Canada Graduate Research Scholarships Doctoral (CGRS D) Program

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Deadline
September 9, 2025 at 12:00PM PT
Value
$40,000 per year for three years
Citizenship
Canadian
Permanent Resident
International
Degree Level
Doctoral

 

The Canada Graduate Research Scholarships – Doctoral (CGRS D) are awarded through national competitions by the three Canadian federal granting agencies: the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

The CGRS D program recognizes and promotes the next generation of outstanding Canadian researchers by providing support for a high-quality research training experience to awardees, enabling scholars to concentrate on their doctoral studies more fully, and to contribute to the Canadian research ecosystem during and beyond the tenure of their awards.

 

Eligibility

Complete eligibility criteria are available on the CGRS D program page .

Important note regarding International Applicants: Applicants who are not a Canadian citizen, permanent resident of Canada, or protected person under subsection 95(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada), must be enrolled in their doctoral program of study at the time of application. International student applicants to the fall 2025 CGRS D competition who are not registered in a PhD program at UBC for the fall 2025 term will be deemed ineligible.

 

Evaluation Criteria

Complete evaluation criteria (including description and indicators) are available on the CGRS D program page .

Application Procedures

Students registered in a UBC degree program (or on an approved leave of absence from UBC) between 1 January and 31 December 2025 must complete their application by Tuesday, September 9, 2025 at 12:00 pm PT. Applications submitted after this deadline will not be accepted.

Detailed application procedures and instructions will be made available in mid-July. Please consult the CGRS D program page for most up to date information. An overview of the steps in the application process is provided below for reference:

Confirm eligibility

Confirm research area: Select the appropriate funding agency . Applicants should complete the agency application that is best aligned with their research subject matter:

• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
• Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)
• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)

Determine where to submit an application (through a Canadian institution such as UBC or directly to the appropriate agency). See the CGRS D program page for guidance. 

• If applying via UBC, complete the application by the UBC application deadline, Tuesday, September 9, 2025 at 12:00 pm PT.

Read the instructions  and apply online via the application portal that corresponds to your funding agency.

Ensure your referees are aware of the submission deadline to provide their assessment.

Gather all required supporting documents and official transcripts as outlined on the CGRS D program page . General guidance on preparing transcripts for submission is included below.

Transcript Guidelines

UBC requires official, up to date transcripts for all post-secondary studies (including studies that did not lead to a degree, e.g. exchange/transfer course grades) as part of each application package.  

UBC transcripts:

• Official UBC transcripts are preferred.
• The “Advising Transcript” document (provided to applicants by graduate programs) is acceptable.
• The “"Unofficial Transcript” downloaded from Workday is not acceptable.The UBC transcript or Advising transcript must show 2025W1 (Fall 2025) course registration.

Other transcripts

• Only official transcripts will be accepted.
• Transcripts must be authentic, complete, and up to date.
• Acceptable:
  • Official transcripts from UBC Admission application (eVision system): Scanned copies of official transcripts, accessed by the UBC graduate program from eVision, that were validated and uploaded by G+PS (i.e., transcripts listed as “Transcripts & Diplomas – Official” under ‘Document Type’ in eVision)
  • “Certified True” copies of official transcripts from the UBC graduate program’s own files.
  • Official transcripts sent directly from the issuing institution to the UBC graduate program.
  • Transcripts uploaded by the applicant for UBC admission (i.e. official transcripts in eVision system that are not verified by G+PS)
  • Applicant’s personal copies of official transcripts
• Not Acceptable:
  • Unofficial transcripts (no water mark or registrar’s signature or registrar's stamp and/or may note “unofficial” on each page and/or copied from institution student account)
• The graduate program may have some of the applicant's transcripts on file already; if so, well in advance of the application deadline, the applicant must confirm with the graduate program which transcripts the program has on file and will provide to support the CGRS D application, and which transcripts the applicant must still order from their prior institutions.
• Up to date transcripts: Dated or issued in the current fall session (September 2025) (if currently registered) or after the last term completed (if not currently registered).
• Foreign transcripts: For students including foreign transcripts, if the transcripts are not presented in one of Canada’s two official languages (English or French), a certified translation must be provided, in addition to the transcripts in its original language.
• Include one copy of marking key / legend (usually on back of transcript) for each institution.
• Transcripts are required even from institutions in cases of transfer credit or exchange terms.
• If your institution does not provide transcripts, you must submit, in lieu of a transcript: a certificate of matriculation, a letter bearing the official institution seal/stamp or a letter signed by the dean of graduate studies.  This document must confirm:
  • your program of study
  • your registration status
  • the date on which you started the program of study
  • the fact that the institution does not provide transcripts (not necessary for a certificate of matriculation)

It is the applicant's responsibility to confirm that they have provided all of their required transcripts for their CGRS D application, even if some of the transcripts were obtained from their UBC graduate program.

Complete application procedures are available on the CGRS D program page .

Affiliated Fellowships – Doctoral competition: There is no separate application required for the Affiliated Fellowships – Doctoral competition. Applicants who are eligible for the CGRS D will be automatically considered for Affiliated Fellowships. To be considered for a selection of criteria-based Affiliated Fellowships, students should submit the checklist of criteria-based affiliated fellowships to their graduate program by the application deadline.The checklist of criteria-based affiliated fellowships is available to download here: https://www.grad.ubc.ca/forms/list-criteria-based-affiliated-fellowships

 

 

Nomination Procedures

Graduate programs review and rank the applications they receive and forward their top applicants to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies by uploading the required documents to their graduate program folder in Sharepoint. Nominations must be submitted by graduate programs to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies on Tuesday,  October 7 2025 at 4:00 pm PT.

Graduate program resources (including detailed nomination procedures in the "Graduate Program Procedures" document) will be posted here: https://faculty-staff.grad.ubc.ca/resources/award-administration (CWL log-in required).

Adjudication Procedures

CGRS D scholarship applications are first reviewed and ranked by the applicant's UBC graduate program. The graduate program forwards a limited number of its top-ranked applicants to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, which oversees a university-wide adjudication. Adjudication committees composed of UBC faculty members review and rank nominated applications and select which applications will be forwarded to the national competition. UBC's nominees are forwarded to NSERC, SSHRC or CIHR, which oversees a nation-wide competition that selects which CGRS D scholarship applications will be funded.  Results are announced in April each year.

Further Information

For further information, please visit the CGRS D Program page.