Ontario Graduate Scholarships and Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarships in Science and Technology

Awards are valued at $15,000 for one year ($5,000 per term for a maximum of 3 consecutive terms).

Additional Information:

• Funded with $10,000 by the Ontario Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development and $5,000 by private donations to Trent University
• Award may not be held for only 1 term.
• Award installments are paid per term to a recipient's student account.
• A T4A will be issued for each calendar year that the scholarship is held.

Applicant Eligibility

To be considered for an OGS/QEII-GSST at Trent, an applicant must:

• Be a current graduate student or have submitted an application for admission to a Trent University graduate program.
• Be a Canadian citizen, a Permanent Resident, or a Protected Person [under subsection 92 (2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protections Act (Canada)] as of the OGS/QEII application deadline.
  • Trent University has two (2) OGS awards that can be allocated to international students. An international student must hold a valid study permit as of the OGS award start date to be considered.
• If an OGS applicant is Indigenous to Canada they may be considered for OGS awards that institutions are encouraged to allocate to qualified Indigenous graduate students. For the purposes of the scholarship, MTCU has outlined that an Indigenous person is a person who self-identities as First Nations (Status/Non-Status), Métis, or Inuit.

Time in Program Eligibility

An OGS/QEII-GSST applicant must have enough eligibility time left in their current graduate program or proposed graduate program to be able to hold the OGS/QEII-GSST scholarship if successful.

• Master's level applicants may receive the scholarship for a maximum of 2 years and cannot have exceeded 24 months of graduate study during the duration of the award.
• Doctoral level applicants may receive the scholarship for a maximum of 4 years and cannot exceed 48 months of full-time doctoral studies during the duration of the award.

Additionally, an OGS/QEII-GSST applicant:

• Must not have exceeded the lifetime maximum of 2 OGS/QEII-GSST awards held at the master's level, nor exceeded the lifetime maximum of 4 OGS/QEII-GSST awards at the doctoral level.
• Must not have exceeded the lifetime maximum of 6 years of government-funded student award support from the following programs/agencies:
  • Ontario Graduate Scholarships (OGS)
  • Queen Elizabethe II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology (QEII-GSST)
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
  • Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)
  • Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)
  • Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Vanier CGS)
• Recipients may not concurrently hold a second government-funded scholarship

Academic Eligibility

• If the student is entering the first or second year of graduate studies at the time of the application deadline, they must have achieved a first-class average (A-) in each of the last 2 completed years of study (full-time equivalent).
• If the student is entering the third year of graduate studies at the time of application, the student must have an overall average of at least A-, or equivalent, on all graduate courses completed.

Award holders must remain enrolled as a full-time student in an eligible program. Recipients who withdraw, transfer to part-time studies, or fail to complete the term are required to repay the award for incomplete terms. A withdrawal in a subsequent term will not require repayment of the award for any completed terms. A recipient who graduates during a term in which they hold an award is permitted to keep the award for that term.

Recipients cannot be enrolled in a qualifying or make-up year, or be on a paid educational leave or sabbatical, to receive an OGS/QEII-GSST.

The University Selection Committee may require applicants to meet more rigorous academic requirements as they deem appropriate.
 

OSAP Restrictions

Recipients cannot receive the award if they are restricted from further scholarships at the time of disbursement. Before paying the OGS/QEII-GSST award to the recipient, the School of Graduate Studies must confirm that the nominee is not on the Ontario Student Assistant Program (OSAP) restricted list. The regulations of the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development require that students who are on OSAP's restricted list will NOT receive the funding until they are removed from the restricted list. There is no appeal for this decision. The School of Graduate Studies will provide a 3-week period to clear any OSAP restrictions prior to revoking an award offer.

Students must apply using the OGS/QEII-GSST application form in the myTrent portal:

myTrent > Finance > Financial Aid > Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) Application and Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology (QEII-GSST) Application

Part 1 of the application includes Applicant Information and Referee Information.

Part 2 of the application includes Required Documents (Section A and B):

Section A

1. Academic Background: List all schools attended and completed degree program(s), including: institution and month/year the degree was awarded or is expected. Maximum of 1 page.
    
2. Academic, Research, Relevant Work Experience: Please include institutions or organizations, period of employment, and position. Maximum of 1 page.
    
3. Awards and Prizes: Please provide name, source, year awarded, duration, and value of awards and prizes received. Start with the most recent award and included up to a maximum of 10 items. Maximum of 1 page.
    
4. Special Circumstances: If appropriate, describe any interruptions or delays to the completion of your degree(s). Specify the dates of the interruption or delay. Maximum of 1.2 page.

A Note About Special Circumstances:

The Special Circumstances part of the application is an opportunity to describe any special circumstances, such as health problems, family responsibilities, disabilities, or other circumstances that have impacted academic performance or productivity. Students are encouraged to briefly explain any delays in the completion of studies or disseminating research results. Students with special circumstances must still meet the minimum 'A-' (80%) grade requirement.

Section B

1. Outline of Proposed Research: Provided a detailed description of your proposed research project and be as specific as possible using clear, plain language, and avoid jargon.
   • Master's Applicants: Maximum of 1 page with a maximum 1-page bibliography.
   • Doctoral Applicants: Maximum of 2 pages with a maximum 5-page bibliography.
      
2. Contributions to Research: Include publications, reports, posters, bibliographies, conference presentations, and indicate where publications resulted from work done in the process of completing your undergraduate degree, master's degree, or while working on doctoral studies, or from other relevant work experience. Maximum of 1 page.
    
3. Interpersonal/Communication/Leadership Abilities: Describe the activities (professional and relevant extracurricular) in which you are involved that demonstrate your communication, interpersonal, and leadership skills. Examples of these include oral presentations, mentoring, teaching, project management, chairing committees, organizing events, supervisory experience, and elected positions held. Maximum of 1 page.

Additional Supporting Documents

1. Transcripts: The applicant will be required to provide official copies of final transcripts for all institutions attended, including transcript legends. Applicants who have attended and/or attend Trent University are expected to upload copies of their Trent transcript.
    
2. Reference letters: 2 academic referees are required to support your application for the OGS/QEII-GSST by submitting Academic Assessment Reports. Academic Assessment Reports will only be accepted by email. Your referees must send these from their institutional email address to gradscholarshipreference@trentu.ca by the posted deadline. Maximum of 2 pages.
   
   Subject line for email: Reference for Applicant: Last Name, First Name, OGS Trent
   
   Academic Assessment Report Form

Presentation Standards

• Clearly indicate adjudication stream within header:
  • Master's Science/Social Sciences
  • Master's Humanities/Social Sciences
  • Doctoral Sciences
  • Doctoral Humanities
• Provide the required information in Sections A and B using the specified headings and follow the order indicated.
• Upload all documents to the myTrent portal as one PDF document in the following order: Section A, Section B, Transcripts.
  • All documents must be combined in 1 PDF. Multiple files will not be accepted.
• Ensure your name appears in the top-right heading of each page.
• Text should be single-spaced, minimum 12 pt, Times New Roman or comparable serif font. Set margins at a minimum of 2cm for all document borders.
  • Condensed text is not acceptable.
• If you have a supporting document written in a language other than English or French, you must provide a translation of the document in either English or French.

Incomplete applications and applications that do not meet presentation standards will be deemed ineligible.

Applicants will be notified during the Spring term of the competition results. No appeals will be accepted for OGS/QEII-GSST decisions.