SSHRC

Deadline: October 6, 2010
This is the page for the SSHRC 2011-2012 postdoctoral fellowship. Someone suggested last year that it should have its own page, so here we are. Go to town!

Stats
How many people are applying? 25 Where did this number come from?

Are you applying to hold it within Canada? 16

Outside Canada? 9

System Problems
Two of my referees have (separately) reported problems wtih the system: even after clicking "submit", the system still says that they have not submitted their reference. Has anyone else had this problem?

- I didn't have this problem, I hope you resolved it in time!

- I received an email saying that my proposed supervisor was ineligible to be a referee, and nearly freaked out. The supervisor was kind enough to call SSHRC who reassured him that it was all ok, and my application was submitted with no problems. Could that be related?

Receipt of Applications
Email receipt of application Oct 8, 2010. :)

Email receipt of application Oct 13, 2010. :)

NEARLY DIED seeing a freakin email from SSHRC in my inbox, was just a newsletter :P

Notification of Awards / Offers
Received offer of fellowship via email - 5 January, 2011 - for last year's competition (2010-2011)


 * Really? Seems a bit suspect given that according to SSHRC awards aren't announced until February and they will definitely **not** communicate results by email. Let the mind games begin...
 * Yes, really. I was shocked when I received my notice, but called SSHRC to confirm, and according to the person I spoke to notifications did go out the morning of the 5th - both by email and regular mail. I have no clue if this is all of them or just an initial batch, though.
 * Did you receive notification of regular SSHRC or Banting SSHRC?
 * Regular
 * I'm sorry, but this is hard to believe. I contacted SSHRC, and they vehemently denied sending out any acceptances over email. I know, based on the past two years, that they often give out contradictory information, but it seems beyond the pale that they could notify this early (given very late dates in previous years) and over email. But, since crazier things have happened, maybe you could answer what your score was and how many applicants there were.
 * I understand the skepticism, but perhaps the change in protocol is related to the institution of the new "fully electronic online submission process" this competition.
 * Not quite sure why the SSHRC officer with whom I spoke wouldn't own up to it, though. I also think if offers *did* go out on the 5th, this forum would be flooded with comments by now. But, based on last year's farce, it's anyone's guess.
 * The notifications that went out were for LAST YEAR's competition: SSHRC apparently came into some extra funding and was able to offer some additional people who had been wait-listed fellowships.
 * That makes infinitely more sense.
 * Well, congrats to the belated recipient! It must make planning (or re-planning) difficult to hear so late, though. I'm worried that we won't receive notifications for this year until spring (April?!), rather than Feb. as promised. I hope they've sped up the process after last year's debacle...
 * Yes-- belated congrats! I know a couple people who were notified about last year's competition very late (like June and October 2010).

Comments / Questions
I have a question about the notification. I gave my address in the USA as my correspondence address. Since we HAVE to put a permanent address in Canada, I also gave them the address of a relative but we are estranged. There is no way my family is going to tell me if I got any mail, and I would rather they not know actually. Was I being too hopeful in thinking that the correspondence address I gave would be where I actually receive correspondence from the SSHRC telling me yes or no thanks? I also think it is weird that you have to have a permanent Canada address. Recent grads can be transient, nomadic, simply abroad and/or homeless you know.

--I know, it's tricky... I don't have the estrangement problem, but I do have the problem of not knowing where I'll be, depending on how long it takes them to send notifications. Is there a friend in Canada you could have it sent to? Or maybe the Canadian address you use for taxes? I think you can definitely update your address with SSHRC, although I'm not sure that means they'll send it to the right place... but in other correspondence with them, they've sent things to my listed current US address rather than my permanent Canadian one.


 * 1/29: I emailed SSHRC to ask about addresses, and they said notification would be mailed "sometime in February" to the address I listed as current, not to the permanent Canadian address.

27 Jan: I've been reading the SSHRC sagas on this wiki for the past two years. So scared. I'm trying (already) to anticipate rejection. It's been one of those days/nights/weeks.

