2013 – 2014 Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship for International Students

Applications are now open for the 2013 – 2014 Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Vanier CGS), which was created to attract and retain world-class doctoral students and to establish Canada as a global centre of excellence in research and higher learning. The Vanier CGS is open to both Canadian and international PhD students studying at Canadian universities.
Worth of Scholarship: $50,000 per year for three years
Eligibility for Nomination
To be considered for a Vanier CGS, you must:

• be nominated by only one Canadian university, which must have received a Vanier CGS allocation;
• be seeking financial support to pursue your first doctoral degree (or combined MA/PhD or MD/PhD). Note that only the PhD 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 combined MA/PhD or MD/PhD) studies and research at the nominating university; Note that only the PhD portion of a combined degree is eligible for funding;
• have completed no more than 20 months of doctoral studies as of May 1, 2013 (see Calculating Months of Doctoral Studies below);
• have achieved a first-class average, as determined by your university, in each of the last two years of full-time study or equivalent. Applicants are encouraged to contact the university for its definition of a first-class average; and
• not have already received a doctoral-level scholarship or fellowship from CIHR, NSERC or SSHRC to undertake or complete a doctoral degree.
• Both Canadian and international students are eligible to be nominated for a Vanier CGS.

Note: In an effort to support students in broadening their research horizons and seeking new challenges, the Vanier CGS program strongly encourages candidates to pursue their studies beyond the university that granted their undergraduate and graduate degrees.
Eligibility to Hold an Award
To hold the award, the candidate must:

• be registered as a full-time student at the nominating Canadian institution, and be pursuing a doctoral degree (or combined MA/PhD or MD/PhD); and
• remain enrolled and demonstrate continued satisfactory progress in their doctoral program.

2013 Vanier CGS Competition Process

• Applications are initiated in one of two ways. Either:
  1. the candidate informs the faculty of graduate studies at the selected university of their intent to apply to the Vanier CGS competition; or
  2. the university initiates the nomination process by contacting the candidate.
• Applications are prepared by the candidate and submitted to the university by the nominating university’s internal deadline (set in ResearchNet by the nominating university) using the ResearchNet application system.
• The nominating university performs its internal candidate-selection process.
• The nominating university forwards recommended nominations to the appropriate federal granting agencies by November 6, 2012 (8:00 p.m. Eastern Time).
• The granting agencies perform their selection process.
• The granting agencies present their recommendations to the Vanier-Banting Board.
• The Vanier-Banting Board endorses the recommended nominees.
• The Steering Committee makes the final decisions for funding based on the recommendations for Vanier CGS awards.
• Successful candidates are notified of the competition results in April 2013.

Important notes:

• Students wishing to apply for a Vanier CGS should verify that the university to which they are applying for doctoral studies has a Vanier CGS allocation (see link below for universities with allocation). They must then inform the university that they wish to be considered for a Vanier CGS.
• Once they have completed the Vanier CGS electronic application through ResearchNet, students must submit their application online to the Canadian university that will be putting forward their nomination. Applications submitted by candidates directly to one of the granting agencies, instead of through a Canadian university, will not be considered.
• Only one university can submit a nomination for an individual student to an agency. If more than one university is interested in nominating an individual student for an award, the student must choose the university that will submit their nomination. Multiple nominations will not be accepted.
• Based on its allocation, the university will forward its nominations (including the electronic application and the university’s nomination letter) to the appropriate granting agency.
• The university is responsible for notifying candidates if their application is not forwarded to one of the agencies.
• Applicants are responsible for contacting the university at which they intend to study for information about selecting the appropriate granting agency, finding the appropriate contact person within a department/faculty, and for advice on questions related to content and how best to present the information in their application.

Program timeline

• As early as possible in the calendar year: International students contact a Canadian university with a Vanier CGS program quota, expressing interest in applying for a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship at that university.
• September: Canadian university classes resume after summer vacation.
• September/October: Eligible students submit the Vanier CGS program application, including supporting documents, to the university; the university nomination process takes place.
• November: Official Vanier CGS program nominations deadline; universities submit nominations to federal granting agencies for the final selection process.
• April to June of the following year: Announcement of Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship recipients.
• May or September (following announcement of competition results), or January of the following year: Tenure of the award may begin.

If you have any questions about applying for the Vanier CGS 2013, please email:  info@vanier.gc.ca; Tel.: 1-613-941-4644
For more information about the scholarship, click here
For a list of universities with Vanier CGS allocation quota for 2013, click here
To start your online application, click here