Roles and Responsibilities
- The university must ensure that eligibility criteria and standards of excellence are satisfied.
- The university's Graduate Studies Office coordinates all of NSERC's industrial postgraduate scholarship applications and sends the nomination documents to NSERC.
- NSERC reviews nominations and decides which applicants will receive scholarships. The award is made for a specific research proposal involving a student, a faculty supervisor and a sponsoring organization. The ideal project is one that matches the interests of the faculty member, the needs of the sponsoring organization and the student's skills.
- A university faculty member and a researcher from the sponsoring organization will jointly supervise the project.
- The scholarship will be administered by the university.
Are you eligible for scholarship support?
To be considered eligible for support, you must:
- be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada. Applications will also be accepted from qualified foreign candidates;
- hold, or expect to hold (at the time you take up the award), a degree in science or engineering from a university whose standing is acceptable to NSERC (if you have a degree in a field other than science or engineering, NSERC may accept your application at its discretion);
- have certification from the Dean of Graduate Studies showing that, over the last two completed years of study, you had a first-class academic standing (minimum average of "A-"; see the Note below for more details); and
- be pursuing full- or part-time graduate studies in the natural sciences or engineering at an eligible Canadian university in accordance with the regulations in effect at the university.
Note: If your academic average is slightly below a first-class academic standing, but you have other qualifications and experience relevant to the research project, the Graduate Studies Office must make a case on your behalf for an exception to this requirement.
To determine if you are eligible for the IPS Program, NSERC will count the number of months of graduate studies completed in the program for which you are requesting funding in an NSERC-supported field. It will count two sessions of part-time graduate study as one session of full-time study at the time of nomination.
In evaluating your eligibility, NSERC will consider all studies counted towards a graduate degree, whether completed at the degree-granting institution or not. You must be eligible as of the date the application is received at NSERC.
If your eligibility for the award could run out while the IPS Agreement is in preparation, the university should forward the incomplete application to NSERC with an explanatory cover letter.
What types of scholarships are available?
Industrial postgraduate scholarships are available in two categories: IPS 1 and IPS 2.
IPS 1
This scholarship support is for a minimum of 12 months (in exceptional circumstances only) up to a maximum of 24 months and must be held during the first three years of graduate study.
At the time NSERC receives the nomination, you:
- may be entering, or have begun the first year of a master’s program;
- may be entering, or have begun the first year of a doctoral program (if you were admitted to the PhD program directly from your bachelor’s program);
- must not have been registered in graduate studies for more than 12 months or the award start date must not be beyond the 12th month of studies;
- must not have held a previous IPS 1*, PGS A, CGS M or PGS M award;
- are not eligible to apply for a PGS M or CGS M if you take up an IPS 1 award.
IPS 1 support will not extend beyond the 28th month of your master's program. If you are a successful applicant and if you have completed more than four months full-time equivalent in a master's program at the time you take up your award, the normal 24-month duration of the award will be decreased by the number of months in excess of the four that have been completed at that time.
IPS 2
This scholarship support is for either 24 or 36 months and must be held during the first four years of doctoral-level studies. You are eligible for this type of scholarship only if you are, or will be, a doctoral candidate.
At the time NSERC receives the nomination:
- you must have completed no more than the full-time equivalent of 24 months of studies in the doctoral program for which you are requesting funding in a field of research that NSERC supports, or the award start date must not be beyond the 24th month of studies;
- if you were admitted into a doctoral program directly from your bachelor’s program, you must have completed between four and 36 months of studies in the doctoral program for which you are requesting funding in a field of research that NSERC supports. You must hold the IPS 2 during the first five years of your doctoral program, and support will not extend beyond the 64th month;
- if you previously held an IPS 2*, a PGS D, a CGS D, Vanier CGS or PGS B you are not eligible for further support of your graduate studies; and
- if you take up an IPS 2 award, you are no longer eligible to apply for a PGS D, CGS D or a Vanier CGS.
You will be eligible for only a two-year IPS 2, if:
- you previously held a PGS A or IPS 1* for more than 12 months;
- you previously held a one-year CGS M, or PGS M, plus a PGS M Extension; and
- you have completed more than the full-time equivalent of 16 months of your doctoral program (28 months if you were admitted to the doctoral program directly from the bachelor’s program) as of the date of receipt of the nomination.
Maximum total duration of scholarship support
Scholarship support for graduate studies through NSERC is limited to a lifetime maximum of four years (48 months) of full-time equivalency. NSERC will include any graduate-level scholarship funding provided by SSHRC and CIHR in the calculation of previous funding support.
If you have had up to 12 months of support at the M level (through an IPS 1*, PGS M or CGS M) you are eligible for a maximum of 36 months of support at the D level (through an IPS 2*, PGS D, CGS D or Vanier CGS D) providing you meet the other eligibility criteria for those programs (months of study, etc.).
If you have had between 12 and 24 months of support at the M level (through an IPS 1*, PGS A, PGS M + PGS M Extension or CGS M plus PGS M extension), you are eligible for a maximum of 24 months