Irish Research Council 2014/2015

Manco

Lockstep wrote: »

I wouldn't lose heart folks, there's other sources of funding out there.
I was unsuccessful in the IRC for PG funding but received alternate doctoral funding from NUIG (Hardiman scholarship) which is of equal value to the IRC.

It can be very hit and miss. I know 2 people who were rejected for the Hardiman but got IRC funding and someone who got the Hardiman but failed to get IRC funding.

Onwards and upwards.

Places should be freed up in internal funding schemes in universities also. That's the case with the Hardiman Scholarship and the Galway Doctoral Scholarship in NUIG (less in value than the IRC and Hardiman, but somewhat less competitive, and what I was more realistically pinning my hopes on) where places will be freed up now that some of those in receipt of those Scholarships have been awarded the IRC, I presume it's the same with analogous schemes in other universities. It's a precarious business, though, this funding craic.

aidoh

Manco wrote: »

Places should be freed up in internal funding schemes in universities also. That's the case with the Hardiman Scholarship and the Galway Doctoral Scholarship in NUIG (less in value than the IRC and Hardiman, but somewhat less competitive, and what I was more realistically pinning my hopes on) where places will be freed up now that some of those in receipt of those Scholarships have been awarded the IRC, I presume it's the same with analogous schemes in other universities. It's a precarious business, though, this funding craic.

As far as I know, university funding isn't independent of IRC funding.
That's to say, someone who's applied for a college scholarship could still on paper get it if they've been given IRC funding. I have a feeling that the universities use the scholarships as a means to help out talented students who didn't get the IRC grant though. I hope they do, anyway.

Lockstep

aidoh wrote: »

As far as I know, university funding isn't independent of IRC funding.
That's to say, someone who's applied for a college scholarship could still on paper get it if they've been given IRC funding. I have a feeling that the universities use the scholarships as a means to help out talented students who didn't get the IRC grant though. I hope they do, anyway.

Can't speak for all colleges but I know in NUIG you can't get get external funding and internal funding. If you're on internal funding and are getting outside cash (say, a grant), they can cut your internal funding to reflect your additional income.

Marathon Man

What are the odds of getting a scholarship if placed on the reserved list?

Spotfire

Marathon Man wrote: »

What are the odds of getting a scholarship if placed on the reserved list?

Good question...........

Eimear811

Hi everyone. When I log in, the status of my project has been changed to 'conditional award' but I didn't get any email to confirm this. Is this right? I'm nervous that its just a mistake in the system....

JervisOak

Eimear811 wrote: »

Hi everyone. When I log in, the status of my project has been changed to 'conditional award' but I didn't get any email to confirm this. Is this right? I'm nervous that its just a mistake in the system....

What scheme did you apply for? My status is as always...'under assessment'.

Eimear811

JervisOak wrote: »

What scheme did you apply for? My status is as always...'under assessment'.

The Postgrad Government of Ireland scheme, you?

heidi7

'Conditional award' means you have got the scholarship on the basis you meet IRC terms and conditions (ie you got the grades you said you did)

Eimear811

heidi7 wrote: »

'Conditional award' means you have got the scholarship on the basis you meet IRC terms and conditions (ie you got the grades you said you did)

I know that, I'm just a bit confused because I didn't get any email to confirm.

candle_wax

Eimear811 wrote: »

Hi everyone. When I log in, the status of my project has been changed to 'conditional award' but I didn't get any email to confirm this. Is this right? I'm nervous that its just a mistake in the system....

Hi, I'm in the exact same situation. I'm 99% sure it's accurate, but I'm a little cautious until I get proper confirmation.

aidoh

Same here.

LordJimbob

Does anyone know the date by which the people who received conditional awards need to have confirmed their acceptance by?

aidoh

I imagine they'll contact us with all that by the end of the week.

EDIT:
As I defo can't see any means of 'accepting' the award online at all. Might be blind though.

candle_wax

aidoh wrote: »

I imagine they'll contact us with all that by the end of the week.

EDIT:
As I defo can't see any means of 'accepting' the award online at all. Might be blind though.

I have in my head that I read (somewhere) something about an official letter offering us the scholarship which gives instructions about how to accept.

