Vanier CGS (2017-2018)

[HumbledBee]

1 hour ago, PsychBoy said:

huh? I still didn't get it!! is it normal? did anyone get it?

You don't get one, underneath the letter of acceptance, etc (or on the previous page) there is another link that  you need to press and fill your institution info and accept!

Then, you will see the PDF that says "OFFER OF AN AWARD / OFFRE DE BOURSE"

[PsychBoy]

6 minutes ago, HumbledBee said:

You don't get one, underneath the letter of acceptance, etc (or on the previous page) there is another link that  you need to press and fill your institution info and accept!

Then, you will see the PDF that says "OFFER OF AN AWARD / OFFRE DE BOURSE"

Yes I did that and got the Offer of Award PDF

so then where does the CFC Form come from after doing that/where do I get it/when?

[HumbledBee]

10 minutes ago, PsychBoy said:

Yes I did that and got the Offer of Award PDF

so then where does the CFC Form come from after doing that/where do I get it/when?

huhh... ? what is CFC form?

From my understanding, this is the only thing we need to do at the research net site. A day or so after, I received an email from my school describing how to activate my Vanier CGS Payment. Is this what you mean?

[PsychBoy]

5 minutes ago, HumbledBee said:

huhh... ? what is CFC form?

From my understanding, this is the only thing we need to do at the research net site. A day or so after, I received an email from my school describing how to activate my Vanier CGS Payment. Is this what you mean?

I was talking about the confirmation of commencement form (are you saying the Offer of Award is the same thing as the confirmation of commencement form?)

I emailed Vanier about it and they said that eventually they will "process" the fact that I accepted the award and will email me to let me know that my confirmation of commencement form is ready and that I need to sign it and have my supervisor sign it

I was wondering if you already got your confirmation of commencement form...

(I also got an email from my institution as you did, and they told me I need that form as well)

[HumbledBee]

16 minutes ago, PsychBoy said:

I was talking about the confirmation of commencement form (are you saying the Offer of Award is the same thing as the confirmation of commencement form?)

I emailed Vanier about it and they said that eventually they will "process" the fact that I accepted the award and will email me to let me know that my confirmation of commencement form is ready and that I need to sign it and have my supervisor sign it

I was wondering if you already got your confirmation of commencement form...

(I also got an email from my institution as you did, and they told me I need that form as well)

Ahh... I guess it is too early to get that, since we technically have until April 20th to accept/decline the offer. However, the PDF outlines when you chose to have your award to commence

 

Edited April 10, 2018 by HumbledBee

[PsychBoy]

6 minutes ago, HumbledBee said:

Ahh... I guess it is too early to get that, since we technically have until April 20th to accept/decline the offer. However, the PDF outlines when you chose to have your award to commence

 

sounds good! we are on the same page

[HumbledBee]

8 minutes ago, PsychBoy said:

sounds good! we are on the same page

I don't see anything else I should be clicking on the researchnet site - but I am asking my school's awards department and verify that this the ONLY thing we need to do. Will keep you posted if they say otherwise

[PsychBoy]

8 minutes ago, HumbledBee said:

I don't see anything else I should be clicking on the researchnet site - but I am asking my school's awards department and verify that this the ONLY thing we need to do. Will keep you posted if they say otherwise

The Vanier Secretariat told me on April 6 that this is normal for now. That's why I was wondering when you mentioned the confirmation of commencement form.

[YuzuCat]

On 4/3/2018 at 10:48 AM, p(ache)d said:

Last year, I got my email at 1:46 pm EST from researchnet... Sending you folks good vibes

That's very kind of you

[YuzuCat]

Late to this forum, but thought I'd contribute anyways.

On 4/3/2018 at 10:44 PM, orange turtle said:

Guys, I actually did have a question (for the next competition) as I am sure that I would have to reapply.

For the 2 leadership letters of references, whom did you choose?

Did you ask one or both of your academic referees to also write your leadership letters? Or did you have 4 different referees?

Did people find it hard to find 4 separate referees? How did you overcome that? I was not prepared that they added a new letter as a friend who won the Vanier before said they only needed 3 letters total.

 

All different. My leadership letters were from profs that hold an academic title, but know me through other community engagement activities.

[YuzuCat]

On 4/5/2018 at 2:20 PM, CrazyPugLady said:

Congrats to those who won!

My friend got 47/55 from SSHRC. I ranked 58. My lowest score was academic excellence. I suspect it's because I never won OGS or SSHRC in MA, because I have straight A's with some A+'s! And lack of publications. My highest score was research potential and then leadership.

