Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships Program for International Students
Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships Program for International students is now open for qualified candidates. You stand a chance of receiving $50,000 worth of scholarship annually for three years during a PhD study. Read on to find out what is required for you to be qualified for the scholarship and the processes by which to apply.
Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships Program for International Students
On behalf of Canada’s three granting organizations (CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC), the Vanier-Banting Secretariat (the Secretariat) oversees the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Vanier CGS) program. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research is home to the Secretariat.
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), which also handles award payments in compliance with the guidelines and rules provided in the Tri-Agency Research Instruction Award Holder’s Guide, administers the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Vanier CGS) program.
Eligibility Criteria
- Nominations for a Vanier CGS are open to citizens of Canada, permanent residents of Canada, and international nationals.
- A single Canadian institution with a Vanier CGS quota is to submit your application.
- Must be pursuing your first doctorate (including joint programs with a proven and substantial research component, such MD/PhD, DVM/PhD, JD/PhD, or MBA/PhD);
- Plan to undertake a full-time PhD (or a collaborative graduate research program like MD/PhD, DVM/PhD, JD/PhD, MBA/PhD) in the summer semester or the academic year after the findings are announced.
- Plan to undertake a full-time PhD (or a collaborative graduate research program like MD/PhD, DVM/PhD, JD/PhD, MBA/PhD) in the summer semester or the academic year after the findings are announced studies and research at the nominating institution; for joint graduate research programs, only the PhD portion of the program is eligible for funding.
- Must have completed no more than 20 months of full-time study in your doctoral program as of May 1, 2025; the doctoral program would begin after the completion of a master’s degree.
- Must have completed no more than 32 months of full-time study in your doctoral program (i.e., joint graduate research program, directly from bachelor’s, previously enrolled without obtaining master’s degree, transferring or left the program), by May 1, 2025, in the case of students participating in combined graduate research programs (MD/PhD, MA/PhD, MS/PhD, DVM/PhD, etc.). Whether or whether they had previously enrolled in a master’s degree, applicants in this category are eligible to use the 32-month timeframe.
- Must have completed the last two years of full-time study, or an equivalent program, with a first-class average, as assessed by your school. In order to pursue or finish a PhD program, candidates are not eligible to have previously obtained a doctoral-level scholarship or fellowship from CIHR, NSERC, or SSHRC. Instead, they should inquire with the school about its definition of a first-class average.
Benefits
- $50,000 worth scholarship annually for three years during a PhD study.
How to Apply
- Verify that you fulfill the requirements for eligibility for the Vanier CGS program.
- Contact your desired nominating institution
- Create an account on ResearchNet, the Canadian Common CV (CCV), and fill out the Self-ID Survey.
- Create CCV (Vanier-Banting Academic template) and link to ResearchNet application
- Start a ResearchNet application
- Your application will be examined by the multidisciplinary selection committee of NSERC if you pick “natural sciences and/or engineering”. The multidisciplinary selection committee of SSHRC will assess your application if you pick “social sciences and humanities”.
- Provide information about yourself, your nominating institution, the confirmation number of the CV you created in the Canadian Common CV (CCV) and provide your Personal Leadership Statement (maximum 2 pages for English and a maximum of 2.5 pages for French applications), Leadership reference letters (maximum 2 pages each), Research contributions (maximum 1 page), and Special circumstances (if applicable)(maximum 1 page)
- Gather the project overview, project details, project descriptors, and attachments (research proposal and project references) for your research project.
- Confirm documents sent
- Preview application materials
- Consent and submit application
- Presentation standards for attached documents
- A nomination package may be disqualified if the nominee provides documents that do not adhere to the guidelines.
- You must provide a certified translation of any supporting documents that are written in a language other than English or French.
- Formatting instructions to prepare your documents:
- pages must be 8 ½” x 11″ (216 mm x 279 mm).
- insert a minimum margin of 2 cm (3/4 inch) around the page (top, bottom and sides).
- candidate must use either Arial, Calibri or Times New Roman font size of 12-point black type. Maximum of six lines per inch. Do not use condensed/narrow font sizes, type density, or line spacing. Smaller text in tables, charts, figures, and graphs and references (format at discretion of candidates) is acceptable as long as it is legible when the page is viewed at 100%.
- any images, diagrams, technical drawings, or any other image must be contained within allowable page limits.
- photo-reduce the supporting documents if the originals are larger than 21.25 x 27.5 cm / 8.5″ x 11″.
- attachments must be uploaded in PDF format (unprotected).
- the size of the attached document(s) cannot exceed 30 MB per document.
- for documents prepared by the applicant: at the top of each page, indicate your name and the title of the document as it appears in the instructions.
- for multi-page attachments, number the pages sequentially.
Note the Following
- Funding is available for a joint program’s PhD component.
- It is the applicant’s responsibility to give their references the materials they need to compose their corresponding letters.
- The Vanier scholar must be registered for full-time study at the nominating Canadian institution as of the Vanier CGS start date, and the start date selected cannot coincide with any previous federal granting agency funds received.
- The Vanier CGS must be applied for at the institution that nominated the scholar. The Vanier Scholar must refuse or cancel the Vanier CGS if they would like to attend another university.
- The Canadian university where the PhD candidate receives the scholarship is in charge of managing the Vanier CGS.
- In the event that the graduate studies faculty returns your application, ResearchNet will send you an email with their feedback. The updated institution deadline for re-submitting your application will be provided to you. Your application will move back to the “Current Activities” tab so that you can modify your application and send it again to the graduate studies faculty.
- Officials from the nominating institution will electronically authorize and submit your nomination to the Vanier CGS competition if your application is nominated. Soon after the deadline for nominating institutions, you will receive an automated email from ResearchNet acknowledging receipt of your submission.
- The Vanier Scholar must refuse or cancel the Vanier CGS if they would like to attend another university.
- Your nomination’s evaluation in the competition may suffer if you don’t follow these guidelines.
Application Deadline
For students: Consult the nominating institution for the submission deadline.
For nominating institutions: October 30, 2024 (20:00 EDT).
When Does the Vanier CGS Start?
Once notified of the results, Vanier Scholars may take up their Vanier CGS on May 1, 2025, September 1, 2025 or January 1, 2026.
