For Students and Fellows – Overview – Postgraduate

Canada Graduate Scholarships (CGS) and NSERC Postgraduate Scholarships (PGS)

What kind of support do these scholarships provide?

Canada Graduate Scholarships and NSERC Postgraduate Scholarships provide financial support to high-calibre scholars who are engaged in master's or doctoral programs in the natural sciences or engineering. The Canada Graduate Scholarships will be offered to the top-ranked applicants at each level (master’s and doctoral) and the next tier of meritorious applicants will be offered an NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship. This support allows these scholars to fully concentrate on their studies and to seek out the best research mentors in their chosen fields. NSERC encourages interested and qualified Aboriginal students apply.

Since total NSERC scholarship support is limited to a maximum of four years full-time equivalent, scholars are encouraged to complete their studies in an expeditious manner.

Are you eligible for scholarship support?

To be considered eligible for support, as of the application deadline date, you must:

• be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada;
• hold, or expect to hold (at the time you take up the award), a degree in science or engineering from a university whose standing is acceptable to NSERC (if you have a degree in a field other than science or engineering, NSERC may accept your application at its discretion);
• intend to pursue in the following year full-time graduate studies and research at the master's or doctoral level in an eligible program (see Eligibility) in one of the areas of the natural sciences and engineering supported by NSERC; and
• have obtained a first-class average (a grade of "A-") in each of the last two completed years of study, regardless of the number of credits completed. Any exceptions to this requirement must be accompanied by supporting documentation (Appendix 2) that justifies the submission.

You may submit only one application per year to either NSERC or CIHR or SSHRC.

• Please note that you are not eligible to receive scholarship support while you are in a qualifying year of study. NSERC uses the date of degree completion to determine the eligibility of applicants. This is the date on which all the requirements of your degree have been met, including successful defence and submission of the corrected copy of your thesis (in accordance with your university's regulations).

What categories of scholarships are available?

There are four types of scholarships available through the Canada Graduate Scholarships and NSERC Postgraduate Scholarships programs: CGS M, PGS M, CGS D and PGS D.

CGS M and PGS M

These scholarships are for a maximum duration of 12 months.

To be eligible to apply:

• you must have completed, as of December 31 of the year of application, between zero and 12 months of studies (full-time equivalent) in the master’s program for which you are requesting funding; or
• if you were admitted into a doctoral program directly from your bachelor’s program, you must have completed, as of December 31 of the year of application, between zero and 12 months of studies (full-time equivalent) in the doctoral program for which you are requesting funding; and
• you must not hold or have held a CGS M from either CIHR or SSHRC.

In evaluating your eligibility, NSERC will consider all studies counted towards a graduate degree, whether completed at the degree-granting institution or not. NSERC will count two sessions of part-time study as one session of full-time study.

To hold these awards you must:

• be registered full-time in the first or second year of your master's or doctoral program at an eligible university; and
• take up the award in May following the announcement of the results if you have completed 12 months of studies as of December 31 of the year of application.

CGS/PGS M support will not extend beyond the 28th month of your master's program. For information on the PGS M Extension, please refer to the Award Holder’s Guide. Total funding for graduate studies is limited to four years. Therefore, if you hold the PGS M Extension, you will be eligible only for a two-year PGS D or CGS D.

CGS D and PGS D

These programs offer support for a minimum duration of 24 months and a maximum duration of 36 months.

Note: If you entered your doctoral program directly from your bachelor’s degree, and have completed between four and 12 months of studies in the doctoral program, you may be eligible to apply for a PGS M or for a PGS D. Applying for a PGS M, if you are eligible, will maximize your potential period of funding. You are responsible for choosing the type of award for which you apply.

To be eligible to apply:

• you must have completed, as of December 31 of the year of application, between zero and 24 months of studies (full-time equivalent) in the doctoral program for which you are requesting funding; or
• if you were admitted into a doctoral program directly from your bachelor’s program, you must have completed, as of December 31 of the year of application, between four and 36 months of studies (full-time equivalent) in the doctoral program for which you are requesting funding;
• you must not have previously taken up an NSERC PGS B, PGS D, or IPS 2, or a CGS D; and
• you must not hold or have held a CGS D from either CIHR or SSHRC.

In the evaluation of your eligibility, NSERC will consider all studies counted towards a graduate degree, whether completed at the degree-granting institution or not. NSERC will count two sessions of part-time study as one session of full-time study.

