This is a joke

El Siglo

I was at home today waiting anxiously for my results of whether IRCSET would fund my PhD and guess what....

Nothing!

Not a reply, not an email, nothing at all!

Two phone calls, "wait till 5 o'clock", and nothing!

Were they in today at all or what? This is ridiculous, the amount of funding this crowd gets and, the amount of hoops they make you jump through, the amount of time they take to review an application and they can't even stick to their own deadline.

It's fúcking ridiculous so it is, a joke, they're a joke, and they're taking the piss out of applicants with their inefficiency!

Has anyone else had any luck with this shower at all today?

sjfsjf

My theory is that IRCSET are living in their own little timezone. Seeing how their site fell to pieces under the load around submission time, it doesn't really surprise me.
Ah well, results imminently.
For what it's worth, application procedures are pretty dodge for most places. The ircset one wasn't actually that bad in comparison, at least it didn't require lots of obscure paperwork (photocopies unacceptable!) or expensive standardized tests.

Although, you do wonder what on earth they could be doing, I mean how long does it take to upload a pdf to their webserver?

sean_d

I like how the site has changed during the time...
Yesterday it was "Tuesday 21st April"
This morning it was "Afternoon of 21st April"
This afternoon it was "By close of business"
Now its "imminently"

Wonder whats going wrong with them...

jelly&icecream

Lol, I see they've changed it again!

It has gone from:

Results will be out on the afternoon of the 21st April

to

Results will be out by close of business on the 21st of April

to

Results will be out imminently!!!

Typical IRCSET really! Never bother sending them emails...I'm convinced that they go into the abyss... But the fundings great!

edit: oopsy...see i crossposted with a load of people. Anyway, doesnt look like there'll be a result this evening...this is the civil service after all!

waraf

El Siglo wrote: »

I was at home today waiting anxiously for my results of whether IRCSET would fund my PhD and guess what....

Nothing!

Not a reply, not an email, nothing at all!

Two phone calls, "wait till 5 o'clock", and nothing!

Were they in today at all or what? This is ridiculous, the amount of funding this crowd gets and, the amount of hoops they make you jump through, the amount of time they take to review an application and they can't even stick to their own deadline.

It's fúcking ridiculous so it is, a joke, they're a joke, and they're taking the piss out of applicants with their inefficiency!

Has anyone else had any luck with this shower at all today?

WOW:eek: Is your Phd anything to do with anger management?

cunnins4

There's sweet f.a. we can do about it, so chill. The results will be released eventually.

Good luck to you all.

friendface

I want my results this evening. I'm gonna spend the next half hour on ircset.ie constantly pressing F5.....:D




..............I have no life :P

cunnins4

friendface wrote: »

I want my results this evening. I'm gonna spend the next half hour on ircset.ie constantly pressing F5.....:D




..............I have no life :P

ah yes, that'll speed up the site.

oconnoao

has anyone managed to get in yet or is the whole site down?! my page is just loading very slowly but i dont think it's going anywhere!

friendface

The whole site is down. Has been for the last 30mins. Doesn't look like we'll be seeing any results today

friendface

Site came back up there. Still no results though. Same message saying that they will be posted 'imminently'...

El Siglo

waraf wrote: »

WOW:eek: Is your Phd anything to do with anger management?

I wish!:D Then I'd have to deal with IRCHSS, the hippy human sciences people!;)

DemocAnarchis

"Imminently" my hole.

friendface

Has anyone been on to IRCSET today? Do we know when to expect results? Was going to give 'em a call but I'm sure they've been getting plenty phonecalls since yesterday.

I'd just like to see the result and get it out of my head.

boru05

I just rang them and apparently the Dept. of Finance put a hold on them posting up the successful candidates but they reckon they'll be up today at some stage.

friendface

Do you reckon that their funding was cut in the supplementary budget in April and now they have had to rethink the number of candidates and re-assess who they are going to give scholarships to??

Jippo

boru05 wrote: »

I just rang them and apparently the Dept. of Finance put a hold on them posting up the successful candidates but they reckon they'll be up today at some stage.

We must be getting pulled! :eek:

I rang today and the lady on th phone said they should be up "this afternoon". When looking at the site yesterday I saw that it said "this afternoon": I must admit I don't know what that means exactly. In between 1200 and 2359??

It's up.

GET IN THERE!

Good luck to the rest of you.....

sean_d

Didnt get in...

friendface

Results are Up. Good Luck!

sanches56

Congrts to all who got funded, I didnt!

friendface

sanches56 wrote: »

Congrts to all who got funded, I didnt!

