IRCHSS results

LordOctane2009

Medieval English - Looking at patronage in the medieval period and attitudes towards art and money. My project was looking at English writers but some of the manuscripts were Irish, including one of the earliest examples of Hiberno English.

I am very much of the opinion that if they like your topic they will fund it irrespective of your application and if they don't like the topic they will use weaknesses within your application to argue why you shouldn't get it.

I think the ideal title would run something along the lines of "The Role of Transgenderism in the Battle of the Boyne and its impact on the Good Friday Agreement and the subsequent Rise and Fall of the Celtic Tiger":) that would have to get funded even if I put nothing in too the application on the title alone.

I think we should start a thread "Alternative Ways to Fund a PhD"

the-jojo-axiom

LordOctane2009 wrote: »

Medieval English - Looking at patronage in the medieval period and attitudes towards art and money. My project was looking at English writers but some of the manuscripts were Irish, including one of the earliest examples of Hiberno English.

I am very much of the opinion that if they like your topic they will fund it irrespective of your application and if they don't like the topic they will use weaknesses within your application to argue why you shouldn't get it.

I think the ideal title would run something along the lines of "The Role of Transgenderism in the Battle of the Boyne and its impact on the Good Friday Agreement and the subsequent Rise and Fall of the Celtic Tiger":) that would have to get funded even if I put nothing in too the application on the title alone.

I think we should start a thread "Alternative Ways to Fund a PhD"

Sounds like a great topic, where are you studying? I know some people in the English Dept here in UCC that would be your cup of tea as regards research partners.

I reckon that's a worthwhile idea, it can include tips on 'how to make money on ebay', 'the best spot to sell yourself' and other such gems

potoftea

To answer Bonneidee: I was successful (I can still hardly believe it) and I will be starting my first year. This was my first application.

Congrats to all the others that were successful and commiserations to all those that weren't. It really affected me, seeing some of you that had been on here day-in-day-out, the same as I had and yet weren't successful. It just doesn't seem fair. I feel all the more appreciative of what I have and wish you guys all the very best.

Il Trap

Anybody any idea when successful applicants to the 2010 scheme will be announced? IRCHSS website says 'not before June' but thats as specific as it gets. Would appreciate if anyone has any info!

LordOctane2009

Going on last year - it will be mid-June. They used to have the results out about Mid May but last year they were late last year and everybody got on to them. So I think they are just covering themselves this year to make sure they don't have people ring up saying: Are they out yet?, Are they out yet? Are they out yet? Are they out yet? Are they out yet? Are they out yet? Are they out yet? Are they out yet? Are they out yet? Are they out yet? Are they out yet? Are they out yet? Are they out yet?:)

Hope this answers the question. Best of Luck!

Ellajane

Hi guys,

Just to let you know it now says "not before the end of June" on the IRCHSS website... grrrrrr

The IRCSET scholarships had a later submission deadline (I think) and result have already been released....

I'm not holding out hope really but to know either way would be nice

LordOctane2009

Typical:mad:

brianthebard

In fairness there were more applications than ever, probably less staff to process applications, and the deadline was pushed back so when you combine all that its hard to see how it could be otherwise. I would've liked to hear back sooner rather than later, it doesn't make applying for the uni's scholarships any easier not having any feedback like this.

TJJP

LordOctane2009 wrote: »

Typical:mad:

Typical of what?

Shiny

Just got confirmed for ICRSET Funding under the Enterprise Partnership scheme. PhD here I come!

SD1979

So folks ....is it looking like June sometime before any of us will hear anything? Judging by last years posts we can add another couple of weeks to whatever date we are told, which is a tad worrying considering how much time it will allow you to move (for those in that position) to Galway, get set up etc. Getting nervous already, had put it out of mind but now that we've hit May Im getting a bit more excited! How are people feeling about their chances? ...best of luck to anyone who applied...the next few weeks will involve postman stakeout

the-jojo-axiom

So two of my colleagues got rejection letters this morning. Haven't heard from the others and I haven't got the rejection letter yet (it's only a matter of time), my postman's erratic at the best of times. In the letter they say they're funding only 90 projects. So much for not cutting funding. 180 projects funded at half scholarships would have been a far better idea, but nooo. :mad::mad:

MikeCork2009

Got letter this morning..........no luck......"impressed by quality of proposal, economic conditions, blah blah crap etc"!! Thats now 2 times Ive been told no. Ah well.