If you registered in a master’s degree and subsequently transferred to a doctoral degree, the months in the doctoral degree will be calculated starting from the first academic session in which you were officially registered in your Ph.D. program.

You will be eligible for only a two-year CGS/PGS D, if:

• you previously held a two-year PGS A or IPS 1;
• you previously held a one-year CGS M or PGS M plus a PGS M Extension; or
• you have completed more than the full-time equivalent of 12 months of your doctoral program (24 months if you were admitted to the doctoral program directly from your bachelor’s program) as of December 31 of the year that you apply for the CGS/PGS D.

To hold these awards, you must:

• be registered full time in the first, second, third, or fourth year of a doctoral program at an eligible university;
• be registered full-time in the second, third, fourth, or fifth year of a doctoral program at an eligible university if you were admitted to the Ph.D. directly from your bachelor’s program; and
• take up the award in May following the announcement of the results if, as of December 31 of the year of application, you completed 24 months of studies in the program for which support was requested (36 months if you were admitted to the doctoral program directly from your bachelor’s program).

CGS/PGS D support will not extend beyond the 52nd month of your doctoral program (64th month if you were admitted to the doctoral program directly from your bachelor’s program).

Maximum total duration of scholarship support

Scholarship support for graduate studies through NSERC is limited to a lifetime maximum of four years full-time equivalent. NSERC will include any graduate-level support offered by SSHRC and CIHR, and taken up, in the calculation of available support.

This may include up to 24 months of support, per eligible natural sciences and engineering (NSE) degree program, through any combination of:

• IPS 1 for up to 24 months;
• CGS M for up to 12 months;
• PGS M for up to 12 months;
• PGS A for up to 24 months; and
• PGS M Extension for up to 12 months;

and, up to 36 months of support through any combination of:

• IPS 2 for up to 36 months;
• CGS D for up to 36 months;
• PGS D for up to 36 months; and
• PGS B for up to 24 months.

Any time spent in graduate studies in overlapping fields (as explained in the eligibility criteria) that you have completed at the time you submit your NSERC application will usually be counted in determining eligibility. This will be the case even if another federal granting agency supported you during this period of study.

Can you hold your CGS/PGS award part-time?

Canada Graduate Scholarships and NSERC Postgraduate Scholarships are also available to those who are restricted to part-time studies for reasons of disability or family responsibility.

For eligible part-time students, the stipend will be the equivalent of a full-time award spread over a longer period of time. All other CGS/PGS regulations will apply.

How do you apply for a scholarship?

To apply for these scholarships, you must complete Form 200, Application for an NSERC Scholarship or Fellowship. Read the instructions on how to complete Form 200.

There is a single application and selection process for the Canada Graduate Scholarships and the NSERC Postgraduate Scholarships. The top-ranked applicants at each level, master’s and doctoral, will be offered a Canada Graduate Scholarship and the next tier of meritorious applicants will be offered an NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship.

How you apply depends on your status at the application deadline date and/or your registration status in the year of application – you must apply either through a Canadian university or directly to NSERC.

The table below presents various possibilities, then shows you where to submit your application; this table does not, however, display all the possibilities. If you are unsure about how you should apply, contact NSERC (schol@nserc.ca).

Application deadlines

There are three different application deadlines to keep in mind.

Department deadline

If you are applying through your university, there is an internal deadline that your department sets for receiving applications. It is the earliest of the deadlines since the department must review applications before passing them along.

If you are applying directly to NSERC, remember that the department of your current or former university must still complete part of the application (Appendix 2), so you must meet the departmental deadline.

University deadline

The next deadline is the date when the university Faculty (School) of Graduate Studies must receive your application. The university will review all applications received from the departments, rank them, and then send recommended applications to NSERC. For more information about departmental and university application deadlines, contact your current or former department or the Faculty (School) of Graduate Studies.

NSERC deadline

• NSERC must receive all applications from Canadian universities by November 25 of each year.
• If you are applying directly to NSERC, your application must be received at NSERC by October 15.

Late applications will be rejected. Incomplete applications may be rejected or at a disadvantage in the selection process.

Review procedures

University review

The NSERC scholarship liaison officer at each Canadian university is responsible for coordinating the university review of Canada Graduate Scholarship and NSERC scholarship applications. The university review committee ranks each master's and doctoral scholarship application within one of the following eight broad discipline categories:

• Engineering
• Electrical engineering and computing sciences
• Mathematical sciences
• Physics and astronomy
• Chemistry
• Earth sciences and ecology
• Cellular and molecular biology
• Life sciences and psychology

The university then submits to NSERC lists of the ranked applicants it recommends for a scholarship. Each university is assigned an overall quota of scholarship applications that it may forward to NSERC. It is up to each university to decide how it will distribute the quota (i) between master's and doctoral scholarship applicants; and (ii) among the eight categories listed above.

