VANIER CANADA GRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP (VANIER CGS) PROGRAM

Citizenship:

1. Canadian citizens
2. Permanent residents of Canada
3. Foreign citizens. ​​​​​​​To be considered for a Vanier CGS, you must:
4. Be nominated by only one Canadian institution, which must have received a Vanier CGS quota.
5. Be pursuing your first doctoral degree (including joint program such as MD/PhD, DVM/PhD, or JD/PhD, MBA/PhD - if it has a demonstrated and significant research component).
6. 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/PhD, DVM/PhD, JD/PhD, MBA/PhD) studies and research at the nominating institution; For joint graduate research programs, only the PhD portion of the program is eligible for funding.
7. Have completed no more than 20 months of full-time study in your doctoral program.
8. The doctoral program would begin after the completion of a master's degree. The months of study completed are calculated from the doctoral enrolment date.
9. Have completed no more than 32 months of full-time study in your doctoral program (i.e., joint graduate research program, directly from bachelor's, previously enrolled without obtaining master's degree, transferring or withdrew from program).
10. Enrolled in a joint graduate research program, e.g., MD/PhD, MA/PhD, MS/PhD, DVM/PhD. Applicants in this category have access to the 32-month window whether or not they were previously enrolled in a master's program:
11. The months of study are calculated starting from the date on which an applicant is officially registered in the joint graduate program. (For MA/PhD or MS/PhD, this will be the master's registration date).
12. Enrolled directly from a bachelor's to a PhD program (without having been previously enrolled in another graduate program);
13. The months of study completed are calculated from the doctoral enrolment date.
14. Previously enrolled in a master's program without obtaining the degree, transferring or withdrawing from the program and subsequently starting a doctoral program.
15. The months of study completed are calculated from the original master's enrolment date.
16. 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; and Note: Institutions may, at their discretion, accept Vanier CGS applications from individuals who have not obtained a first-class average; contact your proposed host institutions to determine their use of this eligibility criterion. ​​​​​​​Eligibility of program of study
17. An eligible doctoral program must include a significant research component that leads to the completion of a thesis, major research project, dissertation, scholarly publication, performance, recital and/or exhibit that is merit/expert-reviewed at the institutional level as requirement for a completion of the program.
18. Joint graduate research programs with a professional degree (e.g., MD/PhD, DVM/PhD, JD/PhD, MBA/PhD) as well as clinically-oriented programs of study, including clinical psychology, are eligible programs if they have a significant autonomous research component, as described above.

Nominations are evaluated and selected based on the following three criteria, weighted equally:

1. Academic Excellence The candidate's academic history and their demonstrated excellence in academic achievement throughout the course of their scholarly career. Members should consider the entire academic record when assessing academic excellence. Members should favorably consider situations where an applicant has demonstrated an improving trend or provided an appropriate explanation for their academic record in the Special Circumstance document of the application.
2. Research Potential Demonstrated by the candidate's research history, his/her interest indiscovery, the proposed research and its potential contribution to theadvancement of knowledge in the field, and any anticipated outcomes. Reviewers should consider the sphere of influence of candidates relative to others along the following continuum of expanding impact:
3. Research program
4. University
5. Research community
6. International research community
7. Society at large ​​​​​​​Consideration should be given to the candidate's standards of research productivity, etc. for their level of experience/qualifications relative to their personal circumstances (applicant's stage of study, lived experience and knowledge systems).
8. Leadership (Potential and Demonstrated Ability) Given the prestige of the Vanier CGS program, this is an important criterion that has to be assessed in an indirect manner, since there is no opportunity for the selection committee to interview candidates. When assessing the leadership criterion, consider how the nominee has gone above and beyond the expected norms to overcome obstacles, foster others, spearhead change, or otherwise demonstrate Leadership. Weigh achievements according to the opportunities presented (lack of opportunities due to socio-economic status, culturally different academic settings for students with foreign academic backgrounds, etc.). Note: consider that for foreign candidates, these opportunities may not always present themselves due to culturally different academic settings. Other Info Part-time studies ​​​​​​​A Vanier CGS may be held by students who are registered part-time due to disability, parental or medical reasons, or family and community-related responsibilities. Requests which fall outside these areas will be reviewed by the agencies on a case-by-case basis. For eligible part-time students, the Vanier CGS will be equivalent to full-time funding spread over a longer period of time. Multiple applications Eligible candidates may apply to both the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships program and other agency-specific doctoral-level scholarship/fellowships programs (whether to the same or a different federal granting agency) in the same academic year, provided that the research proposed in each application falls within the mandate of the federal granting agency to which the application is submitted. For more information.