IRCSET Personal Statements

Jessie de Frog

Hi Guys,

I'm sitting here trying to write my personal statement for IRCSET application and finding it really hard to figure out what to say. I've been given lots of advice as to what not to say and what to say but I have no idea of the tone, layout or anything like that. I was wondering if anyone could help me out with this. I have been looking for a sample statement for months and cant find anything. Anything would probably be helpful at this stage.

Thanks.

Fausto Miño

[FONT=&quot]Hola,[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Presumambly youve already written the proposals as the deadline is a few days, but heres some avice i picked up before on this site. The objective is to make it look like you are gods gift to science i think,[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]good luck
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[FONT=&quot]The IRCEST application process is one that can be frustrating and daunting without the right attitude and approach. Here's a guideline of how to get through it smiling...

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]First Steps

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]• Go to the [/FONT][FONT=&quot]IRCSET[/FONT][FONT=&quot] website and read the assessment procedures and terms and conditions carefully in preparation.
• Be sure to fill out the application correctly online. This task should not be underestimated as IRCSET will reject applications that are not filled out properly regardless of the merit of the content.

Your application will be assessed under four main headings; you should be aware of these throughout the process:

a) Academic Career (30%): IRCSET almost exclusively funds first class honours students. Position in your class is paramount. Have you received top marks in any continuous assessment component to any of your courses? Have you ever received 100% in an exam? Have you been a name on a paper submitted to a conference or Journal (Maybe an extension to your final year project?) Have you written any software, given any talks, or done anything above and beyond revising for your exams? Have you taken any courses relevant to your research? Did you perform well in these courses?

b) Personal Statement (30%): You need to sell yourself; not a comfortable thing to do for most people but you need to convince these people that you are good enough to deserve funding. You will be up against people of equal ability on paper so you need to differentiate yourself from them.

Why should IRCSET give you the funding? Why do you want to do research? (Do not say because you are waiting the labour market to pick up!) One of the founding principles of Embark is to position Ireland as a knowledge based economy. They reckon the best way to do this is to have as many people as possible with post graduate degrees. You should think about this and mention how your research can contribute to this philosophy.

Management and team working skills are also highly rated. Mention any leadership roles you have held in work, sport, or college. More and more research is becoming a collaborative process so any experience you have had as part of a team structure is worth mentioning. Adherence to deadlines is important.

Assessors also want to see you explain your interest in research and your subject. Be enthusiastic about your subject and mention anything you've done on your own bat to further your understanding or knowledge of an area.

c) Referees (30%): Choose your referee carefully. Their report is worth one third of the marks allocated to your application. Give the referee as much time as possible to fill out the report. Make sure they are aware of deadlines and what to emphasise in the report. The referee should be familiar with your work and ideally should be the person whose course you did best on. Again excellence and position in the class will be looked for here.

d) Project Outline (10%): Note the weighting for this! Be definite about the area you are choosing. Identify any possible obstacles you expect to face and give reasonable deadlines for your work. Identify possible collaborators, applications, and appropriate conferences to attend.

Applying for funding: Things to bear in mind

• Things can go wrong with on-line applications. Do not have blind faith in the process. Make sure you have all your documentation in the proper format. This means give word documents when asked. Make sure you know whether to cut and paste or to upload a document. Do a trial run and be familiar with the form

• Make sure you get acknowledgement of your application. Read the assessment procedures on the web page to see what should happen. Note these seem to change from call to call so repeat applicants should still check.

• If it doesn't go to plan, ring IRCSET. It is no good waiting until weeks after to find your application never got processed. Make them aware of your presence before the deadline. I spent five weeks last year chasing a lost application and it was eventually funded.

• Be careful of the length of your replies on the form. Extra characters will be ignored. The form as it stands is not very user friendly so please take time to go through it well before the deadline day.

• Make sure you have all your results from the registrar's office. Do not go bothering departmental offices one hour before deadline. They will not have time to give you your results.

• Put in all your results. IRCSET look for consistency. If you have good marks in every year make sure to emphasise it.

• Check with your referee to make sure they have done what is necessary.

• For round one applicants third year results are the important ones. For second round applicants your final results hold more weight.

• Select M.Sc./Ph.D. or Ph.D. in the type of degree box. It shows a bigger commitment than just selecting M.Sc.

Above all make sure to refer to the website on a continual basis to keep abreast of changes…and good luck [/FONT]

cunnins4

Doing my PS at the moment myself.

Have you had any trouble signing up your supervisor? I can only get the referee sign up page???

Fausto Miño

This could be because your supervisor has not yet registered.....they have to register for each call, i.e. twice a year.

good luck