Government of Canada - Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Vanier CGS)

Overview

Canada’s prosperity as a nation is increasingly based on science and technology and the highly skilled and creative individuals whose talents bring innovations to life. Their ideas spark the creation of new products, services and policies that support Canada’s economic competitiveness, strengthen social foundations, sustain the environment and improve our quality of life.

These concepts are central to the Government of Canada’s science and technology (S&T) strategy, announced in May 2007, which set out a multiyear framework for improving Canada’s long-term competitiveness. Attracting and retaining the best minds to innovate within Canada is a government priority.

The Government of Canada launched the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Vanier CGS) program in 2009 to strengthen Canada’s ability to attract and retain the world’s top-tier doctoral students. Vanier scholars demonstrate leadership skills and a high standard of scholarly achievement in graduate studies in the social sciences and humanities, natural sciences and engineering, and health.

Scholarship Value

Scholarship recipients receive $50,000 each year for three years. A total of 504 scholarships have been awarded since the inception of the program—119 of them to international doctoral students from the United States, Europe, Africa and Asia. The program supports up to 500 new students annually.


The Vanier CGS program aims to attract and retain world-class doctoral students by supporting students who demonstrate both leadership skills and a high standard of scholarly achievement in graduate studies in the social sciences, humanities, natural sciences, engineering, and health.

Both Canadian and international students are eligible to be nominated for a Vanier CGS.

In an effort to support students in broadening their research horizons and seeking new challenges, the Vanier CGS program strongly encourages candidates to pursue their studies beyond the university that granted their undergraduate and graduate degrees.

ELIGIBILITY FOR NOMINATION

To be considered for a Vanier CGS, you must:

• be nominated by only one Canadian university, which must have received aVanier CGS allocation;
• be seeking financial support to pursue your first doctoral degree (or combined MA/PhD or MD/PhD);
• intend to pursue, in the summer semester or the academic year following the announcement of results, full-time doctoral (or combined MA/PhD or MD/PhD) studies and research at the nominating university;
• have completed no more than 20 months of doctoral studies as of May 1, 2012 (see Notes below);
• have achieved a first-class average, as determined by your university, in each of the last two years of full-time study or equivalent; and
• not have already received a doctoral-level scholarship or fellowship from CIHR, SSHRC orNSERC to undertake or complete a doctoral degree (or combined MA/PhD or MD/PhD).

Notes:
All prior doctoral-level studies, regardless of discipline, will be considered in the evaluation of eligibility. The granting agencies will count two months of part-time study as one month of full-time study.

In the case of students who are registered in a combined MA/PhD program or a direct-entry doctoral program, or who are accelerated from a master’s program into a doctoral program without obtaining the master’s degree, the agencies will not include the first 12 months of graduate study in the evaluation of eligibility.

Combined MD/PhD degrees (CIHR only)
All months of doctoral-level study within the combined degree program will be considered in the evaluation of eligibility.

ELIGIBILITY TO HOLD AN AWARD

Without exception, Vanier CGS awards are tenable only at the eligible Canadian university that submitted the nomination.

To hold the award, the candidate must:

• be registered as a full-time student at the nominating Canadian institution, and be pursuing a doctoral degree (or combined MA/PhD or MD/PhD); and
• remain enrolled and demonstrate continued satisfactory progress in their doctoral program.

Part-time studies
A Vanier CGS may be held by students who are registered part time because of a disability. For this purpose, disability is defined as “a functional limitation resulting from a physical, sensory or mental impairment, which, for an indefinite period, affects the ability of the student to perform the activities necessary to participate fully in his or her learning.” For eligible part-time students, Vanier CGS award funding will be equivalent to a full-time award spread over a longer period of time.

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

MULTIPLE APPLICATIONS

Vanier CGS candidates may only apply to the same agency’s doctoral or fellowship awards programs within the same academic year. They may not submit applications to more than one agency or concurrently hold more than one agency scholarship or fellowship.

SELECTING THE APPROPRIATE GRANTING AGENCY

The candidate’s proposed research project and doctoral program of study must be eligible within the mandate of the agency to which the nomination will be submitted. If in doubt, universities must consult with the agencies in advance of submitting the nomination. This also applies to nominations involving interdisciplinary fields of research, or research areas that span the mandates of two or more of the federal research granting agencies.

2012 Competition Process

1. Applications are initiated in one of two ways. Either:
   1. the candidate informs the faculty of graduate studies at the selected university of their intent to apply to the Vanier CGS competition; or
   2. the university initiates the nomination process by contacting the candidate.
2. Applications are prepared and submitted using the ResearchNet application system.
3. The nominating university sets its internal deadline.
4. The nominating university performs its internal candidate-selection process.
5. The nominating university forwards recommended nominations to the appropriate federal granting agencies by November 9, 2011 (8:00 p.m. Eastern Time).
6. The granting agencies perform their selection process.
7. The granting agencies present their recommendations to the Selection Board.
8. The Selection Board endorses the recommended nominees.
9. The Steering Committee makes the final decisions for funding based on the recommendations for Vanier CGS awards.
10. Successful candidates are notified of the competition results in April 2012.