What's the likelihood of getting off the waiting list? I doubt people will reject Vanier unless they switch schools, accept Trudeau, or go abroad... does anyone know? It just sucks to be so close.

I can't apply next year either. I spoke to the people at my school and I guess it must be a school rule or departmental rule, but I can't apply because it's for first year PhDs here. So I guess my struggle ends here unless three people reject SSHRC Vanier.

Same. Got a low research potential ranking despite 3 journal publications (2 top tier as 1st author) and 3 conference presentations. My A/A+ didn't seem to matter either. Didn't make it, but congrats to everyone who did! I didn't make it to semi-finals with Trudeau, but I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for SSHRC.

I know Trudeau winners that already have tri-council funding. They just got less from Trudeau.

[YuzuCat]

On 4/8/2018 at 7:20 PM, high_hopes said:

No. They are completely separate processes. 

I know someone who won a Vanier a few years ago (through the SSHRC stream) but she was not even forwarded to the national competition for the SSHRC doctoral fellowship by her university in the same year.

Last year, I made it to nationals for Vanier and Trudeau but not SSHRC. I'm pretty sure I got a low ranking from my department. This year, made it out for all three, but have been rejected for the Trudeau and Vanier. No idea how SSHRC will pan out.

[CrazyPugLady]

10 hours ago, YuzuCat said:

I know Trudeau winners that already have tri-council funding. They just got less from Trudeau.

This is so frustrating. If Trudeau winners couldn't hold both at once I'm sure there would be plenty of room for people on the waitlist.

The sliver of hope making it off the waitlist is even smaller. I broke the news to everyone and they all congratulated me for making it on the waitlist but it feels empty and hollow. I know I should be "proud" I made it this far, but I think waitlist is the worst place to be because it's in this liminal space of hopelessness and hopefulness. I am trying not to think about this and focus on the SSHRC Doctorate but damn is it hard.

[high_hopes]

Does anyone know whether the following is possible:

If you don't get the Vanier, but you get a sshrc/cihr/nserc doctoral fellowship one year, can you decline or defer the sshrc/cihr/nserc award to be eligible to re-apply to the Vanier in the following year?

 

(Background: The Vanier eligibility states that you:

• Must not hold, or have held, a doctoral-level scholarship or fellowship from CIHR, NSERC or SSHRC to undertake or complete a doctoral degree. (Source: http://www.vanier.gc.ca/en/eligibility-admissibilite.html) 

I'm wondering if you can defer/decline the scholarship/fellowship to apply again to the Vanier.)

[PsychBoy]

14 hours ago, high_hopes said:

Does anyone know whether the following is possible:

If you don't get the Vanier, but you get a sshrc/cihr/nserc doctoral fellowship one year, can you decline or defer the sshrc/cihr/nserc award to be eligible to re-apply to the Vanier in the following year?

 

(Background: The Vanier eligibility states that you:

• Must not hold, or have held, a doctoral-level scholarship or fellowship from CIHR, NSERC or SSHRC to undertake or complete a doctoral degree. (Source: http://www.vanier.gc.ca/en/eligibility-admissibilite.html) 

I'm wondering if you can defer/decline the scholarship/fellowship to apply again to the Vanier.)

you can decline to re-apply for Vanier (but do you really want to do that?)

defer...I don't know...

[Adelaide9216]

1 hour ago, PsychBoy said:

you can decline to re-apply for Vanier (but do you really want to do that?)

defer...I don't know...

Yeah, and Vanier is the most prestigious doctoral scholarship in Canada, so I would definetely make it a priority instead of the ones you've mentionned! 

[TakeruK]

16 hours ago, high_hopes said:

Does anyone know whether the following is possible:

If you don't get the Vanier, but you get a sshrc/cihr/nserc doctoral fellowship one year, can you decline or defer the sshrc/cihr/nserc award to be eligible to re-apply to the Vanier in the following year?

 

(Background: The Vanier eligibility states that you:

• Must not hold, or have held, a doctoral-level scholarship or fellowship from CIHR, NSERC or SSHRC to undertake or complete a doctoral degree. (Source: http://www.vanier.gc.ca/en/eligibility-admissibilite.html) 

I'm wondering if you can defer/decline the scholarship/fellowship to apply again to the Vanier.)

You can definitely decline the CGS-D award and reapply for both next year. (However, I would not advise this. See below).

