Award Overview

Previous Autism Scholar Award Winners

For the 2015-16 academic year, both the master's- and doctoral-level Autism Scholars Awards were awarded to University of Toronto students. Applicants from 21 universities across the province were eligible for the awards, and U of T achieved excellent results.

Congratulations to the 2015 winners:

Donald Wang is pursuing a master's degree in Pharmacology, and is investigating new drug therapies that could enhance social functioning in children with autism spectrum disorders. People with autism spectrum disorders often have difficulty communicating and can have impaired social interaction and repetitive behavioural problems.

Tracy Yuen is a PhD student at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. Her research focuses on finding the most effective intensive behavioural intervention for young children with an autism spectrum disorder. She will also examine the cost-effectiveness of diagnostic genetic testing. As prevalence of the disorder continues to climb, her findings could help guide policymakers in anticipating changes in health care demand.

For more information about the award and recipients, visit the Council of Ontario Universities website.

Purpose

With the support of the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, a Scholars Award Program in Autism has been established to ensure that Ontario attracts and retains pre-eminent scholars. The community of autism scholars fostered by this award program will excel, according to internationally accepted standards of scientific excellence, in the creation of new knowledge concerning child autism, its translation into improved health for children, and more effective services and products for children with autism. The program will also lead to increased capacity in diagnosis and assessment of autism and a stronger treatment system.

Eligibility

• To be eligible to receive an award, an applicant must be

  • A Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada as of January 31, 2018; and

  • Registered as a full-time student in a master’s or doctoral program at an Ontario university at the beginning of the award period (Fall 2018) and remain registered as a full-time student throughout the entire duration of the award.

• A master’s student remains eligible until the end of the sixth term of full-time study;

• A doctoral student remains eligible until the end of the 15th term of full-time study; and

• While holding an Autism Scholars Award, a recipient is precluded from holding any other major award.

Application Process

Each applicant must submit to the Graduate Awards Office an electronic copy of the following documents by application deadline:

1. The completed app​lication form;

2. Curriculum vitae—no page restrictions (must include information concerning the eligibility criteria);

3. A statement of research written by the candidate (maximum 1,000 words);

4. A non-technical summary written by the candidate (maximum 500 words);

5. Official or certified copies of undergraduate and graduate transcripts are required. ROSI print-outs will not be accepted; and

6. Confidential letters from two assessors (emailed directly from the assessor to staceym.kwan@utoronto.ca before application deadline). Letters should focus on an evaluation of the applicant's research to date, and the research being undertaken during the graduate period.

7. Application packages must have all materials required when submitted: application form, CV, statement of research, non-technical summary, transcripts, and letters of assessment.

Evaluation Criteria

Master's and doctoral applications will be assessed on their talent, the excellence of their work, the vision that they bring to their endeavours, and the impact that they foresee resulting from their work, as measured by:

• The program of study and research and its potential contribution to the advancement of knowledge about autism;

• Past academic results, demonstrated by transcripts, awards, and distinctions;

• Relevant professional and academic experience, including research training, as evidenced by papers presented at conferences and the candidate's publication record;

• Written letters of appraisal; and

• Appropriateness of the choice of institution and supervising investigator.

Contacts & Resources

For further details and/or if you have questions about this award competition, please refer to the COU website or contact:

Stacey Kwan
Graduate Awards Officer (Provincial)
416-978-2205
staceym.kwan@utoronto.ca

Award Overview

Purpose

The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International is a professional honorary society of 100,000 key women educators in 17 countries that promotes the professional and personal growth of women educators and excellence in education. The World Fellowship Fund was established to provide opportunities for international women to pursue graduate studies in Canada and the United States. 

Applicants must:

• Be a registered full-time Master's or Doctoral student at the University of Toronto;

• Be a female student with a valid study permit (Citizens and permanent residents of Canada and the United States are ineligible);

• Have achieved a TOEFL score, or equivalent documentation, that at least meets the School of Graduate Studies’ English language proficiency minimum requirements, unless English is the applicant's first language; and​

• Not be completing their degree requirements in 2018. Award holders must be registered full-time in their program throughout the 2018-19 academic year in order to receive and retain the funds. 

