Graduate Student Recruitment Studentship

Background

A major priority for the University of Alberta is to enhance graduate student recruitment. To support this initiative, the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry (FoMD) and Alberta Health Services (AHS) are pleased to offer a studentship competition for the recruitment of new graduate students (thesis-based MSc or PhD) to the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry. A number of Graduate Student Recruitment Studentships awards, valued at $10,000 for one year, are offered annually to high-achieving graduate students registered in the FoMD.

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Award

Awards are valued at $10,000 each and will be offered for a period of one year, from January 1 to December 31 every year.

Two types of applications are invited:

• Topics in basic sciences, funded by FoMD 
• Topics in clinical, health services/outcomes, and population health research, funded by AHS. A clear linkage to a clinical problem is required and an emphasis on translational research (bench to bedside) is desirable.

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Eligibility

• New students registered in a full-time MSc or PhD program between May 2024 and January 2025 at the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry.
• A student is also eligible if they have completed an MSc in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry and will begin a PhD program in a different lab within the Faculty beginning between May 2024 and January 2025. Students transferring from an MSc to a PhD are not eligible.
  
• Applicants must have a minimum GPA of 3.3 from the past two years (see application form for detailed instructions on appropriate calculation). 
• Recipients of this award may not concurrently hold (i) any other major stipend award ($13,000 or greater), or (ii) other funding from the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry (e.g., 75th Anniversary Award, Motyl Graduate Studentship, Medical Sciences Graduate Program Scholarship).
• If the recipient accepts another major award ($13,000 or greater) from any source, or other funding from the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, the GSRS award must be surrendered, and the Office of Research in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry is to be notified by the student and/or supervisor.

MD/PhD 

• MD/PhD students registered full-time (Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer) in their graduate portion of the program are eligible to apply for the awards.
• MD/PhD students must continue to hold full-time graduate registration in their graduate portion during the term of payment of the award.
• The Office of Research must be informed if the student no longer holds full-time graduate registration in their graduate portion so that award payments can be terminated.
  
• MD/PhD students will  need to submit a Confirmation of Eligibility form signed by the Director of the MD/ PhD program.  

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Submission Process

Deadline: Complete applications must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. of Tuesday, October 1, 2024.

Applicants must submit the application electronically as ONE PDF FILE to fmdgrd@ualberta.ca. A complete application includes:

• A completed current application form with all of the required signatures. Please do not use previous application forms as they are updated on a regular basis.
• All non-University of Alberta postsecondary transcripts. Transcripts do not need to be official, but must be complete and current. If transcripts are not in English or French, applicants must submit a translated version. 
• Current U of A transcripts, even if there are no grades. 
• If a student intends to start their program in January, a University of Alberta transcript is not required. Instead, the student would have to submit a confirmation of admission letter from their department.
• Weighted Average Calculator (WAC) document. This is prepared by departmental Graduate Administrators based on the following guidelines: i) If the applicant is less than one year into their program, the WAC document that is required is the applicant's admission WAC. ii) if the applicant is between one and two years into their program, the Graduate Administrator will prepare a WAC document that averages the applicant's admission GPA and their current GPA in the graduate program. iii) if the applicant is over two years into their program, a WAC document is not required. In its place, applicants must submit a Campus Solutions printout, selecting the two most recent years in which courses were taken.
• Two letters of reference, one of which must be from the supervisor, emailed directly to fmdgrd@ualberta.ca. The student should not be copied on this email.

NOTE: Extraneous materials such as: curriculum vitae, reprints, special academic standing certificates, professional licensure certificates, or other documentation are not required and will not be accepted.

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Application Form

The same application form is used to apply for the 75th Anniversary Award, the FoMD Graduate Student Recruitment Studentship, the Dean's Doctoral Award, and the Violet Kilburn and Lawson endowed studentships. Submit the form ONCE and indicate in the space provided which of the competitions you are applying to. Please ensure your eligibility for each of the competitions you check off on the form.

Application form

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Award Adjudication

A review committee will be appointed by the Associate Dean Research, Graduate Programs, and will include representatives from the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry and Alberta Health Services.

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If you require further information, please contact:

Graduate Program Advisor
Office of Research
Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
2-13 Heritage Medical Research Centre
Tel: 780-492-9721
Email: fmdgrd@ualberta.ca

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Award Results