Department Awards

As soon as an award’s funding has been confirmed, updated information for the current competition year will be open in the GSMS Awards Portal. 

All award numbers and values in the Searchable Database are projections, and are subject to change at any time.

• Students must be admitted to, or currently enrolled in a graduate degree program.
• Requirements such as registration, residency status, program of study, and selection criteria (award Terms of Reference), can be viewed in the Searchable Database and the GSMS Awards Portal  (note students cannot directly apply via the Portal).
• The majority of awards have a tenure of September 1 – August 31 whereby students must be registered and working full-time on their graduate program during this period (unless otherwise stated in the award Terms of Reference).
• For overall regulations applicable to all merit based graduate student supports administered by the Graduate Scholarship Committee (GSC) of the U of A, students and U of A department nominators are to refer to GPS’s Scholarships and Awards Manual (SAM) in addition to the Searchable Database and GSMS Awards Portal.

Students cannot apply for Department Specific and Inter-Department Awards, but must be nominated to GPS by their home department. The following applies to each award category:

Department Specific Awards

• There is no required GPS application form for students to complete for nomination by their department, however students are to contact their department for any additional internal deadlines and application procedures (if applicable).
• Awards are designated to specific departments in which the department Graduate Coordinator/Chair will nominate a student(s) to GPS. 

Inter-Department Awards

• Required GPS form for students to complete for nomination by their department: Inter-Departmental Awards Application Form. Note the University of Alberta Centenary Graduate Award requires a different application form  (both forms also available in GPS’s Forms Cabinet). Students are to contact their department for any additional internal deadlines and application procedures (if applicable).
• Students are encouraged to reference the Inter-Departmental Award Presentation Standards guide for suggested standards on their research proposal, CV, and special circumstances.
• Awards are designated to multiple departments in which the Graduate Coordinator/Chair will nominate one student to GPS.

As soon as an award’s funding has been confirmed, updated information for the current competition year will be open in GSMS. 

• Departments determine the best way to select their nominees, and are encouraged to set an earlier, internal deadline to allow time for their internal review and adjudication (if applicable).
• Nominations must be submitted to GPS via the GSMS Awards Portal.
• Departments are to refer to the Department-specific and Interdepartmental Awards guide for nomination guidance and requirements.

Department-specific Awards: once the nomination is received at GPS, the candidate does not compete among other university peers. GPS reviews the nomination for eligibility and completeness.

Interdepartmental Awards: once the nomination is received at GPS, the candidate competes among peers from other university departments. A competitive review and adjudication process takes place by GPS’s Graduate Scholarship Committee; only a certain recipient (or number of recipients based on the award’s Terms of Reference) are selected to receive the award.

• All award offers are sent to students via GSMS.
• Unsuccessful nominees will not receive a notification from GPS. As both of these award categories are direct department nominations, departments are responsible for informing their nominees of the outcome.

Deadline for departments to submit nominations to GPS through the GSMS Awards Portal:

Inter-Department Awards: June 30 of each competition year.

Department Specific Awards: August 31 of each competition year.