imagine is the case for many May applicants-- and last round I only got one reviewer's comments. I'm 100% out of energy & time to do a third round. At this point I need to pay exclusive attention to feedback which will actually help me DO the project (not propose it more elegantly)!

Only one reviewer provided comments?  Did you get a total score or an individual score from each reviewer?  I'm curious as this was my first submission, but totally anticipating a resubmit so trying to prepare.  How long did you feel like you needed to make the changes, i.e. is two weeks enough to resubmit or did you wait for the next round?  Lots of questions, sorry and thanks.

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Only one reviewer provided comments?  Did you get a total score or an individual score from each reviewer?  I'm curious as this was my first submission, but totally anticipating a resubmit so trying to prepare.  How long did you feel like you needed to make the changes, i.e. is two weeks enough to resubmit or did you wait for the next round?  Lots of questions, sorry and thanks.

Hi! I should have specified - I only received one reviewer's comments last time, but I also didn't make it past the first round! So I got cut in February, and then had a long while to revise before the May 1 deadline. Time is the obvious upside to getting eliminated early. In my case, I knew the theoretical thrust of the proposal had major problems, but the project design was good. I blocked off about 10 days to rewrite in April (once the sting of the reviewer comments wore off), and really went after it 12 hrs/day with no interruptions during that time. I started with the literature review, then reframed Questions 1 and 5. The project's potential to advance anthropological theory is, I believe, W-G's main criteria, and so better situating the project in important & timely theoretical debates in the field is crucial. The project design and methodology are more important in NSF, but Wenner-Gren cares most about theory. 

Since you've made it to the second round of review, you will definitely receive comments from 3 reviewers. This is good! 3 sets of comments will provide a more balanced & nuanced picture of what you're doing well and not so well, but yes - you have less time to revise if you don't receive funding. I totally think 2 weeks is enough, and I wouldn't wait until next May to resubmit. Sit on the comments for a few days -- talk them over / gripe about them with advisers and colleagues, because they're often quite devastating. But you'll need to be tough and start assimilating those comments into your revisions very quickly. If you end up submitting for Nov 1, make sure you block off a couple days to exclusively focus on the resubmission statement. Based on all of the resubmission statements I have read (from successful proposals), you should use that essay not just to matter-of-factly trace what you've changed, but to further justify your project and defend its intellectual worth. Sneak in comments like "The reviewers suggested I do ____. In response, I have ____, a change which better illustrates (why my project will change anthropology / is super revolutionary!!)." Hope that helps! As I said, I'm at the end of my dissertation-proposal-writing career, and all I can say is soldier on...

Can anyone who has made it to the second round before confirm whether we'll get individual scores from each reviewer? 

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Hi! I should have specified - I only received one reviewer's comments last time, but I also didn't make it past the first round! So I got cut in February, and then had a long while to revise before the May 1 deadline. Time is the obvious upside to getting eliminated early. In my case, I knew the theoretical thrust of the proposal had major problems, but the project design was good. I blocked off about 10 days to rewrite in April (once the sting of the reviewer comments wore off), and really went after it 12 hrs/day with no interruptions during that time. I started with the literature review, then reframed Questions 1 and 5. The project's potential to advance anthropological theory is, I believe, W-G's main criteria, and so better situating the project in important & timely theoretical debates in the field is crucial. The project design and methodology are more important in NSF, but Wenner-Gren cares most about theory. 

Since you've made it to the second round of review, you will definitely receive comments from 3 reviewers. This is good! 3 sets of comments will provide a more balanced & nuanced picture of what you're doing well and not so well, but yes - you have less time to revise if you don't receive funding. I totally think 2 weeks is enough, and I wouldn't wait until next May to resubmit. Sit on the comments for a few days -- talk them over / gripe about them with advisers and colleagues, because they're often quite devastating. But you'll need to be tough and start assimilating those comments into your revisions very quickly. If you end up submitting for Nov 1, make sure you block off a couple days to exclusively focus on the resubmission statement. Based on all of the resubmission statements I have read (from successful proposals), you should use that essay not just to matter-of-factly trace what you've changed, but to further justify your project and defend its intellectual worth. Sneak in comments like "The reviewers suggested I do ____. In response, I have ____, a change which better illustrates (why my project will change anthropology / is super revolutionary!!)." Hope that helps! As I said, I'm at the end of my dissertation-proposal-writing career, and all I can say is soldier on...

Can anyone who has made it to the second round before confirm whether we'll get individual scores from each reviewer? 

