1 Funding for Graduate Studies at McGill:CGS MASTER’S Information for Academic Units Competition NSERC, SSHRC, and CIHR October 6, 2014

Presentation Overview  Introduction of the CGS Master’s Program  Award Overview  Applicant Eligibility  Program Eligibilities  Application Processes (internal)  Reference Letters  Transcripts  Deadlines  Result Announcements  Resources 2

Award Overview – Major changes 3 Harmonized Tri-Council CGS MASTER’S Awards Alexander Graham Bell (NSERC) Frederick Banting and Charles Best (CIHR) Joseph-Armand Bombardier (SSRHC) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Why? What does this mean?

CGS Master’s Award - Harmonization 4 Why harmonize? – Streamline the process One single student application One single online platform (“Research Portal” hosted by NSERC)Research Portal Canadian Common CV adopted Common evaluation criteria and review mechanisms Common post-award policies and regulations One deadline Eliminating administrative duplication Website for all info : tri-agency CGS harmonization sitetri-agency CGS harmonization site

CGS Master’s Award - Harmonization 5 Adoption of the incoming model Students may select up to 5 institutions with a single application Selection process moved from a two-stage to a one stage process Universities will manage the selection process and award scholarships- agency no longer conduct centralized national selection processes Eligibility screening of subject matter has been delegated to universities Universities received yearly allocations of CGS awards, by agency that will be in effect for 3 years. CIHR - 40 NSERC - 57 SSHRC - 56

CGS Master’s Award - Harmonization 6 Before: Outgoing Before: Outgoing = Students apply for a CGS scholarship through the university they are currently registered Now: Incoming Now: Incoming = Students apply for a CGS scholarship through the university they wish to attend

STATS from Fall 2013 Competition McGill received a total 989 Applications 7 AgencyAcceptedNot OfferedDeclinedWithdrawn by McGill Total CIHR NSERC SSHRC

8 CGS Master’s Award - Applicant Eligibility Requirements be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada be enrolled in, have applied for, or will apply for full-time admission* to an eligible graduate program at the master’s or doctoral level at a Canadian institution with a CGS M allocation. Note: Applicants who are not currently enrolled in their intended graduate program must submit an application for admission by December 10, 2014*eligible **Applicants must check with the academic unit for admission deadline. For students applying for funding to CGSM an earlier deadline may be established by the unit.

9 CGS Master’s Award - Applicant Eligibility Requirements December 31 of the year of application zero and 12 months of full-time studieshave completed, as of December 31 of the year of application, between zero and 12 months of full-time studies (or full-time equivalent) in: or –the master’s program for which applicant is requesting funding; or or –the doctoral program for which funding is requested if you were admitted into a doctoral program directly from your bachelor’s program ( were never registered in a master’s program, or is registered in a combined Master’s-PhD program); or –a master’s program, but are requesting funding for a doctoral program (an example is a student who is fast-track from a master’s to a doctoral program within 12 months of starting their Master’s and is seeking funding for the first 12 months of their doctoral program);

10 CGS Master’s Award - Applicant Eligibility Requirements not have previously held a CGS M from any of the Tri-Council; have achieved a first-class average, as determined by the host university, in each of the last two years of study (full-time equivalent) CGPA –CHIR CGPA 3.70 –NSERC CGPA 3.70 –SSHRC CGPA Humanities 3.70, (includes History), Fine Arts (Music, Art History), Literature, Education Social Studies 3.60, (Other than Education and Law) Law 3.40 (BCL, LLB) maximum of one to up to five universities.submit a maximum of one CGS M application per year which, with the Research Portal, will allow the application to be submitted to up to five universities. Degree and program eligibility may be verified on the NSERC webpage

11 CGS Master’s Award - Applicant Eligibility Requirements Calculating CGPA To calculate, use the GPA Calculator you will have to log in to use ithttp:// To calculate a foreign GPA, use Transcript key & Foreign Country Grade Conversion Guide tional-degree-equivalency tional-degree-equivalency GPA calculations cover last 2 years of full-time studies, and must include: Last 2 years of full-time undergraduate Graduate to date (must have two terms completed with graded courses ) Note that one year is equal to minimum 24 credits

12 CGS Master’s Award – Program of study Eligibility Requirements significant research component An eligible graduate program must have a significant research component. A significant research component is considered to be original, autonomous research that leads to the completion of a thesis, major research project, dissertation, scholarly publication, performance, recital and/or exhibit that is merit/expert reviewed at the institutional level as a requirement for completion of the program. Master’s programs that are based only on course work are not eligible since they do not include a significant research component. Non-traditional Programs of Study demonstrated and significant research componentJoint programs with a professional degree (e.g. MD/PhD, DVM/PhD, JD/PhD, MBA/PhD, MA/MBA) are eligible if they have a demonstrated and significant research component as described above. demonstrated and significant research componentClinically-oriented programs of study, including clinical psychology are also eligible programs if they have a demonstrated and significant research component as described above.

