Scholarships

Awards and scholarships are also offered by both the School of Graduate Studies and the Faculty of Arts & Science. 

Students may apply directly for these awards.

SSHRC and OGS Fellowships

All eligible graduate students (MA and PhD) may apply for Doctoral Fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) funding. All eligible doctoral students are required to apply for an OGS and SSHRC funding annually during the first four years of the PhD program. The University of Toronto’s ability to offer its graduate student base funding depends on many of its students receiving such awards. MA students applying to the PhD program are not required to apply for external fellowships, but are encouraged to do so.

Fellowships at the Dissertation Stage

There are various sources of support for students at the stage when they are researching and writing their dissertation. The Department itself administers several fellowships aimed primarily to help students at this stage, most of them intended to help with the extraordinary expenses associated with thesis research (for example, field work).

  • Lorne Bozinoff Doctoral Fellowship in Political Analysis
  • Noah Blackstein Graduate Fellowship in Political Economy
  • The Alexander Brady – MacGregor Dawson Scholarships
  • Anna Maria Bejarano Field work fund
  • Ken Bryden Scholarship in Canadian Government and Politics
  • David Cameron Graduate Scholarship in Political Science
  • Maurice Cody Research Fellowship
  • Michael W. Donnelly Graduate Fellowship in Political Economy
  • W. Johnson Graduate Scholarship for the Study of Canadian Government and Public Administration
  • L. Mackenzie King Fellowship in International Relations
  • B. Macpherson Dissertation Fellowships
  • Chris Matthews International Graduate Student Scholarship
  • Professor Emeritus Frank Peers Graduate Research Scholarship
  • Department of Political Science Graduate Scholarship Awards
  • Cranford Pratt/Richard Sandbrook International Graduate Student Scholarship in Political Science
  • Vincent Tovell Graduate Scholarship in International Relations
  • Richard Simeon Doctoral Student Scholarship
  • Robert C. Vipond Graduate Scholarship
  • Morimitsu Inaba Doctoral Fellowship in the Political Economy of Development (students working on candidacy requirements are also eligible)
  • Tom Easterbrook Graduate Scholarship in Communications and the Mass Media (students working on candidacy requirements are also eligible)  

Calls are normally sent out from the Graduate Office annually in April for the above funding opportunities. Final decisions on these awards are made by the Department’s Admissions, Awards, and Scholarships Committee.

The Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies each year offers a small number of Beattie Awards. These are intended for advanced Political Science PhD students whose dissertation research relates to issues of peace and conflict. Applications are due usually in April, and decisions made by the Trudeau Centre in consultation with the Graduate Director in Political Science. The allocation of Political Science awards for dissertation-stage students considers the granting of Beattie Awards to ensure the widest possible distribution of support. This allocation also considers the travel grant awards made by the School of Graduate Studies in the spring of each year.

Special Opportunities

This fund is designed to help doctoral students advance their academic and professional goals. It is meant to complement existing opportunities, and is therefore not designed to support conference travel, fieldwork, or methods training, which are covered through other departmental programs. It is designed to support other costs associated with opportunities that doctoral students might pursue, such as special workshops or courses that can significantly enhance and complement students’ academic objectives, as well as professional development. The Department will consider a broad array of opportunities. Typical amounts will vary but remain modest. Students at all stages of the program are invited to apply. They should submit an explanation of the opportunity’s benefits and expected costs. This is a continuing fund, with no specific deadlines. To apply, complete the Special Opportunities Application and inform the Graduate Administrator in the Department of Political Science, Carolynn Branton when you have applied.

Doctoral Completion Award

The Doctoral Completion Award (DCA) is available to PhD students beyond the funded cohort and still within the maximum degree length (PhD year 6 and PhD Direct-Entry year 6 and 7). This fund supports students with approximately half of the value of the cost of tuition. All students in good standing are eligible and those with large external awards may receive a reduced award. The call for applications normally is sent from the POL Graduate Office annually in May. 

