In 1998-99 the Ministry of Education and Training instituted the Ontario Graduate Scholarships in Science and Technology (OGSST) which, unlike the Ontario Graduate Scholarships, are adjudicated within the university. The Ministry of Education matches scholarship funds from the private sector 2:1. The private sector may include businesses, foundations and organizations that are not government funded in any way, either wholly or with matching/leveraged funds. The scholarships are awarded in the all areas of science and engineering, and those areas of psychology, geography and cognitive science that are NSERC eligible. Please see the list of eligible research area below.
Candidates are nominated by the supervisor of Graduate Studies in their home departments. There is no application process.
Deadline for Nominations
The nominations, including all supporting documentation, must be received in the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research no later than Monday, April 24, 2006.
Citizenship
Candidates must be Canadian citizens, Landed Immigrants, or permanent residents enrolled full-time in approved research master's or doctoral programs in one of the above-noted science/ technology/ engineering fields. The scholarship may be awarded to a student who has been formally admitted, but not yet enrolled, but recipients must be registered full-time in order to receive the scholarship.
Overall Academic Excellence
One of the key criteria is overall academic excellence. The GPA calculation is based on the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) model and is very specific.
The University is responsible for assessing the overall academic performance of the applicant and determining that --- taking into account both course work and research work --- the applicant meets the minimum A - (minus) requirement.
Calculating the Grade Point Average (GPA)
Applicants entering first or second year must have an average of at least A- (or the equivalent) on the last 20 one-term/semester courses (or the equivalent) completed. Applicants entering third year or beyond of graduate studies, must have an average of at least A- (or the equivalent) on all graduate courses completed. The University must assess overall academic performance and determine the applicant meets the A- requirements by taking into account both course work and research work.
Additional Criteria
Preference will be given to students either currently in the first year or entering into the first year of graduate studies.
In addition to the requirement of overall academic excellence, recipients will also exhibit research ability or potential; excellent communication skills; and interpersonal and leadership abilities. These qualities must be addressed in the letters of support from the student's thesis supervisor.
Value of Scholarship
The total scholarship value is a maximum of $15,000 per year, or $5,000 per term. Awards are funded by government matching at a 2:1 ratio money contributed by the private sector (businesses, organizations, foundations). The value of the individual scholarship is actually determined by the amount of the private contribution (e.g., a private contribution of $3,000 will generate a three-term OGSST of $9,000).
Scholarship Restrictions
Recipients may hold other awards of up to maximum of $10,000 per year but are restricted from holding an OGS, NSERC, SSHRC, or CIHR concurrently. The student may also hold a teaching assistantship and a research assistantship. The total amount of scholarship from other sources must not exceed a maximum of $10,000.
Applicants who have defaulted on a Canada or Ontario Student Loan or a loan made under the Ontario Venture Capital Program, or have failed to make satisfactory repayments on an Ontario Study Grant Overpayment, may be ineligible for an OGSST, unless clearance is received from the Student Support Branch of the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities.
Recipients cannot be enrolled in a qualifying or make-up year or be on a paid educational leave or sabbatical.
Duration of Scholarship
Awards may be for a minimum of two terms, and a maximum of three terms, beginning in September 2005. A student may be eligible the next year, but must be re-nominated.
Private Partner Contribution
One third of the total award must be private, and according to the Ministry, new monies, raised after the date of the original year of the program, MAY 1, 1998.
Please note: The industry/private non-governmental funds used in this matching program are in the form of scholarship, not in the form of a research assistantship. If a student is successful in winning an OGSST, an existing funding offer or package provided by the University may be revised at the discretion of the faculty member providing the scholarship funds, in keeping with departmental and faculty policies. The faculty member providing the scholarship funds from the private source also has the option of maintaining the research assistantship level of funding at the same time, should they decide to do so.
Submission of Nominations
There is no application to fill out on the part of the student. All nominations must be submitted electronically, through the Graduate Studies secure web site, by the Graduate Supervisor or Graduate Administrator in the student's home department. Details of nomination procedures are circulated to the departments in late March.
A nomination is considered complete, and therefore eligible to proceed to the Selection Committee, only if it contains the following:
- Statement outlining the student's current program (master's or doctoral), year of the program, confirmation of registration status (full-time) and citizenship (Canadian or permanent resident) as well as a recommendation for the nomination from the departmental Supervisor of Graduate Studies.
- Transcripts to support the GPA calculation as stated above.
- A letter of support from the student's supervisor
- The source, amount and method of payment of the external funds (business, organization, or individual).
- A confirmation in writing of previous OGSST awards held by the student (the Ministry restricts the scholarship to these awards to a lifetime maximum of four years)
Continuing Eligibility Requirements
Master's students can receive the scholarship for a maximum of two years and doctoral students for a maximum of four years, subject to a lifetime maximum of four years per student. Master's students are not eligible for an OGSST after two years of study at the master's level, and doctoral students are not eligible for an OGSST after five years of study at the doctoral level.
Note that the OGSST, unlike the OGS, does not have attached to it a lifetime limit of four years of government-funded scholarship support, similar to the OGS, NSERC, CIHR and SSHRC scholarships. Conceivably, a doctoral student could have received a total of four years of support from OGS and/or NSERC and still be eligible for one year of support through the OGSST program.
Recipients are required to maintain excellent academic standing and be making progress at a satisfactory pace through their program in order to be eligible for re-nomination for a second year. Recipients must remain enrolled as a full-time student in an eligible program. Recipients must hold the award for a minimum of two terms. Recipients who have held the OGSST for one term, who then withdraw, transfer to part-time status, or fail to complete the second or third terms, will be required to repay the award.
Eligible Disciplines
The OGSST program supports graduate students enrolled in research masters and doctoral programs in science and technology disciplines. Collaboration, inter-disciplinary study, and innovation are encouraged. The following are the eligible disciplines:
- Applied Sciences:
- Aerospace (may include Aeronautical Engineering)
Biomedical Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Civil Engineering and Architecture (may include Landscape Architecture)
Computer Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Engineering Science (may include Engineering, Engineering Physics, and Nuclear Engineering)
Mechanical Engineering
Mining, Metallurgy, and Material Science (may include Metallurgical Engineering)
Systems and Industrial Engineering (may include Systems/Design Engineering and Operational Research) - Biological and Life Sciences:
- Biochemistry and Biophysics (may include Medical Biophysics)
Environmental Sciences (may include Agriculture, Ecology, Forestry, and Toxicology)
General Biological Sciences (may include Biology, Botany, Entomology, Microbiology, Mycology, Plant and Animal Biology, and Zoology)
Genetics, Cell, and Molecular Biology
General Health Science (may include research-oriented programs in Epidemiology, Human Kinetics, Hygiene, Nutrition, and Rehabilitation disciplines such as Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Audiology, and Speech Pathology)
Human Biology (may include Anatomy, Biomedical Sciences, Food Science, Immunology, Neuroscience, Pathology, Pharmacology, and Physiology)
Medical and Veterinary Sciences (may include research-oriented programs in Dentistry, Medical Sciences, Nursing, Optometry, and Pharmacy) - Physical Sciences:
- Chemistry
Computer Science (may include Information/Systems Science)
Earth Sciences (may include Geology and Geophysics)
Mathematics and Statistics
Physics (may include Astronomy, Meteorology, and Space Science)
If there is an area that is not listed here, departments should contact the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research. As a general rule, the following approach is taken: for programs such as Physical Anthropology and Physical Geography, an OGSST can be awarded to top students, provided the university views the program as a science program within the spirit and intent of the OGSST program. One "test" of the program as "science" would be that NSERC provides research grants and scholarships/fellowships in this area, and SSHRC does not.
Note, however, that this affects only the eligibility of students, not the basis on which the awards are allocated across the system. While the university may choose to award a scholarship in, for example, Physical Anthropology, enrollment in this program does not generate scholarships.
As noted above, recipients should be enrolled in "research" programs. There is no definitive definition for this. It is incumbent upon the university to identify the graduate programs that can be viewed as "research" programs. A requirement that there must be a thesis/dissertation component to the program could rule out programs that require extensive research within a course structure. But, the scholarships are not intended for programs that are structured mainly for professionals returning from the workforce to upgrade their credentials over an eight or twelve month period.
Updated March 17, 2006
