Objective
The objective of the Canada Graduate Scholarships-Master’s (CGS M) Program is to help develop research skills and assist in the training of highly qualified personnel by supporting students who demonstrate a high standard of achievement in undergraduate and early graduate studies.
Description
The CGS M Program provides financial support to high-calibre scholars who are engaged in eligible master’s or, in some cases, doctoral programs in Canada (refer toEligibility). This support allows these scholars to fully concentrate on their studies in their chosen fields.
The CGS M Program supports up to 2,500 students annually in all disciplines and is administered jointly by Canada’s three federal granting agencies: CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC. The selection process and post-award administration are carried out at the institutional level, under the guidance of the three agencies. Students submit their application to the institution at which they intend to hold their award using the Research Portal.
Eligible Canadian institutions receive a CGS M allocation indicating the number of students to whom they can offer scholarships; these allocations are divided by broad fields of study: health, natural sciences and/or engineering, and social sciences and/or humanities.
Eligibility
Applicant
To be eligible to apply, you must:
- be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada;
- be enrolled in, have applied for, or will apply for full-time admission* to aneligible graduate program at the master’s or doctoral level at a Canadian institution with a CGS M allocation. Note: Applicants who are not currently enrolled in their intended graduate program must submit an application for admission by the deadline for their intended graduate program or by March 15, whichever comes first;
- have completed, as of December 31 of the year of application, between zero and 12 months of full-time studies (or full-time equivalent) in:
- the master’s program for which you are requesting funding; or
- the direct-entry doctoral program for which you are requesting funding; or
- the combined master’s-doctoral program for which you are requesting funding; or
- a master’s program that was or will be fast-tracked to a doctoral program, and you are requesting funding for the first 12 months of this doctoral program; and
- not have previously held a CGS M;
- have achieved a first-class average, as determined by the host institution, in each of the last two completed years of study (full-time equivalent); and
- submit a maximum of one scholarship application per academic year to either CIHR, NSERC or SSHRC (the Research Portal will allow the application to be submitted to up to five institutions – refer to Application Procedures).
Applicants are not eligible to receive or accept a CGS M offer from an institution where they are not currently enrolled in, nor have applied for admission to, an eligible program of study.
Program of Study Eligibility
An eligible graduate program must have a significant research component. A significant research component is considered to be original, autonomous research 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. Master’s programs that are based only on course work are typically not eligible since they do not include a significant research component. Given the specific requirements of certain disciplines, institutions are invited to contact the appropriate agency for guidance on the eligibility of programs of study.
Non-traditional Programs of Study
Joint programs with a professional degree (e.g., MD/PhD, DVM/PhD, JD/MA, JD/PhD, MBA/PhD, MA/MBA) are eligible if they have a demonstrated and significant research component as described above.
Clinically-oriented programs of study, including clinical psychology are also eligible programs if they have a demonstrated and significant research component as described above.
Field of Research and Subject Matter Eligibility
CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC support and promote high-quality research in a wide variety of disciplines and areas, which are divided into broad fields of research (health, natural sciences and/or engineering, and social sciences and/or humanities). This includes research that bridges two or more disciplines or that requires the skills of several disciplines.
Applicants must ensure that they are submitting their application to an institution that has an allocation for the field of research they intend to pursue. Applications deemed by a host institution to have been labeled incorrectly will be re-labeled according to the agency’s research subject matter guidelines. Applicants should contact the Faculty of Graduate Studies (or its equivalent) at the institution where they intend to hold the award for further guidance on subject matter eligibility.
Application Procedures
Application Deadlines
The program description has information concerning application deadlines. However, in preparing to meet these deadlines, the following points may affect timing of applications and should be taken into account:
- If you select Health as your Field of Research, you must provide a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Personal Identification Number (PIN). It takes up to one full working day to process your CIHR PIN request.
- If you are contacting former institutions to obtain official transcripts and supporting documents, remember that it may take time for them to provide you with the information requested.
- It is advisable to plan ahead as submission delays may occur due to a high volume of users on the Research Portal which may prevent the timely submission of your application. Allow enough time for your reference assessments and your application to be completed in advance of the application deadline. It is your responsibility to follow up with your references.