-- I hear you. I am also expecting rejection. It is really rough out there. Funny thing is with a PhD I can't even get a temp agency in my city to take me, I've tried 4 now. I guess we are so educated we don't need to eat. That or I can start eating the pages of all my books. I got most of them in pdf anyhow. Thanks everybody above for posting the info about the addresses btw.

1/30 Okay call me crazy, but I just wrote emails to: my MP, the Ministers of Finance (Flaherty) and of Human Resources and Skills Development (Finley), Harper, Ignatieff, and Layton. It's nearly budget time, people! Let's tell them SSHRC needs another couple million for innovation, competitiveness, community, dialogue, all those buzzwords about higher education's essential worth in times of economic doubt. After all, they did it last year... and isn't that where extra fellowships and late notifications come from? [Or wait, am I actually just plain crazy? Was SSHRC's budget for this year determined in 2010?] :: I have no idea re: your last question, but I would like to say: you are awesome for writing all those emails! I will try to write some emails myself.


 * Got a response from the Prime Minister's Office; apparently SSHRC falls under Tony Clement's Industry portfolio.

2/02 Also anticipating rejection. Scored abysmally last year on track record, whatever it means, and not much has changed since last application. I finished and defended, but SSHRC doesn't know that because it all happened in November and Decmeber after my application was in. Probably the last time I'll apply if not successful. Would be really happy if it didn't take as long as last year to put me out of my misery.

2/07 - I just called SSHRC to see which address they would be sending my postdoc results to. At the end of the conversation, I asked whether they had a timeline for when the results would be mailed out. For what it's worth, I was told mid-February. Perhaps not too much longer to wait, then?
 * Yes, it's too bad we can't update our profiles as things change--especially since it takes them so long to get back to us! Out of curiosity, did you apply to hold it at the same institution as last year? And if so, is it awkward to write the sponsor again, or are they just as accustomed to the vagaries of funding? Also, congrats on filing! It's something to be proud of, whatever comes next.
 * I agree we should be allowed to change our profile as things change, especially since track record is such a big part of the score. We should also be allowed to know how that part of the score was calculated, what they considered, etc. I'm almost thinking too many publications might hurt you too, given last years comments on the wiki. If you are already that published you shouldn't need the post doc to get a tenure track let's say. But who knows how they think.
 * Who knows indeed. I've failed twice, but applied again. I'm not even dreading rejection anymore. I've basically moved on emotionally and intellectually, and am largely apathetic about this.
 * To reply to the above - I did apply to the same instituation. Writing to my sponsor again was sort of a bummer, but it seemed easier than approaching somebody totally new. I basically felt like it would look bad to my current supervisor and committee right before my defense if I didn't apply, so I went through the whole ordeal again. It will at least be interesting to compare the two scores given that nothing changed from one application to the next.
 * I think the decision to ask your sponsor to support you again would vary by individual. I had a really positive interaction with my sponsor during the first cycle in which I applied (09-10) and when I didn't get it last year they seemed more than happy to give it another try. I think at this point most sponsors realize that this sort of thing is pretty arbitrary and doesn't necessarily reflect any faults in your application. I was also clear, however, that it wasn't intellectual laziness that made me want to reapply to work with them, and outlined - fairly specifically - how my application this year (10-11) would be better.
 * Thanks for this--fingers crossed. In terror. Is it better to have SSHRC'd and lost than never to have SSHRC'd at all?
 * Yes, thanks for sharing. I have a question for those of you who have endured this before. When I got my dissertation fellowship the notification came with a packet of things and not just a letter. Can we similarly tell acceptance or rejection from envelope size with the postdoc or am I actually going to have to muster up the courage to open the thing?
 * If I remember correctly, it wasn't a package exactly, but a regular envelope with two pages. However, it might be two pages for the rejection letters as well, since there should be a sheet with your scores...
 * If it helps, my rejection came on a single page if I remember correctly - same sheet as the bad news.
 * Yes, I also received two pages informing me that I had received the award, so I don't think that size matters in this case.