SD1979

oh, sorry to hear that folks. seems as if the slight chance of success has been made even harder if its true that there has been a 50% reduction in the number of offers. Just out of curiosity....what sort of areas were you hoping to study? I thought people were saying sometime in June was the expected date for notices...seems strange they're actually ahead of time!? Oh well, Im not to hopeful anyway.

anamara86

So is it just the rejection letter that they are sending out today? They must have done it in rounds if that is the case.....as they said successful candidates will be informed mid June...

TJJP

the-jojo-axiom wrote: »

180 projects funded at half scholarships would have been a far better idea, but nooo. :mad::mad:

Not sure that I'd agree. I think a much reduced stipend would adversely effect completion rates as supporting one's self through a four year PhD could be far more challenging. The Irish taxpayer looks for completions and within specified timeframes.

SD1979 wrote: »

I thought people were saying sometime in June was the expected date for notices...seems strange they're actually ahead of time!?

Not really, I think last year was an aberration. If I recall the discussion on Boards at the time correctly, the delay was down to protracted discussions with Government over funding. The wait resulted in more awards being made. Looks like this year the final answer is 90 awards with no room for further negotiation. You’ve got your answer sooner, but it might not be the answer you were looking for.

anamara86 wrote: »

So is it just the rejection letter that they are sending out today? They must have done it in rounds if that is the case.....as they said successful candidates will be informed mid June...

I don't think that's the case, all letters are usually issued at the same time.

LordOctane2009

I would agree with everything that TJJP has just said. I also thing that the hassle that occurred last year was probably something that they themselves would have been looking to avoid.

As regards the half scholarship- the money would get lost but I have to admit I would be very interested in seeing what has actually been produced by all this funding other that just completed PhDs such as publications etc. Is that a requirement of the funding? I don't think so but I do think it is something that should be expected of all funded scholars.

Research funding shouldn't just be isolated to enabling people to completing their phds but instead foster and develop an academic culture that grows from the funding. What does everybody else thing?:

Il Trap

Gutted but not overly surprised considering the low level of scholarships. I went to a seminar on funding in UCD last year (round November) and was told that there would be no cut in funding for the 2010/11 scheme. Granted, that was before the Dec budget, but the cut to ninety scholarships is somewhat brutal.
Going to go ahead with the PhD next year anyway. Worked full time this year and have been saving incase of such an outcome so I'm in kind of a lucky enough position.

theredletter

Well what a surprise I didn't get it! I am in an amazing position, though. I am already on a university scholarship that offers half the IRCHSS stipend, and I get extra work doing some tutoring... And the dept is paying for me to go to the US so I can attend a conference. I'm not at all surprised I didn't get it, I'm only in first year and my application was far from perfect. Though if it was perfect the same result would've probably come out of it at the end.

Not to worry, chums! Although this sucks, it should make us more intent on proving them wrong with our eventual success and fame as academics...

brianthebard

I've no way of proving this assertion, but I think it seems likely that the majority of the 90 scholarships will go to final year phd students, seems like that would be a way of granting the money but also not having to continue paying out for long, and still being able to fund some scholarships next year.

anamara86

Unfortunately, I wasn't successful either....would love to hear from the people who were, seems like they are very far and few between...

SD1979

I haven't heard anything yet, however I'm currently living outside Ireland so it may take a few days to get here....fingers x, I felt I put together a decent proposal...but it don't matter what I think!

the-jojo-axiom

brianthebard wrote: »

I've no way of proving this assertion, but I think it seems likely that the majority of the 90 scholarships will go to final year phd students, seems like that would be a way of granting the money but also not having to continue paying out for long, and still being able to fund some scholarships next year.

I was applying for my final year, no joy.

On the half scholarship point I raised erlier, in a climate of reduced funding, 8,000e plus fees still isn't too shabby, it would fund fieldwork in my sector anyway.
There's no requirement by the funded student to produce anything but an annual report which they have no way of checking for accuracy. Aquiring of a full IRCHSS stipend in no way guarantees completion and/or quality results.

minalaury

Just so people know, I got the letter today and am shocked that I got the funding, to begin a phd in English. I was very worried because my advisor, who was also my referee, is quite young and i'd thought they'd go for clout for than anything else. If it helps: I have an MA, a first in my BA, no publications or anything like that but i took great care over the wording of my proposal, which was almost too ambitious. I'm sorry there have to be so many other disappointments but i've been turned down for funding in other places so it seems almost arbitrary. I know someone else who was rejected for irchss funding one year and the following year succeeded, having submitted the exact same proposal, only with different font! Best of luck for other people starting this autumn!