- The Research Portal will not permit the submission of incomplete applications. Refer to Completing the Application.
- Requests to submit late applications after the deadline date will not be accepted under any circumstances.
- No changes or updates can be made to an application once it has been submitted. Personal contact information may be updated through your Research Portal account. The status of your application can be verified by logging into the Research Portal.
Presentation Standards
In each section of the Research Portal application, you will find instructions and tips on how to complete your application. All documents uploaded as attachments must be in Portable Document Format (PDF) and must conform to the following presentation standards. See also Transcripts (Attachment) for related presentation standards.
- Text must be single-spaced, with no more than six lines per inch.
- The acceptable font is Times New Roman (regular, minimum 12-pt.) or a comparable font.
- Condensed type is not acceptable.
- Set margins at a minimum of 2 cm (3/4 of an inch) all around.
- Use a left-justified, standard page layout.
- Include your name in the page header on every page.
- For multipage attachments, number the pages sequentially.
- The maximum number of pages permitted is indicated in each section of the application.
- In addition, if you have transcripts or related documentation written in a language other than English or French, you must provide a certified English or French translation.
Applications that do not meet presentation standards may be deemed ineligible, or be at a disadvantage, in comparison with those that respect the presentation standards. Pages in excess of the number permitted will not be assessed by the selection committee.
Although this list is not exclusive, the following examples of software can be used to convert the required attachments into PDF files:
- Adobe Acrobat Pro
- PDF Creator
- Word (for example, the Outline of Proposed Research document can be saved as a .pdf extension)
It is also important to note that some web browsers may not be compatible with the Research Portal. In the event that you or your references experience technical challenges while completing any portion of the application, ensure that you are using the most recent version of your web browser or try testing the use of a different one. For more information on web browsers supported by the Research Portal, contact the Helpdesk or complete an On-line Services Support Request.
Collection and Use of Personal Information
All personal information collected as part of this program is used by the agencies and by the relevant officials in the eligible institutions to review applications and to administer and monitor awards. It may also be used to determine the most appropriate funding jurisdiction, or to monitor overlap in federal support. Details on the use and disclosure of this information by the agencies are described by CIHR in Info Source, by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) in the Use and Disclosure of Personal Information Provided to NSERC, by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) in the Protection and Disclosure of Personal Information: Fellowships and Scholarships, and in the relevant program literature.
Each agency may publish the names and other limited award information of scholarship award holders on their websites in accordance with the agencies' policies on disclosure under the Access to Information Act and their Privacy Act policies and guidelines related to the collection, use, retention and disposal of personal information. For more information, consult the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. In addition, for SSHRC funded scholarships, SSHRC will provide to the Fonds de recherche du Québec-Société et culture (FRQSC) the same information as the one above in advance of the public announcement of awards, for its administrative purposes and in accordance with the memorandum of understanding between SSHRC and FRQSC.
Selection Process
The Faculty of Graduate Studies (or its equivalent) at each Canadian institution is responsible for coordinating the selection process for the CGS M applications, and for communicating the results to the applicants and agencies. The institution selection committees evaluate each CGS M application. Institutions could have more than one selection committee.
Notification of Results
Institutions will establish a list of applicants to whom awards will be offered as of April 1. The offers of awards will be made using the Research Portal, where applicants will have 21 days to accept or decline the offers. Should some of the offers be declined, institutions may make subsequent offers until they have no awards remaining. These subsequent offers must be made no later than January 31, 11:59 p.m. (ET) of the following calendar year. If the deadline for offers of awards falls on a weekend, offers must be made by the following business day before 11:59 p.m. (ET).
It is the responsibility of the applicant to regularly verify the Research Portal as of April 1 for results of the competition.
Recipients of offers of awards must accept them using the Research Portal within 21 days of the date of the award offer by a host institution. The status of offers not accepted within that period of time will automatically be set to Declined on the Research Portal, and the offer will be considered cancelled. This change in status is irreversible.
Applicants may accept only one CGS M offer. If they accept an offer, any other potential or actual offers (if applicable) will be declined automatically by the Research Portal, and they will not be eligible to receive further offers.
For more information click "Further official information" below.
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Students-Etudiants/PG-CS/CGSM-BESCM_eng.asp#contact