Travel Funding

MA and PhD students presenting at conferences and/or PhD students approaching the dissertation stage are strongly encouraged to apply for SGS travel funding. These are intended to support travel associated with thesis research, and priority is given to students who have not previously received support. (The cost estimates for these applications may also be used for applications to the Department for dissertation-stage fellowships.)

PhD students presenting papers at the CPSA or other conferences are eligible to apply to the Political Science Department conference travel fund (scroll down to the Conference Travel Funding Request Form). PhD students presenting papers based on their research at the Canadian Political Science Association are eligible to apply to the CPSA for travel support. Students seeking departmental support for CPSA paper presentation are expected to have applied for CPSA support.

Other University of Toronto Funding Opportunities:

  • SGS University-Wide Awards The School of Graduate Studies offers between 15–20 awards annually through it’s University Wide Award (UWA) competition. Awards vary in terms of the specific eligibility criteria (merit, financial need, student citizenship, area of research etc.) Accordingly, applicants are encouraged to review the award-specific criteria outlined within each award description, to ensure they are eligible before submitting their application. See description of each award below.
  • Faculty of Arts & Science. A number of scholarships are awarded annually to Arts & Science graduate students. Learn about the scholarships available, award criteria, the application process and more.
  • University of Toronto Award Explorer - Graduate offers students an opportunity to  filter through a comprehensive list of local and external awards and opportunities of interest to U of T students.  

Employment Opportunities

Graduate student teaching assistants conduct small section teaching and mark assignments in the Department’s undergraduate program. In 2021-22, a typical full teaching assistantship, requires 210 hours of work from September to April. Salaries are as per salary info posted in the CUPE 3902, Unit 1 Collective Agreement. Application forms are made available electronically to all registered graduate students. As many appointments as possible are posted and hired for in the spring/summer of the previous academic year. In some cases, partial teaching assistantships may be available. A PhD student who becomes a teaching assistant for the first time is entitled, by contract, to be offered 5 subsequent years of equivalent work. Students must confirm an intent to take-up the subsequent year’s appointment in the spring preceding the academic year. A teaching assistantship is normally a component of the funding package guaranteed to PhD students in their first five years. In most years, significant numbers of TAships are available to students outside the funded cohort, including some MA students. All TAs at the University of Toronto are represented by CUPE Local 3902, a certified trade union.

A few undergraduate courses are open each year for PhD students to teach on their own. Applications are solicited from senior PhD students who are well advanced in their dissertation work in two separate rounds, one for the fall/winter terms and the other for the summer. The Undergraduate Director is the chair of a committee that includes the Graduate Director and the MA Supervisor, responsible for choosing among applicants. Among the criteria used is the academic record, progress through the PhD program, the recommendation of the thesis supervisor, and the quality of the course proposal. 

For students without large external scholarships, a research assistantship valued at $1,000.00 is a component of base funding. All faculty are expected to offer an RAship contract for at least that amount each academic year to support base funding RAships. Additionally, individual professors or groups of professors often employ graduate students as research assistants beyond their base funding obligation. Graduate students should inquire about these opportunities from professors doing research in their field of interest. The University has no set scale of remuneration for research assistants. 

 

Emergency Funds 

These funds have been established in the School of Graduate Studies to assist students to meet financial problems which could not have been anticipated. Funds are provided and no repayment is required. Visit the SGS website for more information.

These funds have been established in the School of Graduate Studies to assist students to meet financial problems which could not have been anticipated. Funds are provided and then repaid. Visit the SGS website for more information.

There exists a limited Department Emergency Fund. Application should be made first to the School of Graduate Studies for a Bursary or Loan. If you are not successful, your application will be considered by the department. Where it is not possible to apply for an SGS Bursary or Loan, application can be made to the Department by letter addressed to the Chair. You should note the reason for the request and briefly outline the circumstances leading to the emergency. While the department would like to assist as many students as possible, some requests will most likely have to be refused due to budgetary restrictions.

Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP)

The Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) is a student loan program administered by the Province of Ontario.