University-Wide Awards

Award Overview

Purpose

Approximately 21 awards with individual eligibility criteria and values are available within the ​​SGS University-Wide Awards competition.​ Applicants must meet all award specific eligibility criteria required, as outlined within each award description (review list with links in the Application Process section below).

Eligibility

Applicants must:

  • Meet any additional award specific eligibility criteria required, as outlined within each award description (see list above);​
  • Be a domestic or international graduate student;
  • Be either a currently registered student in a U of T graduate degree program or have accepted an offer of admission to a full-time U of T graduate degree program (commencing September or January immediately following the current competition);
  • Demonstrate one or both of the following:
    • ​financial need for upcoming academic year through the completion of an SGS Financial Need Assessment form​;
    • ​academic excellence – have achieved at least A- (or equivalent) in each of the last two completed years of study (full-time equivalent); or if the student has competed two years of graduate studies at the time of application, the student must only demonstrate an overall average of at least A- (or equivalent) on all graduate courses completed.​

​To hold the award, students are required to be registered for the entire academic year following the competition, with the exception of the Donald Matheson Springer Fellowship for graduating students.​

Need Based / OSOTF Awards

This competition consists of 20 different awards with various criteria and requirements. To determine for which need based awards you are eligible, review the “Award Descriptions” section below. Awards categorized as need based only do not require the demonstration of academic excellence as sedcribed below under the merit based awards section.

Awards categorized as “OSOTF” (Ontario Student Opportunity Trust Fund) are only open to eligible applicants who meet the following criteria:

  1. Demonstrate financial need for the upcoming academic year (2022-2023) through the OSAP process or the completion of the SGS Financial Need Assessment form; and
  2. Are Canadian citizens, permanent residents of Canada or protected persons under subsection 95(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada) at the time of the application; and
  3. Are residents of Ontario at the time of the application, as defined by one of the following criteria:
    • Student has always lived in Ontario; or
    • Ontario is the last province in which student has lived for 12 months in a row without being a full-time postsecondary student; or
    • Student lives in Ontario now and has lived in Canada for less than 12 months in a row
    • Married / common-law, students can be considered an Ontario resident if:
      • Spouse has always lived in Ontario; or
      • Ontario is the last province in which spouse has lived for 12 months in a row without being a full-time postsecondary student; or
      • Both of these statements are true: student lives in Ontario now; and student and spouse have lived in Canada for less than 12 months in a row
    • Students who qualify as a dependent student is considered an Ontario resident if:
      • Ontario is the last province in which parent(s) have lived for at least 12 months in a row; or
      • Both of these statements are true: Student lives in Ontario now; and Student and parent(s) have lived in Canada for less than 12 months in a row

The above requirements are established by OSAP to determine Ontario residency for OSAP purposes.

Merit Based Awards

​This competition consists of 20 different awards with various criteria and requirements. To determine for which merit based awards you are eligible, review the “Award Descriptions” section below.​ Awards categorized as merit based only do not require the demonstration of financial need.

At minimum, applicants for mert based awards must:

  • Have achieved at least A- (“A-” = 80%) or equivalent in each of the last two completed years of study (full-time equivalent); or
  • If the student has completed two years of graduate studies at the time of application, the student must only demonstrate an overall average of at least A- (“A-” = 80%) or equivalent on all graduate courses completed.

Application Process

Applicants must:​

  1. Download and complete the SGS University-Wide Awards Application (available Spring 2022). Applicants applying for multiple opportunities need only to complete this item once;
  2. Ensure the letter(s) of reference are sent directly from the referee(s) to the graduate unit, as per the graduate unit’s application deadline;
  3. Submit all of the required documents for each award directly to the graduate unit (detailed in the award descriptions). Please note that an SGS Financial Need Assessment form and supporting documentation be required for some applications. Please refer to the guide attached to the SGS FNA form.​
  4. Graduate units may submit up to 2 nominations for each award within this competition. Ineligible or incomplete applications will not be considered.

Please download and save the application(s) to a local computer before completing the fields on the form(s).