NSERC review

NSERC scholarships and fellowships selection committees review all applications they receive (whether sent directly to NSERC or through the university review process). The committees recommend scholarships for the applicants they consider to have the best qualifications, according to the selection criteria described in the following section and within the limit of available awards.

Selection criteria

CGS/PGS applicants are evaluated and selected according to the criteria in the following categories:

• Academic excellence
• Academic record
• Scholarships and awards held
• Duration of previous studies
• Research ability or potential
• Quality of contributions to research and development
• Relevance of work experience and academic training to field of proposed research
• Significance, feasibility, and merit of proposed research, and justification for location of tenure
• Ability to think critically
• Ability to apply skills and knowledge
• Judgement
• Originality
• Initiative and autonomy
• Enthusiasm for research
• Determination and ability to complete projects within an appropriate period of time
• Communication, interpersonal and leadership abilities
• The ability or potential to communicate scientific concepts clearly and logically in written and oral formats. For example, this could include:
• quality of the application's presentation;
• participation in preparing publications; and
• awards for oral presentations or papers.
• Professional and relevant extracurricular interactions and collaborations. For example, this could include:
• mentoring;
• teaching;
• supervisory experience;
• project management;
• chairing committees;
• organizing conferences and meetings; and
• elected positions held.

Julie Payette-NSERC Research Scholarships

Julie Payette-NSERC Research Scholarships are the most prestigious Postgraduate Scholarships offered to 24 of the top-ranked PGS/CGS M candidates. Winners must not only display a first-class academic average, but should also demonstrate outstanding research ability and potential, excellent leadership skills, and a broad range of outside interests. These awards are selected during the course of the regular Scholarships and Fellowships competition and are distributed proportionally to the number of applicants reviewed by the eight discipline-based committees.

NSERC André Hamer Postgraduate Prizes

NSERC André Hamer Postgraduate Prizes are offered to two outstanding CGS recipients, one at the master’s and one at the doctoral level. These prizes are presented to these two awardees in addition to their existing CGS and recipients are selected from the pool of the top CGS applicants who intend on conducting their research at a Canadian university.

Notification of decision

NSERC announces all scholarships in late March and notifies applicants whose applications were submitted to NSERC of the results by mail. NSERC will not provide results by telephone or e-mail. You can also get the results from the Faculty (School) of Graduate Studies at your university.

NSERC will publish the names (and other basic award information) of scholarship recipients on its Web site. For more information, refer to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act.

Conditions of the award

Please refer to the appropriate Award Holder's Guide for regulations about holding the award, such as the acceptance, start date, deferment, paid parental leave, holding the award on a part-time basis, etc.

Where can you hold your scholarship?

Canada Graduate Scholarships

Without exception, these awards are tenable only at eligible Canadian universities.

NSERC Postgraduate Scholarships

1. In Canada

NSERC usually awards postgraduate scholarships to students for tenure at Canadian universities.

2. Outside Canada

Each year, NSERC approves a limited number of PGS awards on a competitive basis for tenure at universities outside Canada. The selection committees will rate the relative merit of each justification based on:

1. the need to pursue graduate studies abroad due to the unavailability of a suitable program of research or the required facilities at a Canadian university (the availability of the program will be considered, not simply whether the specific thesis project can be carried out in Canada); and
2. the benefits to the applicant of studying abroad (e.g., unique opportunity to train in a world-class laboratory) and the relative excellence of the applicant in relation to competing applicants.

Justifications based on program unavailability, as described in (i) above, will be given priority. Preference is given to doctoral-level applicants.

NSERC will consider a request for tenure abroad only if you submit certain supporting documents (see the instructions on Form 200) at the time of application.

If you have permanent resident status in Canada, you may request to hold your award abroad only if you have received a degree in science or engineering from a Canadian university.

Applicants already studying at a foreign university at the time of application will not be considered more favourably for foreign tenure on this basis alone.

If NSERC does not approve your request for tenure abroad, but considers you deserving of a scholarship, it will offer you either a CGS or PGS, depending on your ranking, tenable in Canada.

If NSERC has awarded you a scholarship for tenure in Canada, the scholarship cannot subsequently be approved for tenure abroad.