Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship Program 2021 for Doctoral Study in Canada

Application Deadline: November 3, 2020

The Government of Canada launched the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Vanier CGS) program in 2008 to strengthen Canada’s ability to attract and retain world-class doctoral students and establish Canada as a global centre of excellence in research and higher learning.

Vanier Scholars demonstrate leadership skills and a high standard of scholarly achievement in graduate studies in the social sciences and humanities, natural sciences and/or engineering and health.

Named after Major-General Georges P. Vanier, the first francophone Governor General of Canada, the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Vanier CGS) program helps Canadian institutions attract highly qualified doctoral students.

Areas of Research

    Health research

    Natural sciences and/or engineering research

    Social sciences and humanities research

Scholarship Value

    Valued at $50,000 per year for three years during doctoral studies

    Up to 166 scholarships are awarded annually

    A total of up to 500 scholarships are active at any time.

Eligibility

    Canadian citizens, permanent residents of Canada and foreign citizens are eligible to be nominated for a Vanier CGS.

To be considered for a Vanier CGS, you must:

    be nominated by only one Canadian institution, which must have received a Vanier CGS quota;

    be pursuing your first doctoral degree (including joint graduate research program such as: MD/PhD, DVM/PhD, JD/PhD – if it has a demonstrated and significant research component). Note that only the PhD portion of a combined degree is eligible for funding;

    intend to pursue, in the summer semester or the academic year following the announcement of results, full-time doctoral (or a joint graduate research program such as: MD/PhD, DVM/PhD, JD/PhD) studies and research at the nominating institution; For joint graduate research program, only the PhD portion of a joint graduate research program is eligible for funding.

    have completed no more than 20 months of full-time study in their doctoral program as of May 1, 2021;

    have completed no more than 32 months of full-time study in their doctoral program, by May 1st, 2021 if enrolled in a joint graduate research program, e.g., MD/PhD, MA/PhD, DVM/PhD. Applicants that fall into this category have access to the 32-month window whether or not they were previously enrolled in a Master’s program; or

    have completed no more than 32 months of full-time study in their doctoral program by May 1, 2021 if accelerated directly from a Bachelor’s to a PhD (no time spent in a Master’s program); or

    have completed no more than 32 months of full-time study in their doctoral program by May 1, 2021 if accelerated from a Master’s degree into a Doctoral program without obtaining the Master’s degree.

    have achieved a first-class average, as determined by your institution, in each of the last two years of full-time study or equivalent. Candidates are encouraged to contact the institution for its definition of a first-class average; and

    must not hold, or have held, a doctoral-level scholarship or fellowship from CIHR, NSERC or SSHRC to undertake or complete a doctoral program.

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 requirement for a completion of the program.

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

Without exception, the Vanier CGS is tenable only at the eligible Canadian institution that submitted the nomination.

To hold the Vanier CGS, the candidate must:

• be registered as a full-time student at the nominating Canadian institution and be pursuing a doctoral program (or joint graduate research program MA/PhD, MSc/PhD, or MD/PhD); and
• not hold a faculty appointment concurrently with a Vanier Scholarship unless they arrange for a leave of absence from the appointment
• remain enrolled and demonstrate continued satisfactory progress in their doctoral program.
• not hold, or have held, a doctoral-level scholarship from CIHR, NSERC or SSHRC to undertake or complete a doctoral program.
• not be concurrently holding any other SSHRC, NSERC or CIHR training award (note: Michael Smith Foreign Studies Supplement excepted).

Selection Criteria

• Valued at $50,000 per year for three years during doctoral studies
• Considers three equally weighted selection criteria: 
  • Academic Excellence
  • Research Potential, and 
  • Leadership

Applications

1. Applications are initiated in one of two ways. Either:
   1. the student informs the faculty of graduate studies at the selected institution of their intent to apply to the Vanier CGS program; or
   2. the institution initiates the nomination process by contacting the desired candidate.
2. Applications are prepared by the student and submitted to the nominating institution by their internal deadline (set in ResearchNet by the nominating institution) using the ResearchNet application system.
3. The nominating institution performs the internal candidate selection process.
4. The nominating institution forwards recommended nominations to the Vanier-Banting Secretariat (the Secretariat) by November 3, 2020 (20:00 Eastern Time).
5. The Secretariat coordinates the review process.
6. The Secretariat presents the recommendations to the Tri-Agency Programs (TAP) Steering Committee.
7. The TAP Steering Committee endorses and approves final decisions for the Vanier CGS program.
8. Nominated candidates are notified of the competition results in April 2021.

Nomination Process

• Candidates must be nominated by a Canadian institution with a quota (i.e., a predetermined number of applications that can be put forward to the national competition) to host Vanier scholars.
• Candidates should only seek a nomination from the institution at which they want to study.

Deadline:

• For Students: Consult nominating institution for submission deadline.
• For nominating institutions: Deadline: November 3, 2020 (20:00 EDT).

Click here to apply.

For more information, visit Vanier CGS.