1. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarships Program Doctoral Scholarships, and SSHRC Doctoral Fellowships
November 2015 Competition

2. Welcome! 10:00 – 12:00 SSHRC’s Doctoral Awards
Rachel Dawson Is my research topic eligible?
Am I eligible?
What is the application process? Deadlines?
Writing a Successful Application
Writing Tips
Evaluation Criteria
Reports on the Applicant
Attachments
About the Graduate Studies Office
For awards we promote funding opportunities, help students apply, oversee the university’s adjudication process and set up/pay awards.

3. www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca ► Talent Program

4. Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarships Program Doctoral Scholarships, and SSHRC Doctoral Fellowships
About the Awards
The Doctoral level award opportunities seek to develop research skills and assist in the training of highly qualified personnel by supporting students in the social sciences and humanities who demonstrate a high standard of scholarly achievement.
Value/Duration
CGS: $35,000/yr for 3 years
Doctoral Fellowships: $20,000/yr for 1-4 yrs
Important things to Consider
Subject Matter Eligibility?
Apply through University or Directly to SSHRC?
How to Apply
Use SSHRC’s Web-based forms. Applicants apply for both awards by completing one application form; if you are eligible for both awards, SSHRC will automatically consider you for both.

5. Is my research topic eligible?
SSHRC has strict regulations regarding subject matter eligibility!
Applications submitted to SSHRC that should have been sent to NSERC or CIHR will not be accepted or redirected
Research must meet the following two criteria:
be primarily in the social sciences and humanities.
have an intended outcome that adds to our understanding and knowledge of individuals, groups and societies—what we think, how we live, and how we interact with each other and the world around us.
Complete guidelines on selecting the appropriate federal granting agency are available at
If in doubt, please send a ½ page summary of your research to SSHRC directly or Graduate Awards Manager

6. Eligibility of Subject Matter: NOT accepted by SSHRC
socio-economic and cultural determinants of health
health promotion (e.g., healthy eating, disease prevention)
education and psychology research related to health service delivery (e.g., clinical/practical competencies, supervision, curriculum development);
health behavior (e.g., fitness, psychomotor learning, addictions)
clinical research (e.g., treatment, prevention or diagnosis of a condition or disease; testing the impact of medication or medical aids);
therapy (e.g., counselling, psychotherapy, rehabilitation);
knowledge translation research related to health;
health policy, management and law (e.g., care practices);
public health (e.g., workplace, food, water safety as affects health status);
humanities perspectives on health, including health ethics

7. Am I eligible? To be considered eligible you must:
be a citizen or permanent resident of Canada;
be applying for support to pursue your first PhD (or equivalent);
be pursuing doctoral studies in the social sciences or humanities;
Have not completed more than 41 months of doctoral studies as of December 31st . If you are a Master’s/PhD transfer include ALL months.
not have already received a scholarship or fellowship from SSHRC, NSERC or CIHR to undertake or complete a doctoral degree or combined MA/PhD; and
not be applying in the 2015–16 academic year to NSERC or CIHR
(Vanier is the exception)

8. What is the application process?
A complete Application Package consists of:
Online Application Form + Attachments
Transcripts (in sealed envelopes)
2 Letters of Appraisal (in sealed envelopes)
Signed Consent to the Disclosure of Personal Information
Blank Departmental Appraisal Form
Complete, verified, printed and signed application package must be submitted to your department by
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Packages should be bulldogged clipped, no staples!!

9. Application Form + Attachments
Must be completed, verified and signed (pg 3)
Attachments include:
Program of Study (max 2 pages)
Bibliography and Citations (max 5 pages)
Research Contributions (max 1 page)
Allowable Inclusions (if applicable, max ½ page)
Letter confirming PT study or Leaves (if applicable, 1 page)
Transcripts:
Must be official and must include a current SFU transcript, even if there are no grades (used to check registration)

10. What happens to my application?
Departments adjudicate and rank all applications received
Departments forward rankings and applications to Graduate Studies
Graduate Studies organizes committees to select top applications
Graduate Studies does ‘red pen corrections’
Graduate Studies forwards all required documentation to SSHRC
Graduate Studies will notify applicants in January with SFU’s decision (going forward to SSHRC or not)
SSHRC announces the outcome of their competition in Spring 2016

11. Writing a Successful Application

12. TIPS/TRICKS – Where to Start
Once inside the SSHRC Doctoral Application, click ‘Instructions’ on the top tab. You will see a breakdown of what goes where in the application
The instructions also contains great advice on what to send your referees

13. Letters of Appraisal (2)
Choose wisely
Who can speak to your strengths? (SSHRC’s wording: “supports the information in the application; focuses on the applicant’s skills and past achievements; and emphasizes strengths and personal attributes.”
Must include your current supervisor or someone else who is very familiar with your research
Provide your references with material
Provide them with your most current CV and a copy of the Letter of Appraisal form (& a letter sized envelope w/ your name, address, phone # and “Urgent-Deadline Material” on the front;
Discuss a timeline with them; once you have agreement add them to the system – get their family & given name and their address correct
ps winning applications place their strongest referee 1st in the application (the letter than appears first)

14. Evaluation Criteria
How will your application be evaluated? We tell our committees to evaluate applicants solely on academic merit, measured by:
past academic results, as demonstrated by transcripts, awards and distinctions;
the program of study and its potential contribution to the advancement of knowledge;
relevant professional and academic experience, including research training, as demonstrated by conference presentations and scholarly publications;
two written evaluations from referees; and
the departmental appraisal (for those registered at Canadian universities).

15. TIPS/TRICKS – Writing your Proposal
Not sure how to start? For writing your Program of Research, you could copy and paste the expectations (found in instructions) into a word document
Underline the main requirements, such as:
research questions:
context:
Use these underlined words as placeholders to organize your thoughts and see where more information is required. For example, if you do not know what methodology you are going to use, take a rough draft of your program of research to your supervisor and have them help you ‘fill in the blanks’

16. TIPS & TRICKS: Formatting
You don’t need headers or sections in your proposal, but you do need to show the reviewers you have provided what was asked for (this will also make it easy for them to find your points). The best way to do this is with bold font or underlining. Here is an example: The proposed research will focus on…. The guiding research questions are 1) Why does…2) what…. The methodologies being used include 1) online surveys…. 2) interviews…. Analysis of the research results will involve… ps: winning applications have well organized/direct proposals

17. TIPS/TRICKS – Bibliography & Citations
The best way to organize these pages is to divide your content in two categories (you don’t need these exact headers): Works Consulted and Works Cited Works Consulted is anything you are going to use in future, have used for background reading and/or is a top work in your field and Works Cited is anything you referenced directly in your application ps: winning applications have at least 2 pages

18. Research Contributions (max 1 page)
Provide details, as appropriate, on the contributions you listed, as follows:
In the left margin, identify refereed publications with an "R". A refereed work is assessed:
in its entirety—not merely an abstract or extract;
before publication; and
by appropriately independent, anonymous, qualified experts. ("Independent" in this context means at arm's length from the author.)
Specify your role in co-authored publications.
For published contributions, provide complete bibliographic details (including co-authors, title, publisher, journal, volume, date of publication, number of pages, etc.) as they appear in the original publication.
For publications in languages other than French or English, provide a translation of the title and the name of the publication.

19. Good Luck! Contact the Graduate Studies Team at: dgsawards@sfu.ca