External scholarships competitions

This page gives information on two types of awards:

Federal and provincial programs
Other external funding opportunities

For detailed information about scholarships, awards, and bursaries, please consult the Graduate Studies and Postodoctoral Affairs (GSPA) Awards and Funding page.

See the External scholarship recipients page for a list of students who have received external scholarship funding.

Federal and provincial programs

Student submission deadlines are bolded below. It is the students' responsibility to keep track of their submission deadlines.

Please note: The Department cannot nominate students for the Trudeau and Vanier awards without applications. Please see application submission deadlines below.

Please note: Information and dates may be updated depending on further information from the tri-agency and resources available.

Scholarships	Transcript request deadline	Application/Department deadline Students must submit to the Department	Information Sessions
NSERC Doctoral	Thursday, September 19, 2019 at 3:00 p.m.	Application deadline to submit through the NSERC portal: Thursday, October 17, 2019 at 8:00 p.m.	The NERSC doctoral workshop slides are available in the Helpful Resources section of the web page.
SSHRC Doctoral	Thursday, September 19, 2019 at 3:00 p.m.	Application deadline to submit through the SSHRC online system: Thursday, October 17, 2019 at 8:00 p.m.	The SSHRC Doctoral Workshop slides are available in the Helpful Resources section of the web page.
CGS-M (Tri-Council MA)	Friday, November 22, 2019 at 3:00 p.m.	Application deadline to submit via the Research Portal: Sunday, December 1, 2019 at 8:00 p.m. Check recent changes.
Trudeau Doctoral	Wednesday, December 4, 2019 by 9:00 a.m. EST	Wednesday, December 11, 20019 by 9:00 a.m. EST	Application is available through the Trudeau Foundation Portal.
OGS	Tuesday, October 15, 2019 at 4:00 p.m.	Tuesday, October 15, 2019.

Other external funding opportunities

Please find below the most recent award funding, scholarships, and bursary opportunities sent to the English Department:

Canadian Science Policy Fellowship

The Canadian Science Policy Fellowship is now accepting applications from prospective fellows interested in undertaking a year-long policy position within a Canadian government host office beginning in September 2020.

Eligible applicants must:

Be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident*
Hold a PhD in any academic discipline at the start of the fellowship
Participate full-time in a 12-month fellowship at the host office
Secure accommodation in the host city, and relocate to their host office as needed
Negotiate a leave of absence from their current employer, as applicable

The 2020 cohort of fellowships will begin in September 2020. Approved fellows receive remuneration from their host offices as well as professional development training and networking events facilitated by Mitacs.

Applications will be accepted until February 5, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. PT. For more information, please visit the Canadian Science Policy Fellowship or contact policyfellowship@mitacs.ca.

*Canadian citizenship or permanent resident status is required to obtain a security clearance with a host office to begin a fellowship. Specific citizenship requirements will vary by host office. All applicants must have Canadian citizenship or permanent residency prior to the start of the interview process (May 2020).

IODE Ontario Gladys Raiter Bursary

This is a bursary based on financial need and academic standing.

Eligibility criteria includes:

Student must be Canadian Citizen and hold a bachelor’s degree from a Canadian institution.
Be registered in a graduate degree program at UW (or WLU) OR
Have family residing in Waterloo Region but is in a graduate program locally or elsewhere in Canada

Value is $5,000

Agency deadline is January 31, 2020

Complete details can be found at https://www.iodeontario.ca/iode-gladys-raiter-bursary.html

Laura Bassi Scholarship

The Laura Bassi Scholarship, which awards a total of $8,000 thrice per annum, was established by Editing Press in 2018 with the aim of providing editorial assistance to postgraduates and junior academics whose research focuses on neglected topics of study, broadly construed. The scholarships are open to every discipline and the next round of funding will be awarded in December 2019:

    Winter 2019
    Application deadline: 25 November 2019
    Results: 15 December 2019

All currently enrolled master’s and doctoral candidates are eligible to apply, as are academics in the first five years of their employment. Applicants are required to submit a completed application form along with their CV through the application portal by the relevant deadline. Further details, previous winners, and the application portal can be found at: https://editing.press/bassi

Dan David Foundation

The Dan David Prize is an international initiative, endowed by the Dan David Foundation and headquartered at Tel Aviv University. Three prizes of US$1,000,000 each are awarded annually in selected fields representing the three time dimensions - Past, Present and Future. Deadline: November 30, 2019.

