External Scholarships

Financial support from the three federal (tri-council) agencies is substantially greater than can be offered by the Department. Canadian citizens or landed immigrants may apply to these federal agencies: (1) Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), (2) Canadian Institutes of Health Sciences (CIHR), or (3) Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). The nature of your research will determine which of the Tri-Council scholarships you should apply to (some guidelines can be found here).

Ontario residents are considered for the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) program; students who apply for one of the tri-council scholarships are automatically entered into the SGS central competition for OGS. Details of these and other assistance programs are available from the McMaster University School of Graduate Studies scholarship page.

ALL graduate students, if eligible, are required to apply for external scholarships. The season for submitting most scholarship applications is late summer into the fall term. This page summarizes the call for applications for the federal tri-council scholarships, and provides internal and external deadlines as they become available from the SGS Scholarships Office.

General Preparation

• Carefully read the application instructions associated with the fellowship you will be applying for because each agency has different processes. The School of Graduate Studies (SGS) Scholarships Office sends instructions as soon as details become available from the government agencies.
• Check the SGS awards-funding website for updates/changes in scholarship availability, application deadlines, etc.

Prepare a timeline:

• You are required to obtain all OFFICIAL transcripts (from all undergraduate and graduate academic institutions) when you apply. This can take time so plan ahead.
• You will need to request reference letters. Plan ahead and request letters as early as possible. Your letter writers may be writing letters for many students - it will work in your favour to be prepared.

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

• be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada,
• have obtained a first-class average (minimum grade of “A-“) in each of the last two completed years of study (or full-time equivalent).

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

• intend to pursue, in the following year, full-time graduate studies and research at the doctoral level in an eligible program (see Eligibility Criteria on each site), and

CIHR Doctoral

The School of Graduate Studies has provided information regarding the Fall 2018 CIHR Doctoral Research Award Competition. There are 2 documents: the Fall 2018 CIHR Doctoral Research Award Competition PDF and the Graduate Studies Approval Form PDF.

Key Dates (see documents for details):

• Friday, September 21, 2018, 12:00 noon: McMaster Internal ResearchNet deadline for students to submit applications
• Wednesday, September 19, 2018, 12:00 noon: Deadline for Sponsor Assessments to be submitted to ResearchNet
• Friday, September 21, 2018: Deadline for Graduate Studies Approval Form-CIHR Doctoral (PDF) (attached)
• Tuesday, October 2, 2018: Final Submission Date: McMaster will submit all approved applications to CIHR by this date.

If you have any questions about the Fall 2018 CIHR Doctoral Research Award Competition, please do not hesitate to e-mail the School of Graduate Studies.

You apply through the CIHR website and upload your own transcripts. Please let Nancy Riddell know if you've applied. Nancy does not need a hard copy.

NSERC Doctoral

(instructions attached) PNB Deadline: Thursday, September 28, 2017 SGS Deadline: Thursday, October 4, 2017 Application is completed on the on-line system and Nancy uploads your transcripts. Nancy does not need a hard copy. http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Students-Etudiants/PG-CS/BellandPostgrad-BelletSuperieures_eng.asp

SSHRC Doctoral

(instructions attached) PNB Deadline: Thursday, October 26, 2017 SGS Deadline: Thursday November 2, 2017 You complete an on-line application through MOSAIC and then complete another application through the SSHRC website. Please provide Nancy with a hard copy of your application, as it needs to be submitted to the School of Graduate Studies as well. http://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/funding-financement/programs-programmes/fellowships/doctoral-doctorat-eng.aspx

Tri-Council Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS-M) Masters

SGS Deadline: Friday, December 1, 2017 http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Students-Etudiants/PG-CS/CGSM-BESCM_eng.asp

Start preparing early and good luck!