LordOctane2009

Wohoo I have managed to maintain my perfect 3 in a row record:D of failed applications. I can longer apply so the obvious question I am left with is who know will I direct all my unfunded bitterness and anger towards Suggestions?

LordOctane2009

As far as the final year thing - I am meant to be going into my final year but no joy in getting the funding. When it comes to your feedback in September if they do not automatically provide you a ranking and it is something that you would like and I would remind people that they can request it under the FOI. The application costs €15 I found it very helpful in that I realised how far off the funding places I actually was. If anybody needs more information just let me know

brianthebard

the-jojo-axiom wrote: »

I was applying for my final year, no joy.

On the half scholarship point I raised erlier, in a climate of reduced funding, 8,000e plus fees still isn't too shabby, it would fund fieldwork in my sector anyway.
There's no requirement by the funded student to produce anything but an annual report which they have no way of checking for accuracy. Aquiring of a full IRCHSS stipend in no way guarantees completion and/or quality results.

Bummer, hard luck. I also received my rejection letter. Definitely agree with you about the half scholarships, it would basically keep me going, a little teaching work or weekend job and I'd be comfortable. But they like to be able to boast about the amount of funding per student I think.

LordOctane2009 wrote: »

As far as the final year thing - I am meant to be going into my final year but no joy in getting the funding. When it comes to your feedback in September if they do not automatically provide you a ranking and it is something that you would like and I would remind people that they can request it under the FOI. The application costs €15 I found it very helpful in that I realised how far off the funding places I actually was. If anybody needs more information just let me know

How does the ranking work exactly? I'd definitely like to see what they had to say, although as my supervisor said funding seems to be allocated pretty randomly and next year there will probably be even more people applying for even less, so its not going to get any easier.

LordOctane2009

I am not certain how the IRCHSS decide the ranking exactly - From working for another funding body the applications are divided out amongst the assessors. Generally an assessor would be given roughly 20 applications but this all depends on the assessment panel size and number of applications.
In the IRCHSS the assessment process goes that there is one primary assessor who grades (Alpha**, Alpha*, etc) the work and writes the feedback. The second assessor is only asked to give a grade. If there is a major difference between the first and second assessor a third assessor is asked to read the application to try and finalise a grade.

Going by my own experience what would then happen is that the assessors would meet and all the top grade, alpha**, applications are put forward and would then be debated. If there is enough funding to cover them it would then go to debating the next rated applications. This tends to be were the major discussion takes place as assessors will debate which ones would be funded which applications will not be funded. This would not require an assessor having read all the applications - instead it would be up to one assessor to convince the other why a certain application might merit funding. This could easily result in two applications initially receiving the same grade from the respective assessors but one could get funded and the other one is not funded.

After that they would simply put all the rest of the applications in order of their Alpha grade rather than debating the merits of every single application.

What in effect this would mean is that there would be actually no difference in quality or merit between an application ranked #146 and one ranked #191 as both of them may have been award the same Alpha grade.

The most informative grade is the Alpha grade as that will tell you whether the panel thought that you were Excellent, Very Good etc. Sorry for the length of the post but I hope that it helps.

the-jojo-axiom

brianthebard wrote: »

Bummer, hard luck. I also received my rejection letter. Definitely agree with you about the half scholarships, it would basically keep me going, a little teaching work or weekend job and I'd be comfortable. But they like to be able to boast about the amount of funding per student I think.

Boasting is the right term alright

Yup, 8,000 with a bit of temporary work would keep me going perfectly.

Anyone know what the official IRCHSS line is on applicants already in receipt of funding? I know it asked us to declare if we're already getting any, but do they actually check up, or take it into consideration at all? I know someone who go it, it's her THIRD source of governmental funding, so she's now on a nice hefty salary of 40,000+ per annum. Share the wealth IRCHSS, share the freaking wealth.

brianthebard

the-jojo-axiom wrote: »

I know someone who go it, it's her THIRD source of governmental funding, so she's now on a nice hefty salary of 40,000+ per annum. Share the wealth IRCHSS, share the freaking wealth.

Feels like a real slap in the face...