Application Process

Applicants are strongly encouraged to review the Delta Kappa Gamma Qualification & Application Checklist for all of the eligibility and application instructions and requirements.

Each applicant must ensure that a complete application package is provided to the Graduate Awards Office (63 St. George Street, 2nd floor reception) in hardcopy by 4:30pm on Friday, December 1, 2017. Incomplete or late applications will not be considered.

Application Package

Review the detailed requirements for the application materials on the Delta Kappa Gamma Qualification & Application Checklist.

1. Completed application form;

2. Copy of a valid study permit;

3. Original or certified copies of official transcripts from all previous post-secondary studies, including the University of Toronto transcript showing the applicant's registration in the Fall 2017 session;

4. Proof of English Language Proficiency (TOEFL score or equivalent); and

5. Three (3) confidential letters of reference (using the DKG Letter of Reference form) in signed and sealed envelopes. 

To avoid loss or misplacement of documents in the mail or otherwise, all applicants are strongly advised to collect and assemble all of the required application materials, including reference letters and official transcripts, and deliver their complete hardcopy package to the Graduate Awards Office by the deadline.

Contacts & Resources

Review the Delta Kappa Gamma Qualification & Application Checklist.

For more information, please contact:

Graduate Awards Office
416-946-0808
graduate.awards@utoronto.ca

Two types of Mackenzie King Scholarships were established to support graduates of Canadian universities who are pursuing graduate studies.

Mackenzie King Travelling Scholarship

The Travelling Scholarship is awarded to applicants who have a degree from a Canadian university and are pursuing graduate studies in the areas of international or industrial relations within the United States or the United Kingdom. The Mackenzie King Board receives about 35 nominations annually for four scholarships, each of approximately $10,500 (number of recipients and value are subject to change).

Mackenzie King Open Scholarship

The Open Scholarship is awarded to an applicant who has a degree from a Canadian university and is pursuing graduate studies in any discipline, within Canada or elsewhere. The Mackenzie King Board receives approximately 80 nominations annually from all universities to award one scholarship of approximately $8,500 (value is subject to change).​

View the full details on eligibility criteria and how to apply.

Award Overview

2016 Ontario Women's Health Scholars Award Winners

Established in 2002, the award has since provided assistance to outstanding researchers at Ontario universities who have been improving the health of women through their research. Applicants from 21 universities across the province were eligible for this year's nine awards.

Congratulations to the University of Toronto's 2016 winners:

Alisa Grigorovich is a postdoctoral fellow in the Dalla Lana School of Publich Health Science. Alisa will investigate female workers’ experiences and responses to sexual harassment from clients in Ontario residential long-term care facilities.

Denise Jaworsky is a master's student at the Institute of Health Policy, Management & Evaluation. Her research focuses on the way in which living in rural and Northern areas of Canada affects the ability of women living with HIV to access care.

Visit the Council of Ontario Unviersities website for a full list of 2015 Ontario Women's Health Scholars Award winners.

Previous Ontario Women's Health Scholars Award Winners

Congratulations to the University of Toronto's 2015 winner:

Maurice Pasternak is a master's student in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology. Maurice's research is looking into how to increase the delivery of anti-tumor drugs through temporary tears in blood vessels to better fight cancer without having to increase the drug's dose.

Visit the Council of Ontario Unviersities website for a full list of 2015 Ontario Women's Health Scholars Award winners.

Congratulations to the University of Toronto's 2014 winners:

Alex Kitson is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Nutritional Sciences.

Dziyana Kraskouskaya is a PhD student in the Department of Chemistry.

Tara Gralnick is a master's student in the Department of Psychological Clinical Science.

Maurice Pasternak is a master's student in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology.

For more information about the award and past recipients, visit the Council of Ontario Universities website.

Purpose

The Ontario Women's Health Scholars Award is administered by the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) on behalf of Ontario government ministries. It is open to master's students, doctoral students, and postdoctoral fellows. Funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, a Scholar Awards Program in Women's Health has been established to ensure that Ontario attracts and retains pre-eminent women's health scholars. The community of women's health scholars fostered by this awards program will excel, according to internationally accepted standards of scientific excellence, in the creation of new knowledge about women's health and its translation into improved health for women, more effective health services and products for women, and a strengthened heal​th care system.

