Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Vanier CGS)
The Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Vanier CGS) is a scholarship program aimed at attracting and retaining world-class doctoral students and establishing Canada as a global centre of excellence in research and higher learning. The scholarship is awarded towards a doctoral degree (or combined MA/PhD or MD/PhD) in health research; natural sciences and/or engineering research; and social sciences and/or humanities research. The scholarship is worth $50,000 per year for three years. Up to 166 scholarships are awarded annually.
The scholarship is open to Canadian citizens, permanent residents of Canada and foreign citizens who are nominated by only one Canadian institution, which must have received a Vanier CGS quota. 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 a requirement for completion of the program.
Joint graduate research programs with a professional degree (e.g., MD/PhD, DVM/PhD, JD/PhD) as well as clinically-oriented programs of study, including clinical psychology, are also eligible programs if they have a significant autonomous research component. However, note that only the PhD portion of a combined degree is eligible for funding.
To be considered for a Vanier CGS, candidates must have completed no more than 20 months of doctoral studies as of 1 May 2024. Additionally, candidates must have completed no more than 32 months of full-time study in their doctoral program by 1 May 2024 if they are enrolled in a joint graduate research program or if they accelerated directly from a Bachelor’s to a PhD (no time spent in a Master’s program) or if they accelerated from a Master’s degree into a Doctoral program without obtaining the Master’s degree.
Candidates must have achieved a first-class average, as determined by their 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. Candidates must not hold, or have held, a doctoral-level scholarship or fellowship from CIHR, NSERC or SSHRC to undertake or complete a doctoral degree.
Applications are initiated in one of two ways. Either the student informs the faculty of graduate studies at the selected institution of their intent to apply to the Vanier CGS program or the institution initiates the nomination process by contacting the desired candidate. Applications are prepared by the student and submitted to the nominating institution by their internal deadline using the ResearchNet application system. The nominating institution then forwards recommended nominations to the Vanier-Banting Secretariat (the Secretariat) by 1 November 2023.
It is important to visit the official scholarship website to access the application form and to know the complete details on how to apply for this scholarship.