Graduate Student Engagement Scholarship

The Graduate Student Engagement Scholarship (GSES) recognizes academic achievement, leadership, community engagement, and volunteerism and/or involvement in extracurricular activities.

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Value
The value of the scholarship at the University of Alberta is $10,000 and is paid out to the recipient in two lump sum payments.
Eligibility

To be eligible, students must meet the following eligibility criteria:

  • No restrictions on citizenship
  • Open to course-based or thesis-based study programs. All fields are eligible for funding
  • Open to masters or doctoral students
  • Students must be registered full-time in Fall 2023 and/or Winter 2024 terms
  • A minimum of 3.5 GPA is an eligibility requirement for all applicants. The GPA will be calculated based on the current graduate program graded course work at the University of Alberta, or, if a student is newly admitted, the AGPA will be used to determine eligibility.
  • Application must demonstrate leadership, community engagement, volunteerism and or involvement in extracurricular activities
  • Recipient must be of African descent and who self-identify as Black, African-Canadian, African-American, or Afro-Caribbean or Afro-Latino heritage
  • Recipient must not hold another award or scholarship valued at $15,000 or greater during the tenure of this award (Sept 1, 2023- Aug 31, 2024)
Application Procedures

Students must apply directly to GPS by completing the online application in the GSMS Awards Portal; nomination by their home department is not required.

For additional instructions, steps, and details of the application requirements, refer to the GSMS Apply for Awards Training.

1. Search for "Graduate Student Engagement Scholarship" in GSMS to access the online application. It is students' responsibility to ensure their application is complete before submitting in GSMS. Students must click "submit" for GPS to access their application. Successfully submitted applications will indicate the status of "GPS Review".

2. Complete and upload the following documents:

  1. Graduate Student Engagement Scholarship Application Form
  2. Up to date unofficial UofA Transcript (printed in Fall 2023)

3. One Letter of Reference

The referee must be someone who can speak to the student’s community engagement and leadership activities (online request form is sent through the GSMS portal - refer to the Step 8 of the GSMS Apply for Awards Training)

Deadline
Deadline for students to submit an application through the GSMS Awards Portal is Thursday, October 12, 2023 at 4:00 PM.