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-sanctioned international travel is suspended until further notice due to COVID-19, the President's International Experience Award is also suspended at this time.

In response to this situation, additional criteria have been temporarily introduced to allow more options for senior 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 during Spring 2020, Fall 2020, or Winter 2021 to support an experiential learning opportunity undertaken in Spring 2020, Fall 2020 or Winter 2021, including:

• an unpaid or underpaid co-op work experience
• a co-op work term that has been reduced in length, hours, or pay due to COVID-19
• a volunteer summer work experience by a regular or co-op student or a position that was underpaid due to COVID-19
• 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.

• October 1, 2020 for experiences undertaken in Spring 2020 or Fall 2020
• February 1, 2021 for experiences undertaken in Winter 2021

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.

Deadline: not applicable at this time.

How to apply

The President's International Experience Award is currently suspended. We will only consider claim requests for eligible documented international experiences from a previous term (2A or above), for which you have not yet submitted a claim form. In this case, please complete the PDF version of the President's International Experience Award (PDF) form.

• 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.