President's upper-year awards

Awards are limited to current undergraduate students who received the President's Scholarship of Distinction in Year One (awarded to students with an admission average of 95% or greater) and who completed Year One with a minimum cumulative average of 80%, based on full-time enrolment. Eligible students may claim up to two awards valued at $1,500 each prior to graduating from their undergraduate program.

The program normally consists of the President's Research Award and the President's International Experience Award. Since all University-related international travel is suspended until further notice due to COVID-19, the President's International Experience Award is also suspended at this time (with limited exceptions).

In response to this situation, additional criteria have been temporarily introduced to allow more options for fourth-year undergraduate students to claim an award. The President’s Experiential Award will provide support for eligible students who take on an experiential learning opportunity during their final undergraduate year. 

Details and links to the application forms can be found below under each award name.

This $1,500 award is available to eligible undergraduate students who are undertaking a full- or part-time University of Waterloo research experience, under the supervision of a University of Waterloo researcher (either in person or remotely). Eligible students may claim the award at any point from 2A to 4B (plus 4C, 5A, 5B in some programs), and the experience must occur before completion of the undergraduate program.

How to apply

• Look for undergraduate research opportunities in your Faculty.
• Once you have found a research position and connected with the research supervisor, complete the President’s Research Award online form.
• Full eligibility details and application instructions can be found on the application/claim form.

Deadlines

Submit your application by the applicable deadline to help ensure you receive your award funding in a timely manner for the term in which you are participating in the activity.

• October 1st for fall-term research
• February 1st for winter-term research
• June 1st for spring-term research

This $1,500 award is limited to eligible students who are in their final undergraduate year (4A+) during Spring 2021, Fall 2021, or Winter 2022 to support an experiential learning opportunity undertaken in Spring 2021, Fall 2021 or Winter 2022, including:

• an unpaid or underpaid co-op work experience (as defined by Co-operative Education)
• a volunteer work term experience
• a documented entrepreneurial venture tied to a work term or a startup
• a non-academic activity tied to a course where the cost is not covered by the tuition such as a field trip
• experiences not included above may be considered on the basis that the activity will enhance your educational goals (excluding past experiences)
• Academic courses are considered an educational experience, and thus do not qualify as an experiential experience.

How to apply

• Complete the President's Experiential Award online form.
• You may be asked to include a letter or other documentation to substantiate the experience, depending on the type of experience.
• Full eligibility details and application instructions can be found on the application/claim form.

Deadlines

Submit your application by the applicable deadline to help ensure you receive your award funding in a timely manner for the term in which you are participating in the activity.

• June 1, 2021 for experiences undertaken in Spring 2021
• October 1, 2021 for experiences undertaken in Fall 2021
• February 1, 2022 for experiences undertaken in Winter 2022

This $1,500 award is available to eligible undergraduate students who participate in an international study or work experience. Eligible students may claim the award at any point from 2A to 4B (plus 4C, 5A, 5B in some programs), and the experience must occur before completion of the undergraduate program.

International travel suspensions

The University of Waterloo has suspended all University-related international travel outside of Canada until further notice due to COVID-19. Accordingly, this award is also suspended, with limited exceptions.

At this time, we will only consider President's International Experience Award claim requests for:

1. an eligible documented international experience from a previous term for which you have not yet submitted a claim form (undertaken during the 2A term or above and prior to COVID-19 travel suspensions)
2. a Winter 2021 work term undertaken outside of Canada which has been approved for co-op credit based on exceptional criteria – refer to Co-operative Education for full details. Note: remote international work-term experiences undertaken in Canada will not be considered for this award.

How to apply

If you meet one of the above exceptions, please complete the PDF version of the President's International Experience Award (PDF) form.

Deadline: not applicable at this time.

• If you have questions about your eligibility to claim an award or about the application form, please contact Students Awards and Financial Aid by email: safainfo@uwaterloo.ca.
• If you have questions about experiential opportunities in your Faculty, please refer to the table below for relevant contact information and/or websites.