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Funding

The School of Engineering Science provides financial support to thesis based PhD and MASc students. The garanteed funding is provided through

  • the supervisor, 
  • teaching assistantship (TA) positions, 
  • awards/scholarships, and 
  • graduate fellowships (GF). 

Students must make satisfactory progress in the program to maintain the eligibility for funding. 

Students in MEng program do not receive garanteed funding from the School. However, MEng students can still apply for Teaching Assistantships (TA).

Financial Awards

APPLICATION SYSTEM

SFU Graduate awards are processed using the Graduate Awards Applicaton System (GA3), unless stated. All graduate students should set up their GA3 profile, including transcripts, CV, list of publications, and other documents, early in their program, and revisit it regularily to update it with current records. You should do this independantly of applying for awards. With a current GA3 profile in place, applying for open awards is quicker.

Graduate Awards Applicaton System (GA3)

TIMELINES

Different awards open at different times, and awards are administered at different levels. The School receives a budget which covers Graduate Fellowships (GF), Travel and Research Awards (TARA), the Graduate Dean's Entrance Scholarship, the Special Graduate Entrance Scholarship and President's PhD Awards. Other awards, such as the Donor Awards, will open to applications for a limited period of time.

The process and timing for each of these awards is different and the notification for when the applications are open comes from your Graduate Program Assistant (GPA) by email to your SFU account.

Common Types of Awards and Scholarships 

GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP (GF)

Eligibility:

  • have a min 3.0 CGPA
  • hold award within the first 9 terms of MASc program and 15 terms of PhD program
  • be registered F/T to hold the award
  • other requirements stated in ENSC GF policy

Documents to be submitted:

  • a PDF copy of your most recent progress report (under supporting documents)
  • additional information form (under supporting documents)
  • Transcript
  • CV

The School Graduate Fellowship (GF) policy can be found here(Revision in progress)

FAS GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP (FAS GF)

Eligibility:

  • have a min 3.50 CGPA
  • hold award within the first 9 terms of MASc program and 15 terms of PhD program
  • be registered F/T to hold the award
  • ineligible if carrying a deferred grade
  • other requirements stated in ENSC GF policy

Documents to be submitted:

  • Supervisor statement confirming that he/she will provide matching funds through research assistantship
  • Transcript
  • CV

Half of the fellowship is funded by the Dean of the Faculty of Applied Sciences and the other half (in the form of an RA) is funded by the student's supervisor(s).

The School Graduate Fellowship (GF) policy can be found here(Revision in progress)

GRADUATE TRAVEL & RESEARCH AWARD (TARA)

Eligibility:

  • have a min 3.0 CGPA
  • be enrolled in a research-based program
  • travel for research purposes or direct costs of research
  • other requirements stated in ENSC TARA policy

Documents to be submitted:

  • travel rationale
  • conference invitation letter or confirmation email
  • expenses receipts
  • transcript

The School Graduate Travel and Research Award (TARA) policy can be found here. (Not published yet)

THESIS COMPLETION FELLOWSHIP (TCF)

This award is by supervisor's nomination to the GPC.

Eligibility:

  • have a min 3.0 CGPA
  • be registered as a full time, regular (not on leave) in a PhD program
  • must be between their 16th and 24th term; students who transferred from a master’s to a PhD are eligible to hold the award between the 16th and 24th term, with the count starting at their master’s program start date
  • must not have held this award previously

Documents to be submitted:

  • A timeline, written by the student, outlining how this award will assist them in completing their degree, you can use the TCF worklist
  • A letter from the applicant's senior supervisor outlining how this award will assist the student in completing their degree

Entrance Scholarships

SFU’s Entrance Scholarships are only available to applicants during the first semester of their program. Applicants do not apply for these awards but are nominated by the department.

Nomination does not garantee you receiving the scholarship. The scholarships are given out based on funding availability and nominees' porfolio. 

Donor Funded Awards

Most Donor Funded awards are open in GA3 in May (for fall payment). Each award has its own requirements. To check if you are eligible, visit the Graduate Studies page. Below are the common Donor Funded awards for engineering science graduate students:

The generic requirements are:

  • Be registered full time in a research based graduate program at SFU while holding the award (note that you can apply for awards at any time, even if not registered)
  • Have a minimum 3.50 CGPA in your current graduate program OR 3.50 CGPA in last two years, if you are not yet in your intended graduate program
  • Meet any additional eligibility or criteria specific to the award

Tri-Agency (NSERC/SSHRC/CHRC) and Trudeau and Vanier Scholarships

TriAgency awards are administered directly through the Government of Canada. 

Students who are Canadian citizens can apply for NSERC or SSHRC grants, depending on their area of research. Students can not apply for both NSERC and SSHRC. International students can apply for the Trudeau and the Vanier.

Visit here to learn how to apply for this award.

NSERC Top-Up


The FAS Research Assistantship/Award, referred to as NSERC Top-Up, is available to graduate students who have received a National Tri-Agency Award or Scholarship (NSERC/CIHR/SSHRC) and who are registered for the semester in which they will receive the award. It is a one-time award of $6000.00. This amount will be funded in part (1/2) from the student’s Supervisor and a second half from the Faculty of Applied Sciences, Dean’s Office.

Please reach out to your Graduate Program Assistant at enscgsec@sfu.ca at the beginning of the next semester once you received the award to apply for the top up. 

Other Sources of Funding

Many different agencies and groups run scholarships independant of SFU. Where they are able to, GS hosts links to those competitions, however it is very difficult for them to stay current with these competitions and you may need to spend more time investigating these opportunties. You may also find local service clubs in your home community (the Legion, the Lions, the Soroptomists, Rotary, etc) may be willing to help with small contributions of funding if you simply write a letter and ask. SFU also has some bursaries and other funds you should look at and see if you are eligible.

Award Payment

You will only be contacted if you are awarded. If you can check your application status on GA3 if the result has been released by GS, "ALST" means you are recommended for the award. Blank or "NREC" mean you are not recommended. The School of Engineering Science does not announce the competition results and we do not know the timeline of GS announcing the result. Please ensure you check your GA3 account regularly. 

Awards will be offered to you by GS via email to your SFU account.  The awards are paid based on when you accept the award according to a schedule. Typically, the awards are deposited to your student account before tuition is due. Your tuition is deducted from your award payment, and then the remaining funds are transfered to your linked account if you have signed up for Direct Deposit in goSFU (do this, keep it all simple). Please note, if you applied to an award and you choose the "pay term" to be a future term (eg. You applied in Summer 2023 and chose the pay term to be Spring 2024), you will not receive an email from GS until the pay term commence. 

For more information on awards and scholarships, please see the Graduate Studies website.