For any of our current undergraduate research students who are considering grad school: please see below.

-Daniel

From: Graduate Program Administrator [mailto:grad.administrator@cs.toronto.edu]
Sent: Thursday, October 1, 2015 11:04 AM
To: grad-students@cs.toronto.edu
Cc: Grad Administrator (Vinita ) <grad.administrator@cs.toronto.edu>; gradoffice@cs.toronto.edu; faculty-announcements@cs.toronto.edu; onleave-students@cs.toronto.edu
Subject: SGS Award Announcement: 2016-2017 CGS - Master's Program (CGS M): DEADLINE DECEMBER 1, 2015

Award Overview

Student Deadline:	December 1, 2015*
Graduate Unit Deadline to SGS:	February 3, 2016
Value/Duration:	$17,500 for one year
Level of study:	To support Master’s or, in some cases, doctoral programs in Canada
Required Legal Status:	Domestic Students (Canadian citizen or permanent resident)
Results:	Week of April 1, 2016 via Research Portal

*      Please note that both the departmental and external deadline are the same.Your application MUST be submitted (academic references should also be in by the deadline)  before 8 PM  on December 1, 2015  
This deadline is strictly enforced by the tri-agencies.   

Purpose

The objective of the Canada Graduate Scholarships-Master’s (CGS M) Program is to help develop research skills and assist in the training of highly qualified personnel by supporting students who demonstrate a high standard of achievement in undergraduate and early graduate studies. The Tri-council allocates CGS M awards to universities specifying the number of awards that each may offer to their students annually. CGS M awards can only be offered to students pursing graduate studies at eligible Canadian Universities and the award must be held at the university that has made the offer.

Eligibility to Apply

To be eligible to apply, you must:

• be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada;
• be enrolled in, have applied for, or will apply for full-time admission* to an eligible graduate program at the master’s or doctoral level at a Canadian institution with a CGS M allocation. *Note: Applicants who are not currently enrolled in their intended graduate program must submit an application for admission by the deadline for their intended graduate program or by March 15, whichever comes first;
• Updated for 2016-17: have completed, as of December 31, 2015, between zero and 12 months of full-time studies (or full-time equivalent) in:

a) the master’s program for which you are requesting funding; or

b) the direct-entry doctoral program for which you are requesting funding;

c) the combined master’s-doctoral program for which you are requesting funding; or

d) a master’s program that was or will be fast-tracked to a doctoral program, and you are requesting funding for the first 12 months of this doctoral program;

Note: Award holders who complete their Master’s degree prior to the end of the award end date may carry the balance of their CGS M award (1 or 2 sessions) to fund an eligible doctoral program which commences immediately after completing all the requirements of their Master’s degree at the same institution.

• not have previously held a CGS M award;
• have achieved a first-class average (3.7 GPA or A- average at U of T), in each of the last two completed years of study (full-time equivalent); and
• submit a maximum of one scholarship application per academic year to either CIHR, NSERC, or SSHRC (Research Portal will allow the application to be submitted to up to five institutions).

Eligibility of Degree Programs

An eligible graduate program must have a significant research component. Master’s programs that are based only on course work are not eligible.

A significant research component is considered to be original, autonomous research that leads to the completion of one of the following:  thesis, major research project, dissertation, scholarly publication, performance, recital and/or exhibit and is merit/expert reviewed at the institutional level and is a requirement for completion of the program. 

Clarification for SSHRC CGS M eligible programs: Programs formerly deemed eligible for SSHRC funding will continue to be considered eligible in the new harmonized program, more specifically, if the Master’s program is an acceptable basis for admission to the related PhD program (that is eligible for funding by SSHRC), SSHRC would consider the Master’s program to be an eligible program of study…”.

Application Process

Applicants must complete and submit an online application using the Research Portal. Students should refer to the CGS M application instructions (for all applicants) housed on NSERC’s website to locate details on how to complete their application. Additionally a Canadian Common CV (CCV) must be completed and the confirmation number uploaded into the CGS M application on Research Portal.

When completing a CGS M application, students may select up to 5 separate universities (one graduate department per university) where they intend to pursue graduate studies and hold the award. Once completed and submitted online, the application will be accessible by all proposed universities the student has identified. Students applying for an award at U of T are not required to submit a paper application.

A completed CGS M application will include the following:

1. Completed 3 part online application:

- Identification

- Summary of Proposal (written in lay language)

- Activity Details

2. Outline of proposed research (as PDF attachment)

3. Canadian Common CV (uploaded as a confirmation number)

4. All official academic transcripts, undergraduate and graduate (as one PDF attachment)**

5. Completed Reference Assessments (x2) – invitation initiated and form completed electronically

** registered students must provide official transcripts showing Fall 2015 registration.

Contacts and Resources

For more information, visit the CGS M webpage (housed on the NSERC website), and/or contact the SGS Graduate Awards Office at graduate.awards@utoronto.ca, Additional contact information is provided below:

CGS M SSHRC Fong Di Caterina, Senior Awards Officer 416-978-2150 fong.dicaterina@utoronto.ca	CGS M NSERC Kelly Nolan, Acting Awards Officer, Federal 416-978-8260 kelly.nolan@utoronto.ca	CGS M CIHR Stacey Kwan, Awards Officer, Provincial 416-978-2205 staceym.kwan@utoronto.ca
SSHRC: fellowships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca	NSERC: schol@nserc-crsng.gc.ca	CIHR: cgsma@cihr-irsc.gc.ca