But maybe I made that up

Manco

candle_wax wrote: »

I have in my head that I read (somewhere) something about an official letter offering us the scholarship which gives instructions about how to accept.

But maybe I made that up

Yeah that's what the email the IRC sent on Friday said:

"A formal letter of offer outlining all the necessary steps for accepting of the award will follow in due course. Please note that this offer will be sent in hard copy to the address you have provided on your online profile. Please ensure that the address provided is correct. Any corrections should be made to your profile by 5pm on Wednesday 11th June 2014."

candle_wax

Manco wrote: »

Yeah that's what the email the IRC sent on Friday said:

"A formal letter of offer outlining all the necessary steps for accepting of the award will follow in due course. Please note that this offer will be sent in hard copy to the address you have provided on your online profile. Please ensure that the address provided is correct. Any corrections should be made to your profile by 5pm on Wednesday 11th June 2014."

Phew, thanks.

Smeghead1941

Has anybody heard anything about the Postdoc awards? I'm hearing conflicting reports from people that they are being notified and the IRC are maintaining their usual stony silence. My application still says 'Under assessmment'.

watertree

Marathon Man wrote: »

What are the odds of getting a scholarship if placed on the reserved list?

It is heard that 86% was the cutoff mark for second stage assessment this year. May be those scored more than 90% in the final assessment are placed on the reserve list. In my opinion government should allocate more money to finance these high quality students. Compared to last year, the number of scholarships this year is less.

Manco

watertree wrote: »

It is heard that 86% was the cutoff mark for second stage assessment this year. May be those scored more than 90% in the final assessment are placed on the reserve list. In my opinion government should allocate more money to finance these high quality students. Compared to last year, the number of scholarships this year is less.

I was told it was 86.5% by someone who got 86.2% or so and got rejected, such a frustrating system.

sayitisntso

Smeghead1941 wrote: »

Has anybody heard anything about the Postdoc awards? I'm hearing conflicting reports from people that they are being notified and the IRC are maintaining their usual stony silence. My application still says 'Under assessmment'.

Sure people aren't just getting mixed up with the graduate scheme? I'm in for the postdoc thingy and have heard nothing.

aidoh

Manco wrote: »

I was told it was 86.5% by someone who got 86.2% or so and got rejected, such a frustrating system.

That's absolutely desperate. did they get it in the end?

Manco

aidoh wrote: »

That's absolutely desperate. did they get it in the end?

This was the first round, they got knocked out. So frustrating.

funkee

"Is it much further Papa Smurf?"

(Postdoc).

mikehayes83

Have some people already got scoring feedback on the postgrad?

Who Knows?

Regarding the Post-Docs - does anyone know when results are expected to be announced? Did anyone contact the IRC or is it a sit-and-wait thing...?? I see that there is a lot of discussion about the results for the post-grads but nothing about the post-docs. It would be graet to get some indication, i.e. today, next week, end of the month.

LegofLamb

As it says in the T&Cs PDF, it will be sometime in June.

Who Knows?

Yes, I saw that in a table during the application process but they could provide some information at this stage. Even a "knock-out" system of informing applicants if they didn't make the cut a few months back to allow them to "move on" and seek other oppportunities. If applicants can submit an application before a given deadline (date/time), surely it can also be assessed and notify applicants within a similar deadline format (date/time) rather than "sometime in June".

sayitisntso

Exactly - even when you work on the assumption that you are not going to get it it's hard to keep the 'what if's' out of the equation. The automatic notification system giving the status of the application was initially very useful for tracking its progress at the early stages, but it would be nice if it updated more frequently. That said, if the later date means that they are thoroughly considering all applications and taking their time to make good decisions, then I can't fault it (although I missed out on a previous application by a portion of a percent so I don't have much faith in the numerical approach they seem to take). Anyway, it's looking like it's not going to be this week.

jtkc

mikehayes83 wrote: »

Have some people already got scoring feedback on the postgrad?

I got this from the IRC today in response to my query:

"The documentation will be sent next week and you will have 4 weeks thereafter to return the Award acceptance form, transcripts etc can follow after. The exact dates will be indicated on the official documentation."

Hope that helps.