Me neither unfortunately. Hopefully might have a better chance in the second call when I have my final results which should be a good bit better than 3rd year

Congratulations to all that got funded anyway!

waraf

Deleted User wrote: »

It's up.

GET IN THERE!

Good luck to the rest of you.....

Can I ask just out of interest what the subject of your Phd is? I'm only interested cause I'm a final year IT student (only 3 weeks left woo hoo!) and I can see myself doing a Phd down the line a bit.

PS congrats on securing funding

Sure. It's in Astrophysics, entitled:

"The Transport of Energetic Particles in the Heliosphere and the Local Interstellar Medium"

Congrats on finishing your degree!

waraf

Deleted User wrote: »

Sure. It's in Astrophysics, entitled:

"The Transport of Energetic Particles in the Heliosphere and the Local Interstellar Medium"

OK. I've no idea what a heliosphere or an interstellar medium is (local or otherwise) but it sure sounds impressive!
I'd recommend the energetic particles use public transport or maybe cycle. Hope that helps :)

Good luck with it....

friendface

Deleted User wrote: »

Sure. It's in Astrophysics, entitled:

"The Transport of Energetic Particles in the Heliosphere and the Local Interstellar Medium"

Congrats on finishing your degree!

Well if this is the sort of stuff I was up against, it's no surprise I didn't get funding lol.


Heliosphere Interstellar Medium

My head hurts!

waraf

friendface wrote: »

Well if this is the sort of stuff I was up against, it's no surprise I didn't get funding lol.


Heliosphere Interstellar Medium

My head hurts!

You know you have to post your title now FF...

friendface

waraf wrote: »

You know you have to post your title now FF...

Ok, just let me get my project proposal out of the bin :pac:

"Built environment energy modelling, simulation and control"

waraf

friendface wrote: »

Ok, just let me get my project proposal out of the bin :pac:

"Built environment energy modelling, simulation and control"

Aww I'm disappointed. You use big words too There go my dreams of doing a Phd.....or maybe I'll just buy a thesaurus

Anyway, sorry to hear you didn't get funding. Hope you're not in the dole queue like me

friendface

waraf wrote: »

Aww I'm disappointed. You use big words too There go my dreams of doing a Phd.....or maybe I'll just buy a thesaurus

Anyway, sorry to hear you didn't get funding. Hope you're not in the dole queue like me

Well let's just say there's doors being shut everywhere I go . In the last 3 days I got 3 rejection letters from engineering companies. It's a bit disheartening when you don't even get the slightest bit of interest from a company or even an interview.

My aim is to do a Masters (research) and possibly a PhD if all goes well, but I need funding as I can't come up with the sort of money required otherwise. Between fees and living expenses, I estimate it would cost approx €20k per yr to fund a PhD myself. If I finish in 3 years, I would be left €60k in debt without even having any secure job prospects to look forward to .

I haven't got terrible results either, have a decent CV and about 14months relevant work experience and the fact that I'm not even getting to an interview stage with anyone worries me. And I'm not the only one. I don't know a single person in my class who has secured placement for after graduation (well maybe 1 person out of about 110). I don't know how the government is going to cope when thousands of students graduate in a months time or so and many will have to sign on the dole...

El Siglo

Deleted User wrote: »

Sure. It's in Astrophysics, entitled:

"The Transport of Energetic Particles in the Heliosphere and the Local Interstellar Medium"

Show off!

Ah no, that's excellent you got funding congratulations!

Congratulations to everyone who got funding as well, we'll have a session organised for the end of the week!

Commiserations to all those who didn't get funding (myself included), we'll have a session organised for the end of the week to drown our sorrows!;)

It's the way things have gone unfortunately folks, 2 years ago any kind of half-way interesting project would have got funding but because of the economy, cronyism (not naming names of any particular bodies... but you know who) getting funding is going to be pretty tough and as Red Alert said in one of the other threads you would nearly have to say that this project will win a Nobel Prize, I can see from Aristotle's thesis title that this is evident, really it sounds feckin cool, can you imagine when you're at home in the local with the aul fellas and fools you went to school with who dropped out:

Aul fella; "How's she cuttin Aristotle? What are you up to these days?"

Deleted User; "Oh I'm still in college, workin hard!"

Aul fella; "What are ya studyin, last I heard it was a yoke of some sort?"

Deleted User; "The Transport of Energetic Particles in the Heliosphere and the Local Interstellar Medium"

Aul fella; "Oh so it's kinda like how a car works is it?"

