Good news for students who wish to pursue Doctoral (PhD) level research in Canada. One of the prestigious scholarship programs in Canada – the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships are being offered for international and Canadian students. These awards are offered by the Government of Canada and are awarded to top-class doctoral level students. The award is Canadian $ 50,000 each, for up to three years, to pursue doctoral studies at Canadian universities. Though only a total of 166 scholars have been awarded these scholarships in 2009, there will be 500 awards from next year onwards.
The scholarship program, open to both international and Canadian candidates, will offer scholarships per year in the areas of social sciences, humanities, natural sciences, engineering, and health. Students must be nominated by a recognized Canadian university to apply for a scholarship.
To be nominated for a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, a student must be nominated by a Canadian university with a Vanier CGS quota; be seeking support to pursue their first PhD, be pursuing doctoral studies or a combined Master’s/PhD degree or have not already received a scholarship or fellowship from the below mentioned research-granting councils and must be either a Canadian citizen/permanent resident or international student.
There are three research-granting councils in Canada that administer this award – the Canadian Institute for Health Research, Natural Science and Engineering Council and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Applicants will be evaluated on academic excellence, research potential and leadership ability, as demonstrated by awards, transcripts, contributions, published papers, relevant work experience, recommendation letters and finally the nomination by the university concerned.
