The Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Vanier CGS) program was created to attract and retain world-class doctoral students and to 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 the social sciences and humanities, natural sciences and engineering, and health-related fields. Canadian and international students are eligible to be nominated for a Vanier Scholarship, which is valued at $50,000 per year for up to three years.

The scholarships are administered by Canada's three federal granting agencies: the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

Students wishing to apply for a Vanier CGS must do so through the Canadian university to which they are applying for doctoral studies. 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. Based on their allocations, Universities will forward a limited number of nominations to the appropriate federal research granting agency (CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC).

ELIGIBILITY

To be considered for a Vanier CGS, you must:

• be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or an international student with a valid Canadian study permit;
• be seeking financial support to pursue your first doctoral degree (or combined MA/PhD or MD/PhD);
• have achieved a first-class average, as determined by your university, in each of the last two years of full-time study or equivalent;
• not have already received a scholarship or fellowship from SSHRC, NSERC or CIHR to undertake or complete a doctoral degree or combined MA/PhD;
• be nominated by only one Canadian university, which has a Vanier CGS allocation;
• intend to pursue full-time graduate studies and research at an eligible Canadian university at the doctoral level, in the summer semester or the academic year following the announcement of results (a Vanier CGS may be held by students who are registered part time because of a disability);
• have completed between zero and 20 months of doctoral studies as of May 1 following the announcement of results (e.g. candidates who began their program as early as September 2010 would be eligible). *For candidates who are in a combined MA/PhD program, who fast-tracked from a master's to a PhD or who entered directly into a PhD program from their bachelor's degree, the agencies will not include the first 12 months of graduate study when evaluating eligibility.

If you are successful in the Vanier CGS competition, you must hold it at the university that nominated you. The Vanier CGS cannot be taken to another university as it is not transferrable. *Please see the Vanier CGS website for complete eligibility criteria.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

Nominees will be evaluated and selected based on three criteria, which will be weighted equally by the peer review committees. However, the final selection board recommendation on awardees will be based solely on the leadership component of the applications. The three selection criteria are:

* academic excellence, as demonstrated by past academic results and by transcripts, awards and distinctions;
* research potential, as demonstrated by the candidate's research history, his/her interest in discovery, the proposed research and its potential contribution to the advancement of knowledge in the field, the potential benefit to Canadians, and any anticipated outcomes;
* leadership (potential and demonstrated ability), as defined by personal achievement, involvement in academic life, volunteerism/community outreach, civic engagement

*Please see the Vanier CGS website for complete evaluation criteria.

APPLICATION PROCESS

*For the complete application process please refer to the "How To Apply" section on the Vanier website.

Current and prospective students will complete their Vanier application using ResearchNet, an online application system that is now available through the Vanier Scholarships website. Applicants to Waterloo must submit their complete application package via ResearchNet by 9:00 a.m. on Friday, October 7, 2011.

As an applicant, you can begin preparing to submit your application materials by:

• reading the information pertaining to transcripts on the GSO Transcripts for Scholarship Competitions website.
• confirming who will provide your reference letters
  • you should contact potential referees ahead of time
  • you should provide potential referees with Vanier CGS selection criteria guidelines and information regarding what is required in the Referee's Assessment
  • reference letters are submitted electronically through ResearchNet
• developing your research proposal; the 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 as to which agency you should be applying through, you must send a one page summary of your research proposal to the attention of Heidi Mussar prior to the deadline of October 7th.
• decide which university you wish to pursue your doctoral studies at (the Vanier CGS can only be held at the institution that nominated the candidate). Students can only be nominated by one university. Vanier CGS candidates are strongly encouraged to pursue their studies at a university other than that (or those) which granted their undergraduate and previous graduate degrees.
• create a ResearchNet account; if you have already accessed ResearchNet, do not register for a new account
• create a Common CV account to prepare a CV to upload into ResearchNet during the e-submission process; if you have previously registered for a Common CV account, do not re-register.

NOMINATION PROCESS

• As an applicant, you will submit your Vanier CGS application using the ResearchNet online application system.
• The Graduate Studies Office will print paper copies of the applications and forward them to the graduate department coordinator by Thursday, October 13, 2011.
• Graduate departments are required to review and rank their applicants and submit a maximum of four Vanier CGS nominees to Heidi Mussar in the Graduate Studies Office by 4:00 p.m. on October 20, 2011, after which they will be reviewed by the University-wide Vanier CGS Selection Committee.
• Based on the University quota, the Committee will adjudicate and select nominees to go forward to the national Vanier CGS competition.

Graduate departments must submit a cover letter outlining the following:

• list of nominees in rank order
• ranking rationale and criteria for excellence in specific field/discipline. The cover letter provides adjudicators who may not be familiar with particularities of your specific discipline (e.g., Professor from History reading applications from Sociology) with a context for recognizing excellence in the discipline, especially as adjudicators compare applications across disciplines that may have somewhat different criteria for excellence. Provide contextual information that will enable adjudicators to evaluate the graduate program’s nominees fairly against those from other disciplines.

In addition, the graduate department must provide a letter (maximum two pages each) for each nominee detailing the following:

• Rationale for the choice of nominee:
  • Highlight the factors that were used to determine that the student is potentially deserving of a Vanier scholarship.
  • Include key factors that support the three selection criteria - academic achievement, research potential and leadership qualities; emphasis should be placed on the leadership component since the final selection will be based on this factor.
• Research training environment:
  • Highlight the key elements of the research training environment, such as the research facilities and opportunities available to the nominee; and how the research interests of the student align with the university’s priorities.
  • If known, comment on the research group and/or faculty with whom the nominee will have an opportunity to interact and how the institution will support the nominee in the development of his/her leadership potential.
• Potential benefits to the host institution of recruiting the nominee:
  • Comment on the incremental benefit the nominee will bring to the institution if awarded a Vanier scholarship (e.g., role model, networking, etc.).
• Recruitment and student mobility:
  • Comment on how the nomination of the candidate promotes the recruitment of new foreign or Canadian candidates to Canadian universities.
  • If the candidate has completed a previous degree at Waterloo, provide an explanation as to why the department believes it is in the candidate's best interest to stay at or return to Waterloo.

The cover letter and nomination letters are to be submitted to Heidi Mussar in the Graduate Studies Office as an e-mail attachment (in Microsoft Word).

ADJUDICATION PROCESS

The Graduate Studies Office will organize a University-wide Vanier CGS Selection Committee comprised of Waterloo faculty members to review nominations submitted by graduate departments and select Waterloo's nominees for the national competition. Once submitted to the appropriate granting agency, each nomination is evaluated by an agency-specific selection committee (CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC). Canadian universities each have a limit to the number of nominations they may submit to the Vanier Scholarship competition.

QUESTIONS?

If you have any questions about the Vanier CGS competition, please contact Heidi Mussar from the Graduate Studies Office. For complete details regarding program description, eligibility criteria, and application process please visit the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship website.

VANIER TIMELINE (pdf)

Note: Successful recipients of the Vanier CGS are exempt from receiving the University of Waterloo President's Graduate Scholarship.

*information last updated September 14, 2011

Graduate Studies Office
Needles Hall, Room 2201
University of Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
519 888 4567 ext. 35209

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