Canada Graduate Scholarship - Doctoral (CGS-D) and Postgraduate Scholarships - Doctoral (PGS D)

CGS-D Value: $35,000 per year for 36 months
Tenure: Canadian institutions Only

PGS-D Values:
NSERC: $21,000 per year for 36 months
SSHRC: $20,000 per years for 12, 24, 36, or 48 months

Application deadline (directly to agency): October 17

Toronto Met internal deadline: October 1, 11:59 p.m.

Complete applications must be submitted by the deadline using the appropriate application portal. If the deadline falls on a weekend, applications must be submitted by the following business day before 8:00 p.m. (ET).

Note: As the application deadline approaches, delays may occur due to a high volume of users, which may prevent the timely submission of your application. It is your responsibility to strictly follow the instructions for completing an application. Requests to submit late applications will not be accepted.

Results announced: April

Objective

The objective of the Canada Graduate Scholarships - Doctoral (CGS D) program is to promote continued excellence in Canadian research by rewarding and retaining high-calibre doctoral students at Canadian institutions. By providing support for a high-quality research training experience to awardees, the CGS D program strives to foster impacts within and beyond the research environment.

Description

The CGS D program supports high-calibre students engaged in doctoral programs in all academic disciplines. This support allows scholars to fully concentrate on their doctoral studies, to seek out the best research mentors in their chosen fields and contribute to the Canadian research ecosystem during and beyond the tenure of their awards.  

Transcripts

Transcripts for the Fall 2023 scholarships and fellowships competitions.

New for Fall 2023: If you are applying through an eligible Canadian institution, you must confirm directly with your institution their policy on official transcripts and whether or not unofficial transcripts will be accepted as part of their internal review process.

TMU Transcript Policy: We encourage all applicants to submit official transcripts for the CGS-D competition.

For the review process at SSHRC and NSERC,

For the review process at SSHRC and NSERC, applications submitted with unofficial transcripts will not be rejected. CIHR requires Official transcripts only.

Agency-specific doctoral awards

In addition to the CGS D, each agency has its own doctoral awards. Refer to the appropriate literature for CIHR (external link)  (external link) , NSERC (external link)  (external link)  and SSHRC (external link)  (external link)  for further details. Meritorious CGS D applicants may also be eligible for agency-specific doctoral awards. Applicants complete and submit one application to be considered for both a CGS D scholarship and an agency doctoral award (PGS D). CGS D scholarships are offered to top-ranked eligible applicants.

Applicant

To be eligible to apply, an applicant must:

• be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada, as of the application deadline date
• have completed no more than 24 months of full-time study in their doctoral program by December 31 of the calendar year of application if previously enrolled in a master’s program
• have completed no more than 36 months of full-time study in their doctoral program by December 31 of the calendar year of application if enrolled in a joint program; for example, MD/PhD, MA/PhD
  • applicants who fall into this category have access to the 36-month window whether or not they were previously enrolled in a master’s program
• have completed no more than 36 months of full-time study in their doctoral program by December 31 of the calendar year of application if enrolled directly from a bachelor’s to a PhD program (with no time spent in a master’s program)
  • direct-entry applicants must be enrolled in their doctoral program at the time of application

Note: Applicants may be eligible to apply to the CGS M program (external link)  (external link)  for their first year of doctoral funding.

Number of months

Eligibility for CGS D is based on the number of months of full-time study in the degree for which you are requesting funding by December 31 of the calendar year of application. Two terms of part-time study count as one term of full-time study.

Note: In general, the agencies count all studies toward the doctoral degree for which funding is requested, whether or not they were completed at the degree-granting institution.

Notes:

Some eligibility requirements for CGS D differ from those of the agency-specific doctoral awards (external link)  (external link) .

The agencies count all studies toward the doctoral degree for which funding is requested, whether or not they were completed at the degree-granting institution.

For information on doctoral awards tenable at foreign institutions, refer to the agency-specific doctoral awards (external link)  (external link) .

Indigenous Talent Measures (external link)  (external link) 

For more detailed information visit: Canada Graduate Scholarship - Eligibility (external link) 

Selecting the appropriate agency

The CGS D program supports and promotes research excellence in a wide variety of disciplines and broad fields of health, natural sciences and engineering and social sciences and humanities, including interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research.

Applicants should complete the agency application that is best aligned with their research subject matter to ensure that it is reviewed by experts in disciplines closest to their field(s) of study.  For more information on selecting the appropriate federal granting agency, refer to science.gc.ca (external link) .

To complete the application process, refer to the appropriate agency’s instructions.

• CIHR instructions (external link) 
• NSERC instructions (external link)  
• SSHRC instructions (external link) 

 (PDF file) Where to Submit an Application: Flowchart

CIHR: ResearchNET (external link) 

NSERC: On-line System (external link) 

SSHRC: On-line System (external link) 

 (PDF file) Where to Apply CGS-D Flowchart

 (PDF file) CGS Doctoral research proposal brainstorm

 (PDF file) 2020-2021 NSERC Presentation 

Integrated calendar of agency and interagency funding opportunities (external link)  (external link) 

2023 Faculty of Arts Canada Graduate Scholarship and Grant Writing Workshop (external link)  (external link) 

 (google slide) 2023 Canada Graduate Scholarship Doctoral Presentation (external link)  (external link) 

2023 NSERC Scholarship and Fellowship Application Tutorials (external link) 

Black student researchers

The Government of Canada has deployed additional funds to increase direct support for Black student researchers (external link) (external link) . CGS D applicants who self-identify as Black and provide consent to be considered for funds targeted towards specific groups may be selected to receive this funding. Each agency has a limited number of additional CGS D awards reserved for this initiative.

For more information, consult the Frequently asked questions (external link)  (external link)  about the new Black scholars funding.

Indigenous student researchers

Indigenous Talent Measures (external link) 

Institutions may recommend applications from self-identified Indigenous student researchers to the doctoral awards competition beyond their application quota. Self-identified Indigenous student researchers must agree to their personal information being used for this purpose by making the appropriate selection in the application form.