Learn more about applying for an Ontario Women's Health Scholars Award.

Award Overview

Purpose

The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Doctoral Scholarships aims to support outstanding students who are interested in growing in a multidisciplinary learning environment and in addressing important questions for Canada and the world. Each year, the Foundation awards up to fifteen (15) scholarships to Canadian and foreign doctoral students pursuing research related to one of its four founding themes: human rights and dignity, responsible citizenship, Canada in the world, & People and their natural environment.

2018 Trudeau Scholars

Andrew Kaufman (Human Geography) researches financial firms that invest in other countries' debt. He is interested in how capital moves around the world and affects the development of cities like Toronto and New York.

Read more.

Diala Lteif (Urban Planning) investigates how, in making Beirut their home, refugees and internally displaced populations in Lebanon have appropriated concepts of migration and citizenship.

2017 Trudeau Scholars

Sarah Mason-Case (Law and International Relations) examines how diverse communities of state and non-state actors, including civil advocates, Indigenous coalitions, and industry, engage in lawmaking practices that define the contours of international climate change law.

Daniel Del Gobbo (Law) is researching the role of alternative dispute resolution in addressing campus sexual violence in Canada.

2016 Trudeau Scholars

Christopher Campbell-Duruflé (International Law) analyzes how new rules of international law resulting from United Nations climate change negotiations might allow Canada and other international actors to respond to climate change in innovative ways.

 

Ido Katri (Law) is proposing an approach to promoting gender self-determination that accounts for the diversity of transgendered people's unique challenges and values their lived experiences of the law.

Cynthia Morinville (Department of Geography) is exploring the lived experiences of informal workers in the global South who extract rare metals from discarded electronic waste. Her research uses documentary filmmaking and photography to tell the e-waste story in a new way.

2015 Trudeau Scholars

Erin Aylward (Department of Political Science) is applying her background in international development to explore the influence of global advocacy and diplomacy of LGBTQ rights on public opinion and political action in Sub-Saharan Africa.

William Hébert (Department of Anthropology) is looking into how Canada can learn from Brazil to better protect transgender prisoners' rights and life conditions within prison walls and beyond.

Anelyse Weiler (Department of Sociology) seeks to understand how the precarious status of migrant farm workers in Canada can help inform local and international efforts to establish more equitable and ecological food systems.

Eligibility to Apply

Applicants must:

• Be applying to or registered full-time in the 1st or 2nd year of a doctoral program in the humanities and social sciences; and

• Be Canadian citizens studying in or outside of Canada, or non-Canadians studying in Canada.

Up to one in four scholarships per year may be given to a non-Canadian (permanent resident or foreign national) enrolled full-time in a doctoral program at a Canadian institution. This applies in particular to students from emerging nations.

Selection Criteria

Candidates are expected to demonstrate:

• A track record of academic excellence of the highest level;

• Exceptional communication and public engagement skills;

• The desire to contribute to public dialogue, transmit knowledge, and to be involved in the community with other researchers or scholars; and

• Thematic relevance of the doctoral research to one or more of the Foundation’s themes​.

Application & Nomination Process

Detailed information on the U of T application process can be found within the “Instructions for Applicants​” document. In summary, applicants must:

1. Complete the online application through the Foundation’s portal including:

• Uploading scanned copies of their current official transcripts from all post-secondary studies including grading legends to the online application;

• Entering the contact information for three (3) referees; and

• Submitting the complete application online and to the graduate unit by the unit’s de​adline.

2. Submit the above completed application including transcripts to their graduate as per the unit’s deadline paying special attention to any specific instructions (e.g. hardcopy or electronic submission). Graduate units will receive applicants’ reference letters through SGS.

Graduate units may nominate up to three candidates to SGS by 4:30pm on Oct. 27, 2017. Further details on the nomination process can be found within the “Instructions for Grad Units” document provided by SGS.

Results

The SGS Graduate Awards Officer (Internal) will notify the units’ nominees of the University competition results in December (graduate units will be copied).

The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation will directly notify semi-finalists in early February. In early-mid March, approx. 30 finalists will be selected and invited to an interview at the Foundation offices in Montréal. Unsuccessful nominees will be directly notified by the Foundation via mail. Up to 15 Pierre Elliot Trudeau Scholars will be chosen and notified by late April but will not be publicly announced by the Foundation until early June.