Thank you! that's super helpful.  This is going to be a fun two weeks of waiting.  I hear you on the theoretical contribution, that's probably where most people (probably me) will get points docked.  It's nice that you got comments back from one reviewer even at the first stage.  I like WG's process, mostly because it's independent of reference letters.  I don't need that stress and hassle when working away at getting the application done.  Thanks for the heads up on the comments, I expect nothing less than some devastating comments regarding the merits of research/theory/everything under the sun.  Good luck to you!  

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Thank you! that's super helpful.  This is going to be a fun two weeks of waiting.  I hear you on the theoretical contribution, that's probably where most people (probably me) will get points docked.  It's nice that you got comments back from one reviewer even at the first stage.  I like WG's process, mostly because it's independent of reference letters.  I don't need that stress and hassle when working away at getting the application done.  Thanks for the heads up on the comments, I expect nothing less than some devastating comments regarding the merits of research/theory/everything under the sun.  Good luck to you!  

SO true about reference letters. I mean, can't we just agree that faculty at PhD-granting institutions are way too busy to write letters for everything under the sun, even if they love their students? Especially for dissertation proposals, which should be able to stand on their own merit. On the job market front, I've heard that some very smart search committees aren't requiring rec letters until they weed out at least 75% of the candidates based on CV/publicatios. With the job market the way that it is, apparently all of the rec letters these days for TT positions are like "MY STUDENT IS IN THE TOP 1% OF ALL STUDENTS EVER!!"

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I've got an email today that asks me to revise my budget if necessary. Could anyone who's experienced with this process advise me on what that means? And any suggestions for how to respond? Is it a formal response or not? I haven't got any other grants so my budget will be the same. Thanks in advance and good luck to everyone!

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I've got an email today that asks me to revise my budget if necessary. Could anyone who's experienced with this process advise me on what that means? And any suggestions for how to respond? Is it a formal response or not? I haven't got any other grants so my budget will be the same. Thanks in advance and good luck to everyone!

Congratulations -- that means you got it! Perhaps have your advisor take a look before sending an e-mail response? I don't think you need to be overly formal. If you haven't received any other sources of outside funding, just briefly thank them and let them know that. However, if you have proposals still under consideration, you should tell them that too -- perhaps also elaborating on whether those budgets would overlap with what you've requested from Wenner-Gren.

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PS - I only respond with "you got it!" after extensive forum digging -- literally no one I've ever heard of whose received a budget revision request from Wenner-Gren has ever been denied funding. You should receive an official letter detailing the award via snail mail in a week or two.

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I've got an email today that asks me to revise my budget if necessary. Could anyone who's experienced with this process advise me on what that means? And any suggestions for how to respond? Is it a formal response or not? I haven't got any other grants so my budget will be the same. Thanks in advance and good luck to everyone!

Congrats!  It looks like we'll all be hearing back sometime today. Yikes!

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Yes, from what I understand, all applicants who got through the first round get feedback from three reviewers. A bit nervous about it but hopefully the feedback will help us to create a stronger application if we need to resubmit in November. I've heard that some people get really mixed feedback tho...what one person liked the next might poke holes into...so I guess you have to weigh that as best as you can.

I've heard that as well.  My colleague had two reviewers who were totally on board, and one reviewer who ripped it apart.  

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Congrats!  It looks like we'll all be hearing back sometime today. Yikes!

Think so? It's pretty late in the workday already. I heard super late in the first round (like randomly 5 days after everyone else), so I'm less optimistic!

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Think so? It's pretty late in the workday already. I heard super late in the first round (like randomly 5 days after everyone else), so I'm less optimistic!

Maybe you're right.  Looking at past responses, people seem to hear on the same day, at least for second round.  I'm not going on much here.  I heard pretty late too actually, but I wasn't really paying attention at that point.  My email came on Aug 5.  It's my first time applying so I'm interested in what the reviewers have to say.  I feel like a bit of a sadist, as I kind of want to hear extremely harsh criticism.  

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Maybe you're right.  Looking at past responses, people seem to hear on the same day, at least for second round.  I'm not going on much here.  I heard pretty late too actually, but I wasn't really paying attention at that point.  My email came on Aug 5.  It's my first time applying so I'm interested in what the reviewers have to say.  I feel like a bit of a sadist, as I kind of want to hear extremely harsh criticism.  

Yep, looks like we'll be waiting another day! Sigh.

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PS - I only respond with "you got it!" after extensive forum digging -- literally no one I've ever heard of whose received a budget revision request from Wenner-Gren has ever been denied funding. You should receive an official letter detailing the award via snail mail in a week or two.

Thanks so much, farflung! Hope you're right! I haven't got any other funding so far so there are no changes and I guess I'll just tell them that. Best of luck to everyone! It was my second round and for those who've applied the first time, I must say the reviews were extremely helpful. 

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