Ten percent of the prize is donated by the laureates as scholarships to outstanding young researchers, doctoral and postdoctoral students, studying topics related to the chosen fields. Deadline: March 10, 2020.

Graduate Student Medical Leave Award

Award description:

Effective January 1, 2018 eligible research-based master’s and doctoral students who must go inactive for medical reasons (e.g., physical or mental health) may be eligible to receive a Graduate Student Medical Leave Award, valued at a maximum of $5,000.

Students must have been registered full time for at least one academic term and have been in receipt of a financial package from their Department/School in the term immediately prior to going inactive for medical reasons. Eligible students who provide medical documentation (e.g., official medical documentation completed by a health care practitioner) to AccessAbility Services, to support their request for going inactive due to medical reasons, will be automatically considered for this award. Details regarding the process for submitting medical documentation to AccessAbility Services can be found on the AccessAbility website.

Value description:

One-time award with a maximum value of $5,000 for eligible research-based master’s and PhD students who have been registered for at least one academic term prior to going inactive for medical reasons. The value will be automatically assigned without the need for a complete needs assessment.

Based upon the department funding details in the offer of admission, students registered in a research-based master’s program will receive up to 1/3 of their annual funding package value (including IMSA) to a maximum medical leave award of $5,000; doctoral students will automatically receive the medical leave award maximum of $5,000. University refund and government reporting regulations and the date of the accommodation may also affect the value of the award.

Visit the Graduate Studies website for more information.

International Experience Awards

Several international experience award funds are available to University of Waterloo graduate students who participate in: an academic exchange, a study term related to their research (field work) or an academic requirement (placement), work, or volunteer experience. Award selection is based on a variety of factors such as academic achievement, financial need, length, location, nature of experience and whether it is an applicants first time travelling to a destination etc. Only one application is required in order to be considered for any of the International Experience Awards (see brief descriptions below).

Value:

The value and number of awards vary.

General Eligibility and Selection Criteria:

These awards are intended to provide support for upcoming international experiences, not past experiences while you are a graduate student. (Students should apply as soon as they are able to confirm details of their intended experience by one of the deadlines below).
Travel duration:
- Full-term Experience (for UW Student Mobility Funding Program)
- Minimum of 8 weeks (for David Johnston International Experience Awards)
- Minimum of 8 weeks, however travel lasting at least 4 weeks may be considered and awarded at a reduced value (for UW International Experience Award)
Students must be full‐time and in good academic standing in order to be considered. Some awards require a specific level of academic achievement.
Some of these awards are based fully or partially on financial need.
Funding is generally limited to one award per student in a given year due to the large number of applications received.

Specific Awards:

David Johnston International Experience Awards – open to Canadian Citizens/Permanent Residents or international students, min. 75% graduate average required, for travel anywhere however several specific awards fall under this broader award, including one for travel to Israel (see Lebovic) and another for travel to developing countries (see McCall MacBain).

UW International Experience Awards – open only to Canadian Citizens/Permanent Residents and residents of Ontario, must have demonstrated financial need (have applied for OSAP for the term travelling unless restricted), for travel anywhere.

UW Student Mobility Funding Program – for travel anywhere, with preference given to students with financial need. Several awards fall under this broader award which have specific eligibility requirements (see UW International Travel Award, Hume , Johnson, Kerr and LeDrew.)

For full award descriptions including eligibility and selection criteria, please search for the awards in the Graduate Funding & Awards Database.

Application/Deadline:

Apply by completing the Graduate Student International Experience Award application. This general application will be used to consider you for any of the international experience awards that you may be eligible for. Submit the completed application and all required supporting documentation (as outlined on the application checklist) on or before the deadline to emachado@uwaterloo.ca or to The Centre, Ira G. Needles Hall (NH), first floor. Award selection takes place each term. Please apply by the deadline for the term in which you will be travelling:

Spring (May-August) term travel – March 15

Fall (Sept-Dec) term travel – July 15

Winter (Jan-Apr) term travel – November 15

GSPA will communicate with applicants regarding the competition results within approximately three weeks of the award deadline.