The Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS) for Doctoral Study 2020/2021

About this Scholarship

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.

Scope

Up to 166 scholarships are awarded annuallyFootnote1;
A total of up to 500 scholarships are active at any time.

Value

$50,000 per year

Duration

3 years (non-renewable)

Scholarships are distributed equally between the three federal granting agencies:

• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
• Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)
• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)

Selection Criteria

• Academic Excellence
• Research Potential
• Leadership (potential and demonstrated ability)

Timelines

July – November 2020	Applicants seek a nominating institution, prepare and submit application package.
Internal Deadline (varies)	Deadline to submit application to the nominating institution. Contact nominating institution for specific date.
November 3, 2020 (20:00 EST)	Deadline for institutions to submit nominations to the Vanier CGS program.
November 2020 – March 2021	Review and evaluation of nominations.
Early April 2021	Anticipated notification of results.Nominees will be notified by email when the results are available on ResearchNet.
May 1, 2021, September 1, 2021 or January 1, 2022	Payments begin.

Application/nomination instructions

Those wishing to apply for a Vanier CGS should verify that the institution to which they are applying for doctoral studies has a Vanier CGS quota. They must then inform the institution that they wish to be considered for a Vanier CGS.

Candidates must be nominated by the institution at which they want to study. Candidates cannot apply directly to the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Vanier CGS) program. Vanier CGS application packages submitted through ResearchNet will first be submitted to the Canadian institution that will be putting forward their nomination.

Candidates should verify institutional internal deadlines with the administrator at the nominating institution.

Candidates should read the Selection Committee Guide prior to commencing their application. This guide lists the three evaluation criteria and has useful information on how the criteria are evaluated. Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships selection committees are multidisciplinary, and applications should therefore be written with a non-specialist research audience in mind.

You must also review the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion page before beginning the preparation or review of an application.

To be considered eligible for funding, candidates must attain an average score of at least 3.1 in each of the three criteria.

Competition process

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

Important notes:

• Each student can only be nominated once per competition. If more than one institution is interested in nominating an individual student for a Vanier CGS, the student must choose one institution to submit their nomination. Multiple nominations will not be accepted.
• Based on its quota and an internal evaluation process, the institution will forward its nominations to the Secretariat.
• The institution is responsible for notifying candidates if their application is not selected for nomination to the Secretariat. The timing for this notification may vary by institution.
• Students are responsible for contacting the institution for more information about selecting the appropriate federal granting agency, finding the appropriate contact person within a department/faculty, and for advice or questions related to content and how best to present the information in their application.

Application/nomination instructions

Individual application documents can be submitted in either English or French. If another language is required to express a particular idea (e.g., specialized concept), be sure to provide an explanation in French or English.

A complete Vanier CGS nomination packages includes:

• A ResearchNet application form (includes two letters of reference, each with three sections)
• A CCV (limited entries; please see https://www.vanier.gc.ca/en/completing_ccv.html for complete information)
  • Research Contributions (limit one page)
• A 2 page Personal Leadership Statement (instead of a .5 page Special Circumstances document)
• Two Leadership letters of reference (max 2 pages)
• A Research Proposal (max 2 pages)
• Project References (max 5 pages)
• Transcripts and Doctoral Studies Timeline [ PDF (172 KB) - external link ]

ResearchNet application process: general information

1. In ResearchNet, complete all tasks listed for the Vanier CGS application.
2. Preview the Full Application Package version of your application in ResearchNet, using the "Preview Application Materials" task, to ensure that your application is complete.
3. Print the entire application.
4. Save the PDF version of the entire, completed application.
5. Submit the completed electronic application through ResearchNet by completing the "Consent and Submit Application" task. Note: The nominating institution cannot accept your application until you complete this task.
6. For technical help, call 1-888-603-4178 or 613-954-1968 or email support-soutien@cihr-irsc.gc.ca from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
7. For program-related help, contact vanier@cihr-irsc.gc.ca.

Deadlines

There are two deadlines pertaining to the 2020-2021 competition:

1. Institution internal deadline: Following the student's identification in ResearchNet of the institution proposed for doctoral study (see Task 10), an additional deadline date and time will appear at the top of each page. This is the deadline by which your application must be submitted to the institution through ResearchNet. This deadline is set and controlled by each institution. You will not be able to submit your application past this precise date and time.
2. Program deadline: Institutions must forward their selected nominations to the Vanier CGS program by November 3, 2020 (20:00 Eastern Time).

Completing a Vanier CGS application

• Visit the Selection Committee Guide to familiarize yourself with the selection criteria and how the committee will evaluate each criterion.
• Bold text and stars indicate mandatory fields.
• The status of all tasks must be indicated as complete in order for you to submit your application.

Eligibility

Confirm that you and your nominating institution meet all the criteria below before you apply for a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Vanier CGS).

Nominations that do not meet all of the eligibility criteria will be deemed ineligible.

Candidate eligibility

Citizenship

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.

Eligibility of 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.

Note: ResearchNet will only allow the creation of one application per applicant. Applicants should only seek a nomination from the institution at which they want to study and are advised to discuss their decision with the nominating institution before they submit the application through ResearchNet.

Number of months of doctoral studies

All prior doctoral-level studies, regardless of discipline, are considered in the evaluation of eligibility, and are considered to be continuous, full-time, and uninterrupted unless otherwise confirmed by the institution (including the summer months, unless on official leave). The Vanier-Banting Secretariat (the Secretariat) will count two months of part-time study as one month of full-time study.

Students who studied on a part-time basis, or who interrupted their studies with their university’s official approval, must outline the dates of interruption or part-time study in the Special Circumstances attachment and the Doctoral Studies Timeline.

The Vanier-Banting Secretariat will start all calculation of the number of months completed from the date on which an applicant is officially registered in the doctoral program with the following exception:

Fast-track and combined programs

For those registered in a Master’s program that subsequently transferred to a doctoral program (fast-track), the months of study completed are calculated from the original Master’s enrolment date.

For those registered in a doctoral program in which a Master’s degree is obtained as part of the program (e.g., MA/PhD), the months of study are still calculated starting from the date on which an applicant is officially registered in the combined program (including the Master’s portion of the program).

Notes:

1. All interruptions, delays, part-time studies must be outlined in the special circumstances attachment.

Nominating institution

The nominating institution must have received a Vanier CGS quota.

Eligibility to hold a Vanier CGS

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 registeredFootnote1 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).

Part-time studies

A Vanier CGS may be held by students who are registered part-time because of a disability or family responsibilities. For eligible part-time students, the Vanier CGS will be equivalent to full-time funding spread over a longer period of time.

Canadian federal government employees

Canadian federal government employees are eligible to hold a scholarship only if an unpaid leave of absence is taken (no salary or special allowances permitted).

Multiple applications

Eligible candidates may apply to both the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship program and other agency-specific doctoral-level scholarship/fellowships programs (whether to the same or a different federal granting agency) in the same academic year, provided that the research proposed in each application falls within the mandate of the federal granting agency to which the application is submitted. For more information, please refer to Identify area of research.

Note: since eligibility, evaluation criteria and competition deadlines are different; applications submitted to Vanier CGS are not considered in agency-specific doctoral award competitions. You must apply to each program individually.

Candidates who are successful in both competitions will have to choose which award to accept.

Find the Complete Details on Vanier Canada Scholarship Website Here   https://vanier.gc.ca/en/home-accueil.html

Begin your Application Here  https://vanier.gc.ca/en/nomination_process-processus_de_mise_en_candidature.html