Funding & Awards

NOTE:  If you are applying for admission to graduate studies in Psychology, you are strongly advised to submit applications for scholarships. Note carefully the descriptions, eligibility, application procedures, and deadlines for each. If you have questions regarding which scholarships to apply for and/or how to apply, please contact the co-ordinator for the Psychology graduate program at your home university or the scholarship agency.

Psychology Graduate Student Funding

As a graduate student within the Department of Psychology, you are guaranteed a set amount of internal funding which can be found in your offer of admission. However, if you are awarded an external scholarship (e.g. Canada Graduate Scholarships - Doctoral, etc.), the internal funding that you were offered is replaced by the external scholarship. Students cannot hold both types of funding in the same term. If this should happen, you will be required to pay back the internal funding.

The Psychology Graduate Student Funding Document 2024-2025 is intended to help you understand how funding is applied and the different sources of funding you may receive during your time as a graduate student at the University of Waterloo. Please note that this document is meant to be a guideline and not an official funding document. The Arts Graduate Student Funding Template 2023-2024 provides information on internal funding, as well as external scholarship and President's Graduate Scholarship (PGS) payments. Comprehensive information about the various sources of scholarships, awards, and other funding for graduate students is available on the Awards & Funding webpage maintained by Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (GSPA).

Internal Funding

Those admitted who did not receive one of the external scholarships (or did not apply for them), but maintain a first-class (minimum of 80%) cumulative average and full-time enrolment (see Note 1 below for additional conditions), will typically receive the following minimum financial support packages, made up of a combination of support from the Department of Psychology and the University. 

If admitted to the Master of Arts (MA) or Master of Applied Science (MASc) program
  • Guaranteed funding of $18,000 annually beginning with the Fall 2022 cohort, an amount that includes two full teaching assistant positions (annually) in the Department of Psychology.
  • The duration of this guaranteed funding is:
    • one year for the MASc in Developmental and Communication Science (DCS),
    • two years for the MASc in Industrial-Organizational (I-O),
    • two years for all those admitted to the Master of Arts.
  • Additional financial support may also be available from other sources, including Graduate Research Assistantships (GRA) and Graduate Research Studentships (GRS) funded from the supervisors’ research grants, and a variety of other internal awards.

If admitted to the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Psychology program
  • Guaranteed funding of $26,000 annually beginning with the Fall 2023 cohort of domestic students, an amount that includes two full teaching assistant positions (annually) in the Department of Psychology.
  • The duration of this funding is 4 years.
  • Note that certain program areas or individual faculty members may provide guaranteed funding for students that exceeds this minimum.

Examples of the Faculty of Arts funding model are provided in the Psychology Graduate Student Funding document (see link above).

Conference/Research Travel Funding

Graduate Student Research Dissemination Award (GSRDA)

We strongly encourage Psychology graduate students to present their work at scientific conferences. Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs, the Associate Dean's (Graduate Studies) office and the Department of Psychology help defray the costs of attendance at conferences by graduate students presenting their research. Please note, there are two parts to this application process.

Part One: Submit the GSRDA webform application. For more information on deadlines and eligibility, please see the Graduate Student Research Dissemination Award*website.

Part Two: Submit the Conference Funding Application to access the Faculty of Arts Graduate Student Conference Award. Students are to complete sections 1-4, have their supervisor(s) complete section 5, then return the form to the Graduate Coordinator for processing.

Important: You can only apply for the Graduate Student Research Dissemination Award once per fiscal year (May 1 to April 30). Applications must be submitted prior to the date of travels. Applications will be accepted each term until funds are depleted.

*This award has replaced the Graduate Studies Conference Assistantship as of May 1, 2023.

Faculty of Arts Connect 4 Success: Research Travel Grant Application

Students may apply for the Faculty of Arts grant to assist with the travel and accomodation costs associated with conducting research for their MA theses/MRPs and PhD dissertations such as conference participation, field world or archival research, or unpaid internships/placements. For more information on how to apply for this grant, please see the Faculty of Arts Connect 4 Success Grant website.

CONCUR Instructions and Travel Information for Graduate Students

All grad students use the Concur expense payment system for all expenses.