Important notes:

• Students wishing to apply for a Vanier CGS should verify that the university to which they are applying for doctoral studies has a Vanier CGS allocation. They must then inform the university that they wish to be considered for a Vanier CGS.
• Once they have completed the Vanier CGS electronic application through ResearchNet, students must submit their application online to the Canadian university that will be putting forward their nomination. Applications submitted by candidates directly to one of the granting agencies, instead of through a Canadian university, will not be considered.
• Only one university can submit a nomination for an individual student to an agency. If more than one university is interested in nominating an individual student for an award, the student must choose the university that will submit their nomination. Multiple nominations will not be accepted.
• Based on its allocation, the university will forward its nominations (including the electronic application and the university’s nomination letter) to the appropriate granting agency.
• The university is responsible for notifying candidates if their application is not forwarded to one of the agencies.

Choice of University

Vanier scholars are encouraged to continuously broaden their research horizons and seek new challenges. For this reason, Vanier CGS candidates are strongly encouraged to pursue their studies at a university other than that (or those) which granted their undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Candidates who are nominated by a university at which they have completed a previous degree must provide a strong and compelling rationale, in the Special Circumstancessection of the application, as to why they have chosen to undertake their PhD at the same university.

Evaluation of Leadership Potential

Nominees are evaluated on academic excellence, research potential and leadership potential. There are four opportunities in the nomination package for a Vanier CGS candidate to highlight their leadership potential:

1. Students must list their previous leadership activities/accomplishments according to the categories listed under Selection Criteria. Students are also asked to write a self-assessment detailing the impact of their activities and accomplishments, and how they judge themselves to be a potential Vanier CGS recipient and a leader in their research community.
2. The student’s referees are asked to comment on the student’s leadership potential and to elaborate on the impact of the activities and accomplishments mentioned in the self-assessment.
   
3. The leadership reference letter should be written by someone who knows the student in a non-academic capacity. It should describe how the student has demonstrated, and will potentially continue to demonstrate, leadership.
   
4. The Vanier nomination letter submitted by the university should also highlight the student’s leadership qualities—especially if the nominee is an international student, as some context may be required. The university must also address how it will support the nominee to help them fully develop their leadership potential.

Presentation of Attached Documents

Students must prepare their Vanier CGS application and supporting materials using the following formatting standards:

• Text must be single-spaced, with no more than six lines per inch.
• The acceptable font is Times New Roman (regular, minimum 12-pt.), or any comparable serif font.
• Condensed type is not acceptable.
• Set margins at a minimum of 2 cm (3/4 of an inch) all around.
• Use a left-justified, standard page layout.
• Include your name in the page header (on every page).
• For multipage attachments, number the pages sequentially.
• The maximum number of pages permitted is indicated in each section of the application.Pages in excess of the number permitted will be removed.
• Do not refer readers to websites for additional information.
• If you have supporting documents written in a language other than English or French, you must provide a certified translation of the document.
• All attachments must be in PDF format before they can be attached to the electronic application.

ResearchNet—Application Instructions

Before You Begin
ResearchNet Application Process: General Information
Deadlines
Components of a Complete Vanier CGS ResearchNet Application

Before You Begin

Ensure you have access and permissions to the research application tools listed below, which you will need in order to complete your application. If you do not yet have access and permissions to these, you may register now via the following links:

• ResearchNet account
• access to Common CV

Important notes:

• You should have only one ResearchNet account. If you have already accessed ResearchNet, do not register for a new account.
• You need a Common CV account to prepare a CV to upload into ResearchNet during the e-submission process. An application Common CV includes data required by all agencies (on the first screen of each section) and additional agency-specific data. If you have previously registered for a Common CV account, do not re-register.

ResearchNet Application Process: General Information

1. In ResearchNet, complete all tasks listed for the Vanier CGS competition by following the on-screen instructions in one of Canada’s official languages.
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.Note: What you see previewed is exactly how your application will look when submitted electronically to the granting agency.
3. Indicate that you have verified the application for completeness on ResearchNet.
4. Print the entire application.
5. Save the PDF version of the entire, completed application.
6. Submit the completed electronic application through ResearchNet by completing the "Consent and Submit Application" task. Note: The nominating university cannot accept your application until you complete this task.
7. For technical help, call 1-613-941-9080 or email support@researchnet-recherchenet.cafrom 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
8. For program-related help, please contact info@vanier.gc.ca.

Deadlines

There are two deadlines pertaining to the 2012 competition:

1. Program deadline: Universities must forward their selected nominations to the granting agencies by November 9, 2011 (8:00 p.m. Eastern Time).
   
2. University deadline: Following the student’s identification in ResearchNet of the university proposed for doctoral study, 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 university through ResearchNet. This deadline is set and controlled by each university. You will not be able to submit your application past this precise date and time.

Contact Detail

Program information
Tel.: 613-943-7777
Email: info@vanier.gc.ca
http://vanier.gc.ca/eng/home-accueil.aspx


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