Financial Aid
Financial Support
It is the policy of the Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology that all M.Sc. (Thesis) and Ph.D. graduate students should, at all times of their guaranteed funding period, have financial support at a minimum of $20,000/yr stipend for MSc students and $23,000/yr stipend for PhD Students. Effective September 1st 2024, the PhD minimum stipend will increase to $28,000/yr.This funding can be sourced from scholarships, supervisor funding, Teaching Assistantships, Graduate Fellowships or some combination thereof. For example, a student may hold a Teaching Assistantship for one semester, a Graduate Fellowship for the second semester, and funding from the supervising professor's research grant for the third semester.
The BPK department has developed program-level funding poilcy for PhD students to accompany Graduate General Regulation 1.17.
Supervisor Funding
M.Sc. (Thesis) and Ph.D. graduate students in the Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology are entitled to one-semester funded by the senior supervisor, unless the student and supervisor have agreed to other funding arrangements.
Teaching Assistant Opportunities
Many undergraduate courses in Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology have a mandatory laboratory or tutorial component as part of the curriculum. Teaching Assistants are usually hired to run the labs or tutorials. The Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology believes strongly that a graduate student's professional development is enhanced by participation in the learning environment as a learning facilitator and, therefore, every effort is made to place thesis graduate students in the Teaching Assistant positions. In addition, graduate students are frequently hired as Tutor Markers for other undergraduate courses.
Teaching Assistantships are awarded each semester depending on the teaching requirements of the Department. Upon admission to the graduate program, M.Sc. (Thesis) students are given priority for Teaching Assistantships until they have accumulated 25 base units (approximately 5 semesters) whereas Ph.D. students are given priority until they have accumulated 40 base units (approximately 8 semesters). Eligibility for Teaching Assistantships is contingent upon satisfactory progress in the program.
The TSSU (Teaching Support Staff Union) represents all teaching support staff at SFU. Remuneration for Teaching Assistants is based on the size of the class being taught and the number of contact hours.
Available positions for Teaching Assistants and Markers are advertised several months before the start of each semester, and can be found here. Applications and enquiries should be addressed to the Graduate Program Assistant.
Scholarships and Bursaries
Travel Allowances
Graduate students may apply for travel/conference allowances from the following groups:
Scholarships from External Funding Agencies