Tri-Council (Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), NSERC, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)) Canada Graduate Scholarships Master's (CGS-M)
Application and timeline information is available on the University Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs Tri-Council (CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC) Canada Graduate Scholarships Master's (CGS-M) web page.
NSERC Doctoral Research Awards
Application and timeline information is available on the University Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs NSERC Doctoral Research Awards web page.
OGS Scholarship
Application and timeline information is available on the University Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs Ontario Graduate Scholarship web page.
Our department will be using forms for both the OGS/QEII application, and for the reference letter submission.
Please do not email us your application, rather please submit your completed application using our Waterloo Pure Math OGS and QEII-GSST Application Submission form.
Please do not ask your referees to email us their letters of reference, rather please ask them to submit them using our Waterloo Pure Math OGS and QEII-GSST Reference Letter Submissions form.
Please keep in mind that the application process is highly detailed and particular. If you have any problems, please do not hesitate to contact Jo-Ann Hardy.
Tips on Writing a Research Proposal
This is perhaps the most daunting aspect of a scholarship application.
First, you must determine a topic about which you can write. If you have conducted undergraduate research, topics stemming from that research are typically an excellent place to start. You will wish to educate yourself on directions in which that topic leads so you may address them in your proposal.
Second, it is useful to have a faculty mentor help you with the proposal. The mentor can help select a topic to write about. They can also suggest future directions of research and help to realistically evaluate not only the accuracy and depth, but also the realism of the proposal.
Third, make sure the proposal is readable by non-experts. This demand creates a fine balance for the writer. In terms of the proposal's evaluation, it is useful to have some serious and specific goals in mind. The art is to communicate them with a minimum of technicality. One may happily keep in mind that the proposals will first be evaluated by mathematicians though not experts in the particular field of the proposal. For example, a number theory student should have a proposal which can be appreciated by a geometer or an analyst. In the latter stages of evaluation, this proposal may be ranked by a statistician or computer scientist.
The goal of the research proposal is to demonstrate that you have the ability to formulate and articulate a research plan. A poor proposal can hurt an application which otherwise has strong letters and transcripts. Please be sure that the structure is logical and readable, with good spelling and grammar.
Contact information
For questions regarding Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) scholarships, please contact:
Jo-Ann Hardy
Administrative Coordinator - Graduate Studies
Department of Pure Mathematics
Office: Mathematics & Computer (MC) 5314
Phone: 519 888 4567 ext. 46468
Email: pmgradadmin@uwaterloo.ca