Graduate Award Competition Application Faculty of Nursing Graduate Programs Graduate Award Competition Application 2018 Award Year Laura Thomas

Application Deadlines The application portal for the GAC Awards will open on November 1, 2017 and the deadline for submission of completed applications is February 1, 2018. All application documents, including reference letters, must be sent to nursgrad@ucalgary.ca no later than February 1, 2018. If you are a doctoral student applying for the Killam and/or the Open Doctoral competition, we recommend that you submit the application by mid-January.

Terms & Eligibility The complete terms and eligibility requirements of the awards can be obtained on the FGS Website at http://www.grad.ucalgary.ca/awards on the Graduate Awards Database. It is recommended that you read the full terms of reference for each award to determine if you meet the criteria.

Graduate Awards Competition (GAC) The following scholarships (ranging in value from $750-$60,000) are awarded through this annual Graduate Awards Competition (GAC): Izaak Walton Killam Pre-Doctoral Scholarships Open Doctoral Scholarships Alberta Innovates – Technology Futures (AITF) Scholarships Special Awards Bursaries

Graduate Awards Competition (GAC) - Killam Izaak Walton Killam Pre-Doctoral Scholarships - unrestricted field of study - registered fulltime in a doctoral program (or applied for admission) - Must be in the first three years of PhD when taking up the award - have a first class academic standing (equivalent to 3.5 GPA or greater at Ucalgary) The Faculty of Nursing will be given a quota of how many applications for the Killam Pre-Doctoral Scholarships we can put forward for this competition. It is normally only one application. Applications for the Killam Pre-Doctoral Scholarships will be reviewed by the Graduate Admissions and Academic Review Committee (GAARC) who will determine which of the applications will be forwarded to the Faculty of Grad Studies for further review.

Graduate Awards Competition (GAC) Open Doctoral Open Doctoral Scholarships registered fulltime in a doctoral program (or applied for admission) have a first class academic standing (equivalent to 3.5 GPA or greater at UCalgary) Applicants submit one application to be considered for all open doctoral scholarships. Awards are assigned based on overall rank and eligibility. The Faculty of Nursing will be given a quota of how many applications for the Open Doctoral Scholarships can put forward for this competition. It is normally only two applications. Applications for the Open Doctoral Scholarships will be reviewed by the Graduate Admissions and Academic Review Committee (GAARC) who will determine which of the applications will be forwarded to the Faculty of Grad Studies for further review.

Graduate Awards Competition (GAC) AITF Alberta Innovates – Technology Futures (AITF) Scholarships Note: this program will not support medical or health related research initiatives that qualify for support from the Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions (AIHS), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), or similar Detailed eligibility criteria is available on the AITF website http://www.albertatechfutures.ca/GSS.aspx

Graduate Awards Competition (GAC) Special Awards Restricted filed of study (see each award) Funded by donors who wish to support a particular area of interest or specific field of study Open to eligible PhD and Master’s students Applicants must meet the eligibility criteria for each Special Award

Graduate Awards Competition (GAC) Bursaries A bursary is a monetary award given to students who are able to provide evidence of financial need Appendix B must be completed and emailed directly to gsaward@ucalgary.ca

How to Apply

How to Apply Award Instructions for Mac users Friday, November 25, 2016 | TFDL | 10-12 noon Thursday, December 01, 2016 | Foothills Theatre 4 | 2-4pm Tuesday, December 06, 2016 | TFDL | 2-4pm Contact: gsaward@ucalgary.ca Questions:

How to Apply 1) Read Graduate Award Competition Application Guidelines and complete the application form. 12

How to Apply 2) Appendix A: please enter a brief statement in the box provided.

How to Apply 3) Appendix B: Submit directly to FGS at gsaward@ucalgary.ca

Application Requirements 1) Two Reference Letters Must be current One reference letter should be from your supervisor Provide referees the adjudication criteria, including transcripts and CV Inform your Graduate Program Administrator of the names of the referees Reference Letters should be submitted directly to Graduate Program Administrator in a sealed and signed envelope.

Application Requirements 2) Transcripts will be uploaded by the Graduate Programs Office after you have submitted the completed application Official transcripts for all post-secondary study U of C transcripts also required If you need an electronic copy of all of your transcripts to send to your referee(s), please send an email to nursgrad@ucalgary.ca with this request 3) Student is responsible for providing the completed application form and for following up with references

Academic life is about scholarships and grants Why Apply? Numerous awards in the same competition (big potential awards compared to time invested) Apply to any award you are eligible Academic life is about scholarships and grants

Where to Start? Let us know that you are applying – send an email to nursgrad@ucalgary.ca with the names of your 2 references, so that we know to expect to receive these references Do research to check your qualifications Read guidelines Ask for references Don’t wait until the last minute Install Adobe Acrobat Reader prior to opening the application form. Opening this form in any software other than Adobe Reader will corrupt the file

Award Criteria 40% Academic (graduate awards, courses, reference letters) 40% Research Potential (research proposal, publications/abstracts, reference letters) 20% Leadership & Interpersonal Skills (reference letters)

Top Reasons Good Students Don’t Get Funded Generic reference letters that do not give specifics and do not address criteria Content, context and/or impact of research not clearly stated Frustrating the evaluators by not following instructions or stretching the rules Diluting genuinely important/impressive material

Top Reasons Good Students Don’t Get Funded Not addressing possible weaknesses in the application Apply for all of the awards that you are eligible for and only those awards Complete all required fields (may Special Award and Bursary applications are removes because Appendix A.1 and A.2 are not completed) There may be a very strong pool of applicants – this is a competition

Please send this completed application as an attachment by e-mail to nursgrad@ucalgary.ca in the Graduate Program Office by February 1, 2018 You are encouraged to submit your application early!

Thank you  Thank you for attending this session on the Graduate Awards Competition in the Faculty of Nursing. Questions? Contact: nursgrad@ucalgary.ca