Award Descriptions

Legend
IC = In-course; A = Admission
Graduate units (departments, centres, institutes, schools, or Faculties) are allocated into four divisions. Learn more.

Eligible Div.s Award Type Award Name (select to see description) Award Specific Criteria Approx. # Awards Offered Approx. Award Value Merit &/or Need
All IC & A SGS Fellowships and Bursaries for Black and/or Indigenous Students Black and/or Indigenous students 10 Up to $5,000 M &/or N
All IC Joseph Bazylewicz Fellowship Citizenship from Poland 5 Up to $6,000 N
All IC Jeanne F. Goulding Fellowship Conservation, pollution control, ecology 3 Up to $2,000 M
All IC Ranjit Kumar Graduate Fellowship Development of government, civil society or private sector in Africa, Asia, the Americas or the Middle East 1 Up to $5,000 M
All IC Kwok Sau Po Scholarship Citizenship from Hong Kong or China 2 Up to $2,000 M
All IC Scace Graduate Fellowship Citizenship from South Africa or United Kingdom 4 Up to $4,000 M & N
All IC Donald Matheson Springer Fellowship Accepted to graduate program at University of Michigan in Sept. 1 Up to $7,000 M
All IC Professor R. Paul Young Fellowship Doctoral research addressing problem that crosses traditional faculty boundaries 1 Up to $3,000 M
All IC Vivekananda Graduate Prize (OSOTF) Exemplifying philosopher’s ideal of education 1 Up to $1,000 M & N
All IC & A Iranian Student Memorial Scholarship International Student with Iranian citizenship or pursuing Iranian Studies 1 Up to $1,300 N
All IC UTFA Al Miller Memorial Award (OSOTF) Significant contributions to U of T graduate student life 2 Up to $5,000 M & N
All A Agnes M. Ireland Award (OSOTF) Female identifying graduate student; within one year of completing undergrad honours degree in Arts & Science or Medicine 5 Up to $3,000 M & N
All IC CCDI Fiftieth Anniversary First Families Award (OSOTF) Cultural diversity issues identifying prejudice (preference for Canadian experience) 1 Up to $3,000 M & N
All IC & A Hungarian Helicon Foundation Graduate Award (OSOTF) Advanced studies in any aspect of Hungarian Studies (e.g. language, literature, history, music) 2 Up to $3,000 M & N
Div. 3 IC Lachlan Gilchrist Fellowship Fund Fundamental physics 3 Up to $4,000 M
Div. 3 & 4 IC Mary Gertrude l’Anson Scholarship (OSOTF) Doctoral research in health sciences 10 Up to $4,500 M & N
Div. 3 & 4 IC Lorne F. Lambier, Q.C. Scholarship Cancer research (preference for biochemistry) 1 Up to $3,000 M & N
Div. 3 & 4 IC Ara Mooradian Scholarship Radioactivity 2 Up to $4,000 M

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Results

Graduate units are asked to inform applicants regarding the unit’s internal results. Nominees to SGS will be contacted directly by SGS in July regarding the outcome of the centralized competition.

Award Holder Information

Graduate units are asked to inform applicants regarding the unit’s internal results. Nominees to SGS will be contacted directly by SGS in July regarding the outcome of the centralized competition. ​

Recipients will receive an official award email from SGS–along with a link to this web page–to review the terms and conditions to ensure they will be able to collect and hold their award throughout the 2019-20 academic year.

Payment Timeline

Upon registration for the academic year, successful candidates’ payments will be processed through ACORN in early September. If a recipient owes fees from the previous academic year (2018-19), the payment will first clear the arrears and any remaining funds from the payment will be refunded to the recipient.

The method of the refund depends on the information the recipients have entered onto their ACORN accounts. Please review the How to Activate & Maintain Your Award web page for further information.

Deferrals / Leaves of Absence

All recipients are required to contact the Graduate Awards Officer about any potential changes to their registration status and/or program.

Contacts & Resources

Each applicant may contact their graduate unit to determine the specified deadline for this competition as well as to which email address all of their application materials must be submitted.

Inquiries regarding these awards or the application process may be directed to:

Graduate Awards Office
School of Graduate Studies
graduate.awards@utoronto.ca