CONCUR: https://uwaterloo.ca/finance-resources/financial-systems/concur

Expense Claim Process

  1. Save all receipts individually in accepted file formats: pdf, jpg, png
  2. Login to Concur
  3. Create a new expense report, but do not change any work-order information on the report header
  4. Upload receipts, one receipt per expense line, include comments as needed
  5. Include a comment with details of other conference travel funding including name of funding and amount received. Only attach receipts to your claim that the funding award has not covered.
  6. When the receipts have been uploaded and claim is ready to be finalized DO NOT click on ‘Submit Report’
  7. Email Katy and let her know your claim is ready for review
  8. Katy will review and resolve any issues as your delegate before the claim is submitted to Concur

NOTE: Katy McEwen is available for one on one assistance and questions. katy.mcewen@uwaterloo.ca.

Travel Guidelines:

Cash advances are recommended for travel. You do not have to be out of pocket for travel expenses. One cash advance per trip. Research Travel Claim Information for Students

Per Diems are used for meals. Meal receipts are used as a guideline for how much per diem to claim. Meal receipts are not required to be submitted or retained for Per Diem meal claims.
Canadian dollar amount for permitted Per Diems

Meal Within Canada Outside Canada
Breakfast (.25) 20.00 25.00
Lunch (.25) 20.00 25.00
Dinner (.50) 40.00 50.00
Maximum per day (1) 80.00 100.00

Resources:

Psychology CONCUR Guidelines

UW Finance Concur Training Guide - The online guide shows each section with training videos.

Additional Internal University Funding

In addition, there are internal Waterloo awards for current and prospective students made financially possible through donations from the Waterloo community of faculty, staff and alumni, as well as donations from the public sector and private donors. Visit our Graduate funding and awards database to identify internal Waterloo award opportunities.

There are also many funding opportunities available to graduate students who demonstrate financial need. Visit our Financial need funding website for information.

External Funding

Psychology graduate students who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents are eligible to apply for a variety of federal and provincial government, merit-based scholarships. The most important of these are the federal tri-agency scholarships and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship.

Note: All Psychology graduate students who do not currently have external funding are required to submit an application for the relevant tri-agency scholarship and for the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) each year.

The following brief accounts of these scholarships provides links to the relevant GSPA websites. It is essential to keep track of application deadlines, required application forms, and other details as provided on these websites.

Federal Tri-agency scholarships

It is very important to check with your supervisor to determine which of the three federal agencies is appropriate for your scholarship application dependent on the nature of your research.

For graduate students seeking funding at the Masters level, the relevant tri-agency scholarships are:

For graduate students seeking funding at the PhD level, the relevant tri-agency scholarships are:

Unusually accomplished students with a well-developed leadership profile may also consider applying to the following:

Provincial scholarships

For all graduate students seeking support at either the Masters or the PhD level, the provincial scholarships are the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) and Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology (QEII-GSST).

Students who are successful in attaining a Tri-Agency CGS M, an OGS, or a QEII-GSST will also receive the following funding from the university:

  • A President's Graduate Scholarship and one full teaching assistant position for a combined amount of $11,683 ($5,000 scholarship money plus a TA equalling $6,683, including 4% vacation pay, as of May 1, 2022).
  • Depending on which external award was received, financial support would likely be at least $25,000 per year.
  • This funding package would continue into subsequent academic years depending on the duration of the external scholarship.

Students who are successful in attaining a Tri-Agency CGS D will also receive the following funding from the university:

  • Students in the first year of their doctoral program would receive a President's Graduate Scholarship and one full teaching assistant position for a combined amount of $16,683 ($10,000 scholarship money plus a TA equalling $6,683, including 4% vacation pay, as of May 1, 2022) in addition to the scholarship payment. Thus, for the first academic year, depending on which external award was received, financial support would likely be at least $35,000. Note: Effective May 1, 2023, the President's Graduate Scholarship for students in the first year of their doctoral program will be $5,000, university funding will be $11,683, and total financial support would likely be at least $30,000.
  • In subsequent years in which the external scholarship is held, additional financial support from the President’s Graduate Scholarship and one full teaching position would amount to a combined total of $11,683 annually ($5,000 scholarship money plus a TA equalling $6,683, including 4% vacation pay, as of May 1, 2022). Thus, depending on which external award is received, financial support would likely be at least $30,000.

Scholarships for international students

Additional notes

  1. All the financial support packages are contingent upon all of the following:
    • maintaining continuous full-time registration in the program,
    • maintaining a cumulative grade average of at least 80%,
    • meeting the academic requirements in a timely manner,
    • actively seeking external funding, and
    • fulfilling teaching and/or research assistantship duties satisfactorily.
  2. Tuition costs can be found on our Student Financial Services webpage.

For questions on funding or scholarship applications, please contact the Psychology Administrative Co-ordinator, Graduate Studies.