Funding and Awards

This entrance award, valued at $5000, is open to prospective female full-time doctoral students (Canadian citizen, permanent resident or student on study permit). Awardees must have first class academic standing, as well as an outstanding record of research accomplishments and/or references citing significant future potential in research. Students will be nominated by their proposed supervisor and/or the Associate Chair, Graduate Studies.

Additional details are available on the Graduate Studies website.

Effective May 1, 2026, this award is being replaced with the Provost's Distinguished Inclusivity Doctoral Entrance Awarde (PD-IDSA).

This was awarded to the best MSc and PhD presentation at the annual Biology Graduate Student Symposium.  In 2022 the Department switched to a bi-weekly format.

Recipients

• 2021 Evan Balzer, Ellen Cameron
• 2020 Symposium cancelled due to COVID-19
• 2019 Alicia Dubinski, Parisa Mirzapour (Vision Science), Jody Daniel, Jackson Tsuji
• 2018 Casey Remmer, Shawna Semple, Wynona Klemt, Eric Le Dreff-Kerwin
• 2017 Sarah Poynter, Ashley Ross

 Past recipients

This fund is made possible by a donation from the J. Frank Brookfield Trust to support exceptional students studying zoology. The scholarship will be awarded annually to a graduate student registered full time in a master's or doctoral program who is conducting research in zoology. Selection is based on academic achievement over the last two full-time academic years. The Department of Biology will identify and select a recipient annually.

Recipients

• 2025 Lauren Weeks
• 2024 Yubing Chen
• 2023 Ryan Leys
• 2022 Karyn Robichaud
• 2021 Alexander Douglas, Mehdi Moslemi Aqdam

This award was established by colleagues and former graduate students of Professor Erwin B. Dumbroff in recognition of his contribution to plant science research and his training of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. As a plant physiologist, he researched how plants cope with environmental stress, among other related interests. As a teacher, he developed one of the first courses in the biochemistry of natural products to be offered anywhere. The award will be given to a graduate student for research excellence in any aspect of plant science and will consist of a monetary amount and other forms of recognition, if appropriate. It will be awarded annually or less frequently (if there are no suitable candidates) as deemed appropriate by the Department of Biology Scholarship Committee. A nomination letter from the student's supervisor(s) should outline the outstanding nature of the research including descriptions of their research contributions. This letter is due by the second Friday in March to the Biology Graduate Office.

Recipients

• 2025 Mohammad Moradi
• 2024 Hanna Hickey
• 2023 Sabina Henry
• 2022 Nilanth Yogadasan
• 2021 Alyssa Overton

Past recipients

A scholarship valued at $2,000 will be awarded annually to a full-time graduate student enrolled in the department of Biology in the Faculty of Science, working in the area of ecology.  Preference will be given to students who do not hold another major award.  This fund is made possible by the family and friends of Dr. Noel Hynes, first permanent Chair of the Department of Biology.

Science and Art meet more often than we might think, and they can overlap in the most unexpected moments/ways, while graduate students carry out their research. This award is a means to celebrate the melding of science and art as students pursue their research projects. Nominations will be adjudicated by the Biology Graduate Studies Committee and the award will be presented at the Annual Biology Awards Ceremony. Acceptance of the award will be taken as giving us permission to use the image (with attribution) on the Biology website, social media, etc, and where feasible, other public relations materials.

Recipients:

2024 - Liahm Ruest (Roony Lab) - Stormwater Management Faciltiy #64

2025 - Hannah Thibault (Craig/Swanson Lab) - Kugluk/Bloody Falls: A cascade faced by migratory chars of the Coppermine River, near Kugluktuk, Nunavut

This scholarship is awarded to a Department of Biology graduate student based on academic achievement over the last two full-time academic years and interest in the biology and/or management of freshwater and/or diadromous fishes in Canada. Students are nominated by the Department.

Recipients

• 2025 Valentina Wong Benito
• 2024 Sana Gavarikar
• 2023 Jessica Turecek
• 2022 Mehdi Moslemi Aqdam
• 2021 Nathanael Harper
• 2020 Isabel Hilgendag

This scholarship is awarded to a graduate student who also holds an Ontario Graduate Scholarship or other major external scholarship that requires a matching or enhancement component. If a suitable recipient cannot be found, the funds will be paid out as a regular graduate scholarship. Students are nominated by the Department.

Recipients

• 2025 Anastasiia Kurnosova
• 2024 Ryan Leys
• 2023 Arisha Imran
• 2022 Nathanael Harper
• 2021 Hannah Thibault
• 2020 Mitchell Kay
• 2019 Mike Mansfield

This $1,000 scholarship has been established by Dr. and Mrs. Nagraj Tumkur in memory of their children Rammonhan and Chitralekha, who lost their lives in Air India flight 182 that crashed in June 1985 with no survivors. It is awarded annually for postgraduate study leading to a MSc degree in any field of biology and is based on both scholarship and financial need. Applications are due in October each year. 

Recipients

• 2025 Prakriti Chhabra, Katelyn Gao
• 2024 Noah Rogozynski, Eddie Wu
• 2023 Sana Gavarikar, Benjamin Piticaru
• 2022 Patrick Breadner, Bronte McPhedran, Madeline Prater
• 2021 Keith McAllister

Past recipients

Recipients

• 2025 Prakriti Chhabra, Luke Schofield, Madison Thomas
• 2024 Anjali Krishna, Anastasiia Kurnosova, Abtin Roostan, Anja Skrobonja
• 2023 Alyssa Graham, Harold Hodgins
• 2022 Nathanael Harper, Molly Chen, Eugenia Dadzie, Isabella Ippolito, Zjardyn Liera-Hood
• 2021 Delaney Nash

Past recipients