Canada Graduate Scholarships — Doctoral program

Overview
Value $40,000 per year
Duration 36 months
Tenure location Canadian institutions only
Application deadline Through a Canadian institution: Contact your institution (often significantly earlier than the agency’s deadline)
Directly to the agencies: October 17
How to apply Refer to the Application procedures section below.
Results announced April 30
Application forms and instructions NSERC: Online system and instructions
CIHR: ResearchNET and instructions
SSHRC: Online system and instructions

Objective

The objective of the Canada Graduate Scholarships — Doctoral (CGS D) program is to promote continued excellence in Canadian research by rewarding and retaining high-calibre doctoral students at Canadian institutions. By providing support for a high-quality research training experience to awardees, the CGS D program strives to foster impacts within and beyond the research environment.

Description

The Canada Graduate Scholarships — Doctoral (CGS D) program is a federal program of scholarships administered by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). Scholarships are awarded through national competitions by these three granting agencies.

The CGS D program supports and promotes research excellence in a wide variety of disciplines and broad fields of natural sciences and engineering, health and social sciences and humanities, including interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research. This support allows scholars to concentrate on their doctoral studies more fully, to seek out the best research mentors in their chosen fields and to contribute to the Canadian research ecosystem during and beyond the tenure of their awards.

Agency-specific doctoral awards

In addition to the CGS D, each agency has its own doctoral awards.

For all three agencies, only one application must be completed and submitted to be considered for both a CGS D award and either an agency-specific doctoral award (for NSERC/SSHRC applications) or any available doctoral Priority Announcements (for CIHR applications). CGS D awards are then offered for the top-ranked eligible applications in each agency’s competition.

CIHR applicants who intend to hold their doctoral award abroad need to apply to the Doctoral Foreign Study Award (DFSA) program.

Some eligibility requirements for CGS D differ from those of the agency-specific doctoral awards. Refer to the appropriate literature for NSERC, CIHR and SSHRC for further details as well as information on doctoral awards tenable at foreign institutions.

Eligibility

Consult the eligibility flowchart to confirm your eligibility.

To be eligible to apply, you must

Note: If you are eligible to apply to the Canada Graduate Scholarships – Master’s (CGS M) program, you may be able to maximize your potential period of funding by applying to the CGS M program for your first year of doctoral funding instead of the CGS D program. You are responsible for choosing the type of award for which you apply. See Other restrictions below for more information.

Number of months

Eligibility for CGS D is based on the number of months of full-time study, including summer months, toward the degree for which you are requesting funding by December 31 of the calendar year of application. Two terms of part-time study count as one term of full-time study.

Note: The agencies count all studies toward the doctoral degree for which funding is requested, whether or not they were completed in the same program or at the degree-granting institution.

Fast-track and joint programs

Fast-track: If you were registered in a master’s program and subsequently transferred to a doctoral program (fast-track), the months of study completed are calculated starting from the date on which you transferred into the doctoral program.

Joint programs: If you are registered in a joint program and a master’s degree is obtained as part of the program (for example, MA/PhD, MSc/PhD), the months of study are calculated starting from the date on which you officially registered in either portion of the joint program (including the master’s portion of the program).

If you are registered in a joint professional undergraduate/PhD program (such as MD/PhD, JD/PhD, DVM/PhD), only the months of study in the PhD portion will be counted.

Other restrictions

Program of study

An eligible doctoral program must include a significant research component that leads to the completion of a thesis, major research project, dissertation, scholarly publication, performance, recital and/or exhibit that is merit/expert-reviewed at the institutional level as a requirement for completion of the program.

Joint programs with a professional degree (for example, MD/PhD, DVM/PhD, JD/PhD, MBA/PhD), as well as clinically oriented programs of study, including clinical psychology, are eligible if they have a significant autonomous research component as described above.

For programs that include arrangements with universities abroad (for example, exchanges or cotutelles), your primary institution must be an eligible Canadian institution.

Application procedures

Selecting the appropriate agency

You should complete the agency application that is best aligned with your research subject matter to ensure that it is reviewed by experts in disciplines closest to your field(s) of study. For more information, refer to Selecting the appropriate federal granting agency. If you are still unsure after consulting this resource, contact the relevant agencies.

To complete the application process, refer to the appropriate agency’s application website and instructions.

NSERC: Online system and instructions
CIHR: ResearchNET and instructions
SSHRC: Online system and instructions

Your application must be complete to advance in the competition.

Where to submit an application

You must apply either through a Canadian institution or directly to the appropriate agency, depending on your registration status on the application deadline date and/or your registration status during the calendar year of application. Where you intend to hold the award has no impact on the channel through which you must apply. Failure to submit an application through the correct channel will result in your application being rejected.

To determine the correct channel, you must

If you are unsure of your registration status in the calendar year of application, contact your faculty of graduate studies (or its equivalent).

