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

2. 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 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.

3. Terms & Eligibility
The complete terms and eligibility requirements of the awards can be obtained on the FGS Website at 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.

4. 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

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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 ed directly to

10. How to Apply

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

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

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

14. How to Apply
3) Appendix B: Submit directly to FGS at

15. 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.

16. 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 to with this request
3) Student is responsible for providing the completed application form and for following up with references

17. 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

18. Where to Start?
Let us know that you are applying – send an to 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

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

20. 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

21. 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

22. Please send this completed application as an attachment by to in the Graduate Program Office by February 1, 2018
You are encouraged to submit your application early!

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