Hi Tudor! Thanks for this. I think that could be a good idea, to just put one. They were both just 'general' awards, not specifically 'publication funding' (which is what I'm applying for) but it would at least show that I tried to get funding elsewhere. I was also planning on submitting another pending application so I'll have that on there too.

Hi everyone,

I'm applying for a grant (less than £1000) and there's a section which asks for other grant applications that have been or will be made for the money. I've already had a couple of rejections from general prizes (i.e. not directed grants) that would've funded these expenses. I'm wondering whether to list them on my application as rejections.

If I list them, maybe it sends a message that I really do need the money but maybe it also says that my project is not 'worthy' of funding...but hopefully my CV and application would convince them otherwise. I was funded by this trust a few years ago (~£5000) so they would hopefully take that into consideration.

Thanks for your help!

I haven't had time to read the comments in-depth because they're pretty extensive and I've been really busy. I had a skim-read and a few things struck me as being incorrect or things that I had mentioned in the article but he'd missed. Other things seem more legitimate but I need a bit more time to think about them properly. I was a bit upset by his comment that one (major) section was 'really weak' because that section is essentially my expertise so I can't imagine how 'weak' it really could be?? I've published a prize-winning paper on this subject so I was really shocked by that! To be honest, reading the comments in detail will upset me so I'm putting it off until I have time to process it properly.

Thank you for sharing your experience about your paper though. That's very helpful and interesting. I hope you were able to eventually publish it! I'm glad your supervisors sound supportive of your work too.

Hi Tudor_Queen, thanks for your comment! The other reviewer wasn't as thorough but they certainly made some useful comments.

It's difficult to say without a bit more information. Will this harm his employment chances? In my field (humanities), the title of the degree is not hugely important as long as it sounds vaguely related. The thesis topic itself is more important. My degree title is actually quite old-fashioned and not used in the majority of universities that teach my subject.

I actually responded just before I read your post. I did what you recommended, so that's lucky :) I said I appreciated the extra feedback and that I would try my best to improve the article.

It's quite confusing when one reviewer is happy and recommends only minor changes and the other completely rips it apart and says that I need to completely change the angle of my argument.

So this is weird.

I submitted an article (humanities) to a good journal at the end of December. A couple of weeks ago, I received an email saying that after two reviewers had read the work, the article would be accepted as long as I made some changes. Okay, that's fine, I thought. I'm really busy with other stuff so I skim-read their comments and saw that I needed to make some proper changes (not just spelling mistakes) but I thought 'no problem, I'll get to it later'.

Today, I get an email from one of the reviewers (!) who guessed I was the author due to the (very niche) subject matter. We've been in touch several times over the years and he's been very supportive of my career (he's retired) so he's not a stranger. He says that by now I should've received the journal's response BUT that 'he was very sorry to recommend that the article be rejected'...which it wasn't, but okay. And the journal must have omitted that recommendation because I didn't come across any comments like that.

He sent me extra comments and resources for me to look at and was very encouraging, saying that the article will be great once it's finished. I know he meant well but I feel kinda crap now knowing that he wanted to reject it! I guess, at the end of the day, my article wasn't technically rejected and I suppose if his suggestions improve my work, then that's good for me.

Anyway, I just needed to get this off my chest. I'm probably over-reacting because I have a lot of other stressful things going on.

Hi Gemma,

On the basis of what you've written, I would tend to agree with bewildered's post. It's not clear what your complaint would relate to. It doesn't seem like the university has done anything egregious but maybe you could clarify for us. It seems like there have been some instances of miscommunication. Firstly, they didn't inform you that you had a prospective supervisor so you had to rush your application. However, you were presumably already working on this application anyway right, since there was a fixed deadline?

Secondly, the funding thing is really unfortunate and I understand your frustration. I'm not how it works in other places but at my uni, funding decisions were totally up to the discretion of the dept so it doesn't seem weird to me that someone would somehow find 'unadvertised' funding. You are funded now, though, right? (at a different uni)

Why were you uncomfortable speaking to your dissertation supervisor?

In the future, it might be wise to consider what you tweet as you have no idea how someone is going to respond to this type of information in a public forum. You don't want to get a reputation as someone who is bitter or indiscreet.

Yes, bewildered, I would tend to agree with you about the competitiveness of academia. I've found it to be the case in other fields too but I'm at least passionate about academia so, for now, it's worth it.

I should clarify my earlier comments about academic friends. To be honest, I have a couple of good academic acquaintances but they live far away and there's only so many times I can send them an email filled with complaining! Also, I at least have my PhD already so I'm reluctant to moan about not having a job when most people I know are still stressed about finishing their degree.

Otherwise, there are lots of my peers about but I find it very difficult to open up to these people for a variety of reasons. Some of them are very competitive and only see you as a 'rival'. I don't have time for people like that. Some are nice but not necessarily interested in making more friends. Unless one of us makes a big effort, meetings are usually quite limited to a quick chat here and there or the occasional coffee. I have a baby too so I can't spend lots of time socialising.

I don't want it to sound like I'm making excuses. This situation is mainly why I'm came online. It's been really helpful just being to express myself here without judgment and also to get some great advice. I will try again though to get in touch with people locally and be more open-minded.

Thanks for this, pm133. Yes, you are right, I'm sure I would be happier if I stopped leaning on others for validation. At the moment, I think I'm finding it particularly difficult as my job applications ask about prizes, publications, etc and that makes me really focus on these sorts of things and feel like I'm constantly playing catch-up.

I think I have been underestimated by people in the past due to my appearance and how I talk (not your typical academic) and even though I feel like I've proved myself, I still carry that sense of inferiority forward. I think that's why I get so emotional about these applications, because, in my mind, it's like the final way of proving myself to anyone who might have doubted me. This comes from past experiences before my PhD too...anyway, thank you for the advice and sorry for using you as a therapist! It's just nice to chat to people who get it.

I do both, depending on how urgent I feel I need to find out! If I need to say the name during a presentation, I'll try to find out beforehand. To be honest, there are lots of non-native English speakers in my field and hear all sorts of mis-pronunciations of names and words and no-one really minds too much. At least I don't mind, I suppose I can't vouch for everyone else!