13 CGS Master’s Award – Program of study Eligibility Requirements (cont’d.) Field of Research and Subject Matter Eligibility CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC support and promote high-quality research in a wide variety of disciplines and areas. This includes research that bridges two or more disciplines or that requires the skills of several disciplines. Applicants are asked in the CGS M application to categorize their proposed “field of research”- i.e., health (CIHR), natural sciences and engineering (NSERC), social sciences and humanities (SSHRC). However, the universities are responsible for approving this categorization, and may override it if appropriate. This distinction is important because a university can only award these scholarships according to the agency-specific CGS M allocations they receive.

14 CGS Master’s Award – Program of study Eligibility Requirements (cont’d.) Field of Research and Subject Matter Eligibility Applicants must ensure that they are submitting their application to a university that has an allocation for the field of research they wish to pursue. Applications deemed by a host university to have been labeled incorrectly will be re-labeled. Universities must ensure that agency-specific scholarships are awarded to applications eligible under each agency’s research subject matter guidelines (refer to Selecting the Appropriate Federal Granting Agency).Selecting the Appropriate Federal Granting Agency Applicants should contact the graduate studies office of the Academic Unit where they intend to apply for admission, or where they are currently, or will be, registered in an eligible program of study for further guidance on subject matter eligibility.

15 CGS Master’s Award – Transcripts Students are responsible for uploading their transcripts. Be diligent and ensure that you have all transcripts from all universities listed in the application. Any application received by GPS that is deemed incomplete will not be considered.

16 CGS Master’s Award – Complete application package Every application package must contain the following: Application Form: the following information should be verified –Field of Research is appropriate –McGill MUST be indicated as one of the Proposed Host Organizations with correct Faculty and Department/Division name –Research Proposal uploaded by student –ALL transcripts that have been uploaded by student Two letters of Copy of the Canadian Common CV –This must be validated for the correct funding agency.

17 CGS Master’s Award – Selection Criteria

18 CGS Master’s Award – Selection Criteria

Notification of Results Institutions will establish a list of applicants to whom awards will be offered as of April 1. The offers of awards will be made using the Research Portal, where applicants will have 21 days to Accept or Decline the offers. Institutions may make subsequent offers should some of the offers be declined, until they have no awards remaining, but before January 31 of the following year. Research Portal It is the responsibility of the applicant to verify the Research Portal for results of the competition. Applicants may accept only one CGS M offer. If they accept an offer, they will be deemed to have declined any other pending offers (if applicable), and they will not be eligible to receive further offers. Applicants are not eligible to receive or accept a CGS M offer from an institution where they are not currently enrolled in nor have applied for admission to an eligible program of study. 19

20 CGS Master’s : Deadlines ASAP Students should order transcripts Determined by Academic Unit Applicant to McGill submit complete hard copy application package to the unit December 01, 2014 Students must complete online application. January 30, 2015 Units submit Nominations to GPS via GPSO- FAD April 01, 2015 Offers are made to students. Students have 3 weeks to accept April 21, nd round of offers to all declined offers. Ongoing until all quota is depleted

21 30 January 2014 What to submit to GPS by 30 January 2014 Via GPS FAD list of ranked recommended and non recommended applicants GPS no longer requires copies of applications

CGS-Master’s : Unit Quotas Eligible Master’s enrolment per Unit SSHRCNSERCCIHR Less than and more Academic Units with eligible undergraduate feeder programs, but no eligible graduate program have a quota of 2. Academic Units who admit to PhD1 from BSc can use PhD1 and 2 enrolment for determining the quota.

23 CGS-Master’s : Helpful Resources NSERC Website: NSERC Website: Frequently Asked Questions for UniversityFrequently Asked Questions for University GPS Funding Info Page: Technical Support: Check how to use the Research PortalResearch Portal Review the instructions available in the applicationinstructions available in the application Online Services Helpdesk: or Include your address and telephone number.

24 Helpful Resources (continued) GPS Contact:

GPS Home Page Resource for current graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and university departments GPS Current Students -Detailed information centre and resource directory for current graduate students and postdoctoral fellows GPS Future Students - Primary site for prospective graduate students -Centralized and consolidated listing of all graduate programs - Instructions, support, and tips on admissions and funding processes GPS Newly Admitted Graduate Students - Dedicated resource for accepted students to facilitate their transition to McGill and to Montreal J OIN GPS O NLINE ! 25