Quotas

The term “quota” refers to the maximum number of applications an institution can forward to each agency’s national competition. Institutions receive separate quotas from each agency (NSERC, CIHR and SSHRC).

Application deadlines

Late applications will not be accepted.

Institution deadlines

If you are applying through an institution, you must submit your application by the deadline set by the institution, which may be well in advance of the agency deadline.

For more information about institutional deadlines, you should contact your faculty of graduate studies (or its equivalent).

Agency deadlines

If you are eligible to apply directly to one of the agencies (consult the three-page document: Where should I submit my application?), you must submit your application using the appropriate agency application portal before 8:00 p.m. (ET) on October 17. If the deadline falls on a weekend, applications can be submitted the following business day before 8:00 p.m. (ET).

Selection process

Institutional review

The faculty of graduate studies (or its equivalent) at each Canadian institution is responsible for coordinating the institutional evaluation of CGS D applications. Institutions then submit applications according to their quotas to each agency for consideration.

Agency review

Agency review committees evaluate applications (whether sent directly to the agencies or via the institutions).

Indigenous student researchers

Institutions may recommend applications from self-identified Indigenous student researchers to the doctoral awards competition beyond their application quota. Self-identified Indigenous student researchers must agree to their personal information being used for this purpose by making the appropriate selection in the application form.

Black student researchers

The Government of Canada has deployed additional funds to increase direct support for Black student researchers. CGS D applicants who self-identify as Black and provide consent to be considered for funds targeted toward specific groups may be selected to receive this funding. Each agency has a limited number of additional CGS D awards reserved for this initiative.

For more information, consult the Frequently asked questions about the new Black scholars funding.

Selection criteria

The evaluation of CGS D applications, whether by institutions or the agencies, is based on the following criteria:

Selection criteria Description Weight
Research ability and potential

Indicators of research ability and potential:

  • quality of research proposal
    • specific, focused and feasible research question(s) and/or
      objective(s)
    • clear description and soundness of the proposed methodology
    • significance and expected contributions to research
  • relevant training, such as academic training, lived experience and traditional teachings
  • demonstration of ability and potential to carry out proposed research relative to the stage of study, lived experience and knowledge systems
  • quality of contributions and extent to which they advance the field of research—contributions may include publications, patents, reports, posters, abstracts, monographs, presentations, creative outputs, knowledge translation outputs, community products, etc.
  • demonstration of sound judgment and ability to think critically
  • demonstration of responsible and ethical research conduct, including honest and thoughtful inquiry, rigorous analysis, commitment to safety and to the dissemination of research results and adherence to the use of professional standards
  • demonstration of originality, initiative, autonomy, relevant community involvement and outreach
  • ability to communicate theoretical, technical and/or scientific concepts clearly and logically in written and oral formats
 50%
Relevant experience and achievements obtained within and beyond academia

Indicators of relevant experience and achievements obtained within and beyond academia:

  • scholarships, awards and distinctions (amount, duration and prestige)
  • academic record
    • transcripts
    • duration of previous studies
    • program requirements and courses pursued
    • course load
    • relative standing in program (if available)
  • professional, academic and extracurricular activities as well as collaborations with supervisors, colleagues, peers, students and members of the community, such as
    • teaching, mentoring, supervising and/or coaching
    • managing projects
    • participating in science and/or research promotion
    • participating in community outreach, volunteer work and/or civic engagement
    • chairing committees and/or organizing conferences and meetings
    • participating in departmental or institutional organizations, associations, societies and/or clubs
50%

San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment

In 2019, NSERC, CIHR and SSHRC, along with other Canadian research funding agencies, signed the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA). The agencies are committed to meaningful assessment of excellence in research funding and to ensuring that a wide range of research results and outcomes are considered and valued as part of the assessment process. They will continue to work to ensure that their strategies, policies and guidance align with DORA.

Notification of results

You will be notified of the results by April 30 if your application was submitted to the agencies directly or via your institution.

The agencies will publish the names (and other basic award information) of scholarship recipients on their respective websites.

For more information, see the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act.

Conditions of the award

Award holders must comply with the policies and guidelines set out in the Tri-agency research training award holder’s guide and in any other documents related to scholarship applications and awards.

The agencies reserve the right to interpret and enforce the policies and guidelines for their funding opportunities set out in their published materials.

Award holders may be eligible to hold their awards part time. Refer to the Tri-agency research training award holder’s guide for further information.

Official languages

You may submit your application in the official language of your choice; institutions must have mechanisms in place to review both English and French applications. For concerns about the review of applications in the official languages, applicants and institutions may contact the agencies.

Related opportunities

CGS D holders may be eligible for:

Contact

For further information, contact the appropriate agency:

NSERC
schol@nserc-crsng.gc.ca

CIHR contact centre
support-soutien@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

SSHRC
fellowships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca

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