Safety Abroad

Please be reminded that all U of T students travelling outside of Canada who are conducting research and/or are receiving funding or sanctioning through the University must comply with U of T’s safety abroad requirements before departure.

Failure to comply with the following procedures may result in withdrawal of funding, emergency support and/or academic credit; students may be required to provide confirmation:

1. Complete the online registration request form. This should occur at least one month before departure. The Safety Abroad Office will register the student and send a confirmation email.

2. Sign on to the Safety Abroad Database and complete a profile, including emergency contact, passport and travel health insurance information.

3. Attend the appropriate Safety Abroad Workshop

4. Sign and submit waivers to the Safety Abroad Office.

5. Obtain supplementary health insurance (if not already covered).

For travel to a region designated by the Global Affairs Canada as "Avoid Non-Essential Travel" or "Avoid All Travel" students must contact the Safety Abroad Office at safety.abroad@utoronto.ca as soon as possible to request special approval for the trip.

Questions on these requirements and/or the process can be directed to:
Safety Abroad Office
safety.abroad@utoronto.ca
416-978-1148

Contacts & Resources

Visit the Trudeau Foundation’s website

For more information, please contact:

Tara Lock
Graduate Awards Officer (Internal)
tara.lock@utoronto.ca
416-978-2386

So you think you've got a thesis? You'll have just three minutes and one power-point slide to present your doctoral research in an engaging, accessible and compelling way to a panel of non-specialist judges. 

Learn more about the 3-Minute Thesis Competition at the University of Toronto.

Award Overview

Purpose

Up to 40 Walter C. Sumner Memorial Fellowships will be awarded nationally to doctoral students who are registered or about to commence studies in Chemistry, Physics, Electrical Engineering, or Computer Science.

Applicants must:

Applicants must ensure that Part I of the application form, proof of citizenship, their official transcripts, and referees' forms (Part II) are submitted to their graduate unit by the unit's internal deadline. Applications that are incomplete, ineligible, or are submitted after the deadline will not be considered.​

A completed application will consist of the following documents (no other supporting documentation will be accepted):

• Application Form;

• Proof of Canadian citizenship (i.e., copy of valid Canadian passport, birth certificate, or citzenship card); and
• Official up to date transcripts from all universities attended, including a current University of Toronto transcript. Up-to-date transcripts are defined as transcripts dated or issued in the fall session of the year of application (if registered) or after the last term completed (if not currently registered). Web-based print-outs are not accepted.​

Notes Regarding Application Form:

• Part I: To be completed by the applicant and must include:
  
1. Personal information
   
2. Contact information (If there is a possibility that you will move at the end of the winter session, provide contact information for use by the Sumner foundation after April 1st.)
   
3. Academic background, including degrees, awards, theses, publications and research​
   

• Part II-A: form must be completed by the supervisor of most recently completed thesis. Referee may also attach additional sheet for comments.

• Part II-B: form must be completed by prospective supervisor or current supervisor. Referee may also attach additional sheet for comments.

• Part III-A: form must be completed by the graduate chair of the applicant's U of T graduate unit.

• Part III-B: will be completed by SGS after graduate units have submitted their nominations.​

Renewals

Current recipients of the Sumner award may submit a request to renew the award for an additional year.  A new application form is not required.  Awardees should submit the following documentation via their graduate unit:

1. A one page report which includes information on:

• (a) the research completed;
  
• (b) any papers in press or published;
  
• (c) a transcript showing results of any course work;
  
• (d) papers or posters presented; and
  
• (e) any other relevant information. 
  

2. A letter from the recipient's research supervisor co-signed by the Dean of Graduate Studies (SGS will obtain this signature for applicants), indicating that, in their view, satisfactory progress has been made by the student.  The letter must also disclose whether the applicant has been awarded a Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS D) for his/her second year of study.

Results

SGS will notify all nominees of the results of the University competition in March. Walter C. Sumner Foundation will notify only the successful candidates directly at the end of May.

Resources & Contacts

For more information, please contact:

Graduate Awards Office
416-946-0808
graduate.awards@utoronto.ca​