Funding and Awards

Digital Humanities graduate students are not guaranteed funding in their graduate program. However, the department does have a limited budget for graduate student funding support, and the faculty members associated with the program hold research funds which they use to hire students to work on their projects. We distribute funds available by offering Graduate Research Assistantship or Graduate Teaching Assistantship contracts (GRA/GTA,) giving priority to first year students. Most of our contracts are for GRAs instead of GTAs. If you have entered the program funded by a major award or scholarship, you may not be offered a GRA, however, you will have opportunity to apply for those which become available during the year.

Digital Humanities does not offer its own department scholarships or awards.

Graduate Teaching Assistantships & Graduate Research Assistantships
The Digital Humanities program within the Media and Technology Studies unit annually appoints a number of Graduate Teaching and Research Assistantships for services requiring a set number of hours a week for 4 or 8 months (Fall or Winter terms, or both) per year. All students in Digital Humanities are automatically considered for a Graduate Assistantship. Appointments are normally made in July or August after students have been formally admitted to the program. Ranking of students by merit is done in conjunction with admissions; when the graduate committee ranks applicants, it generally takes into consideration the applicant's statement of purpose, letters of recommendation, record of awards and publications and GPA (not necessarily in that order.) The committee will also take into consideration any of the students’ specific technical and academic skills, however, previous experience is NOT required to be hired.

The assistantship contracts are governed by the collective agreement between the university and the Graduate Students' Association. You can view pay scales and the collective agreement in its entirety here.

GRAs/GTAs are employment contracts. Therefore, to have one, you must be located in Canada and have a Social Insurance Number.

Your contract will require you to work a set number of weekly hours between 1 and 12 hours. You cannot work more than 12 hours per week under a GRA, even if you hold multiple contracts on campus. For example, if you are contracted by DH to work 6 hours per week, you can accept another contract on campus for no more than 6 hours per week. You may hold multiple contracts, but you cannot work more than 12 hours per week total.

Off-campus employment has no effect on your eligibility for GRAs, however, ensure you follow the rules outlined in your study/work permit.

Part-time students may not be employed on a GRA for more than 6 hours per week.

While GRAs offer a good wage for valuable academic experience, alone they will not cover your tuition or costs of living. Other supplemental funding will be necessary. If you have a GRA contract in September, your outstanding tuition fees will be deducted from your pay cheque in bi-weekly installments. If you have paid your tuition in full, there will be no tuition payments deducted from your cheques. Cheques are paid to you via direct deposit to your Canadian bank account only.

Work done under a GRA/GTA contract does NOT count toward your Professional Development requirement.

Graduate Teaching Assistantships
The function of a Teaching Assistant is to provide assistance for faculty members in the teaching function in a way that makes a significant contribution to the faculty member's teaching efforts, while providing additional opportunities for specialized training of the Teaching Assistant. Students holding GTAs may be required to assist with lecture preparation, marking or seminars. DH typically hires only one Teaching Assistant per year from among upper year students. Previous experience as a teaching assistant is preferred.

Graduate Research Assistantships
For incoming graduate students, their ranking by the graduate committee will determine if they are eligible for one of the program-funded Graduate Research Assistantships. GRAs paid from faculty members' grants are awarded at the discretion of the individual faculty member who holds the grant. N.B. Students who have already received some type of funding (e.g. SSHRC, FGSR Recruitment Awards) will be considered on a lower priority for distribution of further funding.

Awards Administered by Other Agencies
We encourage all eligible Canadians and Permanent Residents to apply for a Tri-Council Graduate Scholarship. You can apply for the before you are admitted to the DH program, but you must submit your scholarship application by the Tri-Council deadline, followed by your DH program application by the department's application deadline. The Tri-Council Scholarships deadlines are in late fall each year, and it is essential to start the process in early fall. Report any of your scholarship applications with your information in the application portal.

As previously stated, Digital Humanities does not offer its own department scholarships or awards.
Comprehensive information about funding, awards, and scholarships can be found on the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research website.