Tri-Council Doctoral Scholarships Guide

Program Overview

The Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarships, along with each Council's Graduate Fellowships, are intended to provide financial support to high calibre scholars who are engaged in doctoral programs in Canada and world wide.

The application deadlines, eligibility details, as well as the application processes differ slightly among each council.

  • CIHR doctoral scholarships
  • NSERC doctoral scholarships
  • SSHRC doctoral scholarships
  • Vanier graduate scholarshp

Note: Applicants may only apply to one council.

Students looking to apply to the Tri-Council Doctoral scholarship programs, and who are or have been registered at UNB in the current application year, must apply through the UNB internal competition.

  • Create an application through the appropriate Agency
  • Complete your application. Application instructions are found when you begin your application.
  • Submit completed application form, along with all required attachments by the internal deadline.
  • Official copies of all Post-Secondary transcripts are required. 

Applications submitted will be forwarded to Departments will be reviewed and ranked.

Ranked and eligible applications will be collected and distributed to the University wide selection committee. This multidisciplinary committee will then complete the task of reviewing and ranking of all applications submitted to determine the applications to be forwarded to the National Competition as part of UNB's submission quota.

Applicants selected to be forwarded to the National Competition will be given time to make suggested revisions.


CIHR Doctoral Scholarships

Award Value

CGS - $40,000 per year


CIHR offers additional Priority Announcements/Funding Pools as additional sources of funding for highly rated applications that are relevant to research priority areas or mandates.

These opportunities are listed with CIHR, applicants must verify the "How to Apply" section of each funding opportunity.

Eligibility

Canadian, permanent resident, or protected persons.

In order to be eligible to apply for the CIHR CGS Doctoral awards, students must meet the individual eligibility requirements.


Before starting the application process, both student and supervisor should ensure they have the following:

Within ResearchNet, CIHR provides a detailed application guide and application instructions.

A completed application will include:

  1. A complete the Common CV
  2. A complete CIHR Doctoral application
  3. Official copies of all Post-Secondary transcripts

Applicants must review the terms listed and respond to the questions regarding consent in order to fully submit their application.

Email confirmation will be sent once you have submitted your application.

Note: UNB participates in the CIHR Electronic Signature Process. If your application is approved by UNB, you will receive an email notification.


UNB students applying should refer to the timeline of events.

Note: Results are typically sent directly to students in April.


NSERC Doctoral Scholarships

CGS - $40,000 per year


Award Supplements

  • Fisheries and Oceans Canada Aquatic Science supplement - $10,000
  • Supplment for Research in the Field of Impact Assessment - $10,000
  • Department of National Defense/NSERC Supplemental Funding award - $10,000
  • Canadian Forest Sector Workforce Diversity supplement - $5,000

To apply for these initiatives please review the appropriate postgraduate supplement webpage for more information.


Canadian, permanent resident, or protected persons.

To be eligible to apply for the NSERC CGS Doctoral awards, student must meet the individual eligibility requirements.


Applications to the NSERC doctoral competitions are submitted through the NSERC online system. Students should reference the registration status at time of application table before beginning their application.

A complete application will include:

Please refer to NSERC’s list for a completed application.


Students applying through UNB should refer to the timeline of events.

Note: Results of typically sent directly to students in April.


SSHRC Doctoral Scholarships

CGS - $40,000 per year

Award Supplements

  • Alieen D. Ross Fellowship - $10,000
  • Queen's Fellowship - $10,000
  • Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)-SSHRC Housing Research Supplements - $10,000

To apply for these supplements a one-page justification for each supplement selected in the "Application profile" section must be provided.

Joint initiatives

  • Department of National Defense MINDS Scholarship - $35,000 per year.
  • Initiative for Digital Citizen Research Supplement - $10,000.
  • Sport Participation Research Initiative Supplement - $10,000.
  • Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)-SSHRC Housing Research Scholarship Program - $40,000 per year.

Mitacs Training - Training offered through Mitacs for SSHRC Doctoral Holders.

To apply for these initiatives a one-page justification for each supplement selected in the 'Application profile" section must be provided.


Canadian, permanent resident, or protected persons.

To be eligible to apply for the SSHRC CGS Doctoral awards, students must meet the individual eligibility requirements


Students looking to apply to the SSHRC doctoral scholarship program, and who are or have been registered at UNB in the current application year, must apply through the UNB internal competition.

  1. Complete a Canadian Common CV
  2. Complete a SSHRC Doctoral application.

UNB students applying should refer to the timeline of events.

Note: Results are typically sent directly to students in April. 


Vanier Doctoral Scholarships

$50,000 per year

Canadian, permanent resident, or protected persons.

Before seeking nomination from UNB, speak with your supervisor or intended supervisor to verify Eligibility.

Applicants looking to submit a Vanier application to the School of Graduate Studies are encouraged to contact us well in advance of the internal deadline.


Applications are prepared by the student and submitted to the nominating institution by their internal deadline using the ResearchNet application system.

  1. A complete Canadian Common CV
  2. A complete Vanier application

Note: Applications that do not meet the formatting standards will be discarded.

Applicants are encouraged to attend the various Tri-Council Doctoral workshops held through the application season, as well as work with their supervisors, Director of Graduate Studies, and peers.


Official copies of all Post-Secondary transcripts must be sent to the School of Graduate Studies prior to the internal institutional deadline.


UNB or future UNB students seeking nomination should refer to the timeline of events.

Note: Results are typically released in April.