NSERC Graduate Scholarships

Overview

Eligibility

To be considered eligible for support, as of the application deadline date, you must:

• be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada;
• hold, or expect to hold (at the time you take up the award), a degree in science or engineering from a university whose standing is recognized by NSERC (if you have a degree in a field other than science or engineering, NSERC may accept your application at its discretion); If you are unsure if your research falls under NSERC guidelines please email the agency directly with a summary of your research. If you apply to the inappropriate agency, your application will be disqualified.
• intend to pursue, in the following year, full-time graduate studies and research at the Master's or Doctoral level in an eligible program (see Eligibility Criteria) in one of the areas of the natural sciences and engineering supported by NSERC; and
• have obtained a first-class average (3.5 for Doctoral; 3.7 for Master’s) in each of the last two completed years of study (full-time equivalent = 24 credits).

Interdisciplinary research

Students seeking support for interdisciplinary research in areas covered by more than one of NSERC, CIHR and SSHRC (for example, research in Biomedical Engineering) should consult with one of the granting agencies well before any applicable deadlines.

Required documents

1. Online application form (must register first)
2. McGill transcript ordering information

How to apply

Competition process

Note: “Department” roles: usually refers to work led by appointed departmental fellowships coordinator

1. Student requests transcripts and referee letters to go to department: referee letters can be sent electronically but hardcopy must also be added to application.
2. Student fills out online application (must include e-mail address of appointed departmental fellowships coordinator in application).
3. Student saves application.
4. Student prints application. Status of application at this point is 'in progress'.
5. Student submits a printed copy of completed application to department. (department may request more than one copy check with department)
6. Department accepts entire application including supporting documents from students in person.
7. Department scans and uploads official transcripts, including the transcript key. In the case of international students, the department must scan and upload the original transcripts, the translation, and the related GPS country guide. 
8. Department notifies the student that the transcripts have been uploaded and should provide students with email address of person responsible for uploading.
9. Student finalizes online application to NSERC. Student clicks ‘verify’ (will verify that all components are attached to the student’s application) and ‘submit’.  The status of the application at this point will be ‘submitted’.
10. Department file review committee reviews files and decides to “recommend” or “not recommend” to GPS Graduate Funding via FAD.
11. Department communicates outcomes of their file review to applicants.
12. GPS Graduate Funding's file review committee reviews the recommended files and decides to “recommend” or “not recommend” to granting agency.
13. GPS Graduate Funding notifies every applicant (whose application was recommended to GPS by department) of the file review outcome.
14. Agency announces winners in Spring.

Click image below to enlarge view of NSERC application process flow chart

Additional resources

• NSERC Presentation for Students (webinar presentation)
• NSERC_Student_FAQ (PDF)

Post-Award Information

If you have been awarded the above fellowship, please refer to Accepting, activating, and maintaining your award. Among other items, this page contains the NSERC Award Holder's Guide and Progress Report Form. The deadlines for these items are as follows: