Funding & Fees

Financial support is provided for full-time graduate students in thesis-based programs. For those without major scholarships, a normal level of funding is $20,000 to $22,000 CDN per year. This funding is adequate for the cost of living in Calgary, including tuition and fees.

Graduate student funding may come from one or more of the following sources:

• Graduate Teaching Assistantships: Full time, thesis-based graduate students are offered GAT support, which provides approximately $15,900 per year in return for teaching-related duties performed during the September-April portion of the academic year.  This support is normally for two years for MSc and three years for PhD students.

• Support from Research Grants: Faculty members may offer supplemental research funding to their graduate students for the May-August summer period. These amounts typically range from $4,000 to $8,000 per year.

• Department Research Awards: These merit-based funds are selectively awarded to students with demonstrated research excellence or strong research potential. The awards provide $6,000 per year for M.Sc. students and $8,000 per year for Ph.D. students.

• Scholarships

NSERC Postgraduate Scholarships

NSERC has moved to a fully electronic on-line scholarship application process. Students will electronically submit applications directly to the Faculty of Graduate Studies. The deadline for COMPLETE applications to the Faculty of Graduate Studies is: 4:30 pm on Friday, October 7, 2011.

You must request that your transcripts be uploaded to your application by the final deadline of: 4:30 pm on Monday, October 3, 2011.

The Faculty of Graduate Studies has appointed a University Designate. The University Designate is responsible for uploading transcripts to applications. Please indicate on your on-line application form the following University Designate:

First Name: Brad Last Name: Drebit
E-mail: gsaward@ucalgary.ca
The NSERC online application will automatically generate an e-mail request and the student will be notified once the request has been fulfilled. Please note that applications will have to have transcripts and two reference letters attached before they can be submitted through the NSERC Online Services Portal. Students are encouraged to follow up routinely with their requests to ensure that all necessary documents are attached to their application by the submission deadline. No late applications will be accepted.

Do read all information regarding eligibility carefully and how to prepare and submit your application on the NSERC website at:
http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/OnlineServices-ServicesEnLigne/instructions/201/e.asp 

Please also refer to the following documents for instructions on submission through the Faculty of Graduate Studies:
http://www.grad.ucalgary.ca/awards/award_competitions/nserc and
http://grad.ucalgary.ca/awards/award_competitions/nserc/nserc_cgs_pgs

There are Resource Videos on the NSERC website at:
http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Students-Etudiants/Videos-Videos/Index_eng.asp

You can sample the on-line application by going to the Pilot Site at:
http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/OnlineServices-ServicesEnLigne/PilotSite-SitePilote_eng.asp

There will be an NSERC 2012 Competition information session for students and staff on Thursday, September 22, 2011. NSERC: 11:00 am – 12:30 am – University Theatre. No need to register for the session.

To submit your official application form, go to the On-line System login page at:
https://ebiz.nserc.ca/nserc_web/nserc_login_e.htm.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Department of Computer Science scholarships committee will review these applications and make suggestions as to how to improve your application if you submit an electronic (PDF or word format) copy of just the application (Form 201) and the free-form sections, i.e. the attachments consisting of the research proposal, contributions to research and development etc. to Lorraine Storey (CPSC Grad Program Administrator) at storeyl@cpsc.ucalgary.ca
Do not submit references or transcripts.
The FINAL deadline is Monday, Sept. 26 at 1:30 pm;
however the committee would appreciate if you could submit it well before the deadline.
This step is optional; but it is to your advantage to receive feedback from the committee. 

Alberta Innovates Graduate Student Scholarship

Alberta Innovates has turned the administration of their scholarships competitions over to the individual Universities. 

This program has two (2) separate components: 

• A: is specific to Canadian citizens who hold a NEW NSERC (awarded spring 2012) Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS), Postgraduate Scholarship (PGS), Julie Payette-NSERC Research Scholarship, or Vanier CGS.
• B: is specific to international candidates and Canadian candidates who do not hold an NSERC award, studying at an Alberta university to do graduate work in one of the research areas outlined below.

All administration is through the Faculty of Graduate Studies Scholarships office.
Graduate students in program applying under condition  B (above) will make application to the Graduate Award Competition, as below.

Graduate Award Competition 

This is an annual Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS) competition offering the following scholarships:

• Izaak Walton Killam Pre-Doctoral Scholarship
• Open Doctoral Scholarships
• Special Awards and Bursaries
• Alberta Innovates Technology Futures (AITF) Doctoral & Master's Scholarships (In the case of an applicant who has previously applied to the Alberta Ingenuity, iCORE, or Alberta Innovates Graduate Student Scholarship program, the applicant may reapply no more than one time per degree, for a maximum of two application submissions to the above listed programs.)

Only one application is required regardless of how many awards you apply for.

For details and the PDF fillable application form, see:
http://www.grad.ucalgary.ca/awards/award_competitions/graduate_award_competition

The Departmental deadline for the Faculty of Graduate Studies Annual Award Competition applications is:  Monday January 23, 2012 at 4:30 via email to Lorraine Storey (storey@cpsc.ucalgary.ca).

Queen Elizabeth II Scholarships

The Queen Elizabeth II Scholarships are administered through the Departments. Canadians or permanent residents registered full-time are eligible to apply through the Department. Deadline is early March each year.

The Students Awards Management Database on the Faculty of Graduate Studies site allows students, visitors, staff and faculty members to search for available awards.