That's pretty cool!:D

Seriously though, fair play to everyone who did or didn't get in, it's the fact that you tried and didn't do the usual "ah I'd like to 'find myself' now" business. Again, you could've been top of your class but if you don't have a Masters of some sort or research experience, it's just really difficult.
A session should be organised to celebrate this, so if anyone's in ucd, this friday, last day of term, monster of a session before the exams, PM for a piss up!:D

El Siglo

Friendface, you sound like you have a pretty class cv that jumps off the page, however, with the way the economy has gone and the shít way the government runs this country, things are only going to get harder. I'd say either; emigrate to somewhere that isn't effected by the recession (Canada, UAE etc...) or do a masters of some sort. It's a really shít situation to be in and it is incredibly disheartening but going on the dole from looking at my family members and friends etc... is a really, really, really depressing experience and even though it's money it's really depressing, the only people that like staying on the dole are wasters or the odd freak in AH who's on 38k with 4 kids and plays golf all day.

cunnins4

No luck for me either. Apparently there were 3x the normal applicants, so competition was hot this year.

With the number of people who didn't get it, it looks like the 2nd round will be equally as tough. I've to apply for college funding now, but the subsidy is so small, it may not be worth it, and the competition for that will be just as fierce, so things aren't looking too good.

Luckily I've held onto my pt job all through college. T'is sh1te, but it pays. Depressing prospect spending so much time in college and putting in so much effort to still be doing the same job I was doing when I was 16 despite having a degree in Engineering.

Good luck to all that got funding, well done. Good luck to all who didn't. We need it.

El Siglo

El Siglo wrote: »

Aul fella; "How's she cuttin Aristotle? What are you up to these days?"

Deleted User; "Oh I'm still in college, workin hard!"

Aul fella; "What are ya studyin, last I heard it was a yoke of some sort?"

Deleted User; "The Transport of Energetic Particles in the Heliosphere and the Local Interstellar Medium"

Aul fella; "Oh so it's kinda like how a car works is it?"

If you replace 'aul fella' with 'my dad', it's very similar to a conversation I had not too long ago. Also, add the lines:

Me: "I'm gonna have a PhD in 4 years, maybe even 3..."

Dad: "Ah sure that's deadly. Maybe you could do something about my back? It's been bleeding killing me all day...."


Commiserations to those who were unsuccessful, don't give up hope just yet. Remember to look into all possibilities, and make sure your supervisor has looked into funding from all possible sources.
If you're applying in the second round, feel free to PM me for a copy of my application if you'd like to take a glance, although I don't really see anything special about it.

To those who were, the drinks are on me! (Only a handful were successful right?)

ghostchant

I didn't get in this time last year, but they send you some feedback which lets you know what areas you were marked down in, which can be helpful if you're going for the second round. I fixed up the part that was pulling me down and luckily I got in on the second attempt

Congrats Aristotle, and I'll gladly drink anything you're willing to pay for (that goes for anyone actually) :P

Fausto Miño

From those who know, how do the second rounds compare in terms of competitiveness to the first round, i.e. more graduates etc?
I got a 1.1 and a years international relevant work experience and a good project with good economic benefits and My supervisor and I are scratching our heads as why I didnt get it. My first year univ results are not so hot, but it hardly makes me a bad researcher, Ive been researching professionally for the past year.
Oh well
It will be interesting to see in the breakdown where I scored badly
keep positive!

hannahlambda

Does anyone know when the feedback is due to come?

Aaand, does anyone know what the conditional offer means my needing your results to be in line with previous expectations? Avg 2.1 => need a 2.1? Or said I'd get a 1.1 on the application => need a 1.1?

Aaaaaand, does anyone know if the scholarship covers things like summer schools? It's worth e24,003, with e16,000 for expenses, e1,500 for a computer (!), apx (?) 3,000 for fees - to where does the rest go? Can I claim other expenses?! Can't seem to find this info anywhere.

El Siglo

hannahlambda wrote: »

Does anyone know when the feedback is due to come?

Aaand, does anyone know what the conditional offer means my needing your results to be in line with previous expectations? Avg 2.1 => need a 2.1? Or said I'd get a 1.1 on the application => need a 1.1?

Aaaaaand, does anyone know if the scholarship covers things like summer schools? It's worth e24,003, with e16,000 for expenses, e1,500 for a computer (!), apx (?) 3,000 for fees - to where does the rest go? Can I claim other expenses?! Can't seem to find this info anywhere.

To be fair now, I wouldn't worry about this end of things, concetrate on getting the grades and getting the application spot on, the money bit will follow... hopefully!;)

Ostrom

El Siglo wrote: »

I wish!:D Then I'd have to deal with IRCHSS, the hippy human sciences people!;)

We're scientists too

Well done guys, awful time waiting for results!