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Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship Program

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Scholarship Overview

  • The Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Vanier CGS) was launched in 2008 by the Government of Canada to strengthen Canada’s ability to attract and retain world-class doctoral students and establish Canada as a global center of excellence in research and higher learning.
  • Vanier Scholars display a high standard of academic achievement in graduate studies, as well as leadership skills.

Host School(s)

  • Any Canadian Institution that has a Vanier CGS quota

Field(s) of Study

  • Doctoral studies in social sciences and humanities, natural sciences and/or engineering and health

What does the scholarship cover?

  • $50,000 per year

How many scholarships are given?

  • Up to 166 scholarships are awarded every year.

Which countries are targeted?

  • Canadian citizens, permanent residents of Canada, and foreign citizens

Am I Eligible to Apply?

To qualify for this scholarship, you must:

  • Be nominated by only one Canadian institution. This institution should have received a Vanier CGS quota
  • Be pursuing your first doctoral degree (including a joint graduate research program such as MD/Ph.D., DVM/Ph.D., and JD/Ph.D. – if it has a demonstrated and significant research component). Note that only the Ph.D. portion of a combined degree is eligible for funding
  • Intend to pursue, in the summer semester or the academic year following the announcement of results, full-time doctoral (or a joint graduate research program such as MD/Ph.D., DVM/Ph.D., JD/Ph.D.) studies and research at the nominating institution. For the joint graduate research program, only the Ph.D. portion is eligible for funding.
  • Have completed no more than 20 months of full-time study in your doctoral program as of May 1, 2022
  • Have completed no more than 32 months of full-time study in your doctoral program, by May 1st, 2022 if enrolled in a joint graduate research program, e.g., MD/Ph.D., MA/Ph.D., DVM/Ph.D. Applicants that fall into this category have access to the 32-month window whether or not they were previously enrolled in a Master’s program; or
  • Have completed no more than 32 months of full-time study in their doctoral program by May 1, 2022, if accelerated directly from a Bachelor’s to a Ph.D. (no time spent in a Master’s program); or
  • Have completed no more than 32 months of full-time study in their doctoral program by May 1, 2022, if accelerated from a Master’s degree into a Doctoral program without obtaining the Master’s degree.
  • Have achieved a first-class average, as determined by your institution, in each of the last two years of full-time study or equivalent. (Candidates are encouraged to contact the institution for its definition of a first-class average.)
  • Must not hold, or have held, a doctoral-level scholarship or fellowship from Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), or Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to undertake or complete a doctoral program.

How Do I Apply – Next Steps

  • To apply for a Vanier CGS, you must apply through the Canadian institution to which you are applying for doctoral studies. Based on their quotas, Canadian institutions will forward a limited number of nominations to the Vanier CGS program.
  • Those wishing to apply for a Vanier CGS should verify that the institution to which they are applying for doctoral studies has a Vanier CGS quota. They must then inform the institution that they wish to be considered for a Vanier CGS.
  • Candidates can only be nominated by the institution at which they want to study. Candidates cannot apply directly to the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Vanier CGS) program. (Vanier CGS application packages submitted through ResearchNet will first be submitted to the Canadian institution that will be putting forward their nomination.)
  • You should verify institutional internal deadlines with the administrator at the nominating institution.
  • You must also read the Selection Committee Guide before starting the application process. This guide lists the three evaluation criteria and has useful information on how these criteria are evaluated.

NOTE:

  • Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships selection committees are multidisciplinary, and applications should therefore be written with a non-specialist research audience in mind.
  • To be considered eligible for funding, you must attain an average score of at least 3.1 in each of the three criteria.

Selection Criteria

  1. Academic Excellence
  2. Research Potential
  3. Leadership (Potential and Demonstrated Ability)

Closing Date

  • November 2, 2021.

How do I get more information?

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