You should check with your funding agency, but I do not think you can defer the award with the reason that you want to be eligible for different funding. For more on what is and isn't allowed, check out the Tri-Agency's Award holder guide (this link goes directly to deferment but see the rest of the guide, especially also the "interruption" section): http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Students-Etudiants/Guides-Guides/TriRTA-TriBFR_eng.asp#deferment

Regarding declining a CGS-D just so that you can remain eligible for the Vanier: I would say that unless you have some very good intel that states you have a very high chance of winning the Vanier (honestly, not even sure what this intel would consist of), I would not throw away one year of funding in hand just for the chance at the Vanier. As @Adelaide9216 said, this is the most prestigious doctoral scholarship in Canada, so I would say even for the best student in Canada, it's not a sure thing. In addition, don't think of it simply as having another year to improve your application---you will be judged based on how long you have been a student, so someone applying at a later time in their degree program may need to have accomplish more than someone who is just starting.

Finally, there could indeed be financial ramifications to your CGS-D if you decline it and reapply. If you have a CGS-D3 right now (i.e. a 3-year award), and you have already started your doctorate program, then you will likely no longer be eligible for the D3 again the second time around. You are only eligible for the 3-year CGS award if you have completed less than 12 months towards your doctorate degree by December 31 of the year you apply (i.e. if you started in Fall 2017, you would have completed 16 months towards next year's application). This won't apply to you if you start your doctorate program after Jan 1, 2018.

[CrazyPugLady]

2 hours ago, PsychBoy said:

you can decline to re-apply for Vanier (but do you really want to do that?)

defer...I don't know...

If you could defer, I definitely would. I don't think that's possible.

While my chances of getting Vanier next year may increase (given that I will have publications, won OGS, and am attending major conferences and presenting my papers this summer), since my big area of improvement is "academic excellence" (my GPA wasn't enough, even though on my school's GPA scale I have 11.5/12. Also, I did key invited presentations as a MA graduate at my department, a speaker series usually reserved for doctoral students who graduated, among other things).

Yet if I were offered a SSHRC... I'd take it. You don't know if the next time you apply for Vanier if you would get it. I am still eligible next year at my school, but the year after I am no longer since they have some rule. (People in their first and second years can apply only). I would kick myself for potentially failing to get Vanier again and perhaps even failing to get SSHRC doctoral in the subsequent years.

What I'm saying is, you never know if you will get SSHRC again if you decide to decline and take your chances for Vanier. As we've all discussed here, the evaluations are arbitrary and can change from year to year. It's better to get 75k than to get nothing at all.

[PsychBoy]

7 hours ago, Adelaide9216 said:

Yeah, and Vanier is the most prestigious doctoral scholarship in Canada, so I would definetely make it a priority instead of the ones you've mentionned! 

I don't think you should decline a SSHRC CGS-D for a Vanier at all!

[Adelaide9216]

7 minutes ago, PsychBoy said:

I don't think you should decline a SSHRC CGS-D for a Vanier at all!

Really? Why? 

[CrazyPugLady]

10 hours ago, Adelaide9216 said:

Really? Why? 

I noted it above. You don't know if in the next years you will win Vanier anyway. Or if you will win SSHRC Doctoral again. When you're in your upper-years, I believe evaluations are more critical in terms of what you have accomplished academically and otherwise. There is no guarantee you will win Vanier in the next year or even score higher the other years. In previous Vanier threads here, people have scored lower in some parts of their application than in previous years!

Different committees and such.

[PsychBoy]

3 hours ago, CrazyPugLady said:

I noted it above. You don't know if in the next years you will win Vanier anyway. Or if you will win SSHRC Doctoral again. When you're in your upper-years, I believe evaluations are more critical in terms of what you have accomplished academically and otherwise. There is no guarantee you will win Vanier in the next year or even score higher the other years. In previous Vanier threads here, people have scored lower in some parts of their application than in previous years!

Different committees and such.

exactly 

@Adelaide9216

[PsychBoy]

@HumbledBee : did you get your confirmation of commencement form? 

[PsychBoy]

On 4/24/2018 at 1:03 PM, PsychBoy said:

@HumbledBee : did you get your confirmation of commencement form? 

Nevermind! They told me I would get it two months before September (when the award begins for me).

Edited April 26, 2018 by PsychBoy

[high_hopes]

In case anyone is interested, I emailed Vanier about deferring. They replied saying the following:

"For the purposes of determining eligibility, an award that has been accepted from a previous competition will render a candidate ineligible, regardless of the start date of that award, or whether or not the funds are being drawn upon at the time of application."

 I was fortunate enough to receive a SSHRC CGS this year, so I'll take it and enjoy it. (And I am very thankful for it!) I was close for the Vanier this year, but I guess it wasn't meant to be!