Award Overview

• Award Category

  Black Student Awards, Doctoral Awards, In-Course Awards, Indigenous Student Awards, International Awards, Master's Awards, Prof. Master's Awards, University-Wide Awards

• Student Deadline

  January 30, 2026, 23:59 ET

• Level of Study

  Doctoral, Master’s

• Required Legal Status

  Domestic / International

Purpose

The School of Graduate Studies offers between 15 to 20 awards annually through its University-Wide Awards (UWA) competition. Awards vary in terms of the specific eligibility criteria (merit, financial need, student citizenship, area of research, etc.). Accordingly, applicants are encouraged to review the award-specific criteria outlined within each award description, to ensure they are eligible before submitting their application. Refer to the University-Wide Awards: Award Details and Eligibility web page.

Eligibility

At minimum, all applicants must:

• Be currently registered in a full-time U of T graduate degree program; and
• Demonstrate one or both of the following as per the specific award criteria:
  • academic merit / excellence
  • financial need

Additionally, students must meet the award-specific eligibility criteria as described within each award description.

To be considered for the UWA competition, applications must be:

• complete, including required document uploads and reference submission, and
• have a submitted status by the deadline.

Application Process

1. Refer to the University-Wide Awards: Award Details and Eligibility for a list of all University-Wide Awards
2. Review the eligibility criteria for each award and the individual application requirements—each award will differ
3. Access MyAwardsHub (requires UTORid)
4. Complete and submit the Profile (note: the Extracurricular Activities tab is not required for the purposes of a UWA application)
5. Complete and submit the online University-Wide Awards Application. This will require the following:
   • personal statement for each award;
   • upload a CV and a Plan of Study;
   • complete a financial need assessment if applying to awards requiring demonstration of financial need; and
   • provide contact details for 1 academic reference.

Instructions

You may save your application as a draft (“Save for Later”) if you wish to revise your application.

1. Personal Statement(s): The personal statement will describe: a) how you meet the unique award criteria, and b) why you should be considered for the award. Applicants are expected to review the award-specific criteria outlined in the below award descriptions. Provide a personal statement for each award you have selected (max 500 words each).
2. Upload a Curriculum Vitae (CV), PDF.
3. Upload a Plan of Study / Research Proposal PDF in non-technical language. Students who have prepared an OGS Plan of Study/ Research Proposal may use it for the UWA application (max 1 page).
4. If applying to awards that require demonstration of financial need, complete a financial need assessment (as described above).
5. Applicants must provide the contact details for one academic reference. An invitation will be sent to your referee only when you “Submit” your application. Please submit your application with adequate time for your referee to complete their reference by the application deadline (January 30, 2026, 23:59 ET).

Unfortunately, ineligible or incomplete applications cannot be considered.

Apply to the SGS University-Wide Awards (2025-26) – due January 30, 2026

Results

Applicants will be contacted directly by SGS regarding the outcome in April 2026.

Payment

Payments will be processed through students' ACORN account. Please review the How to Activate & Maintain Your Award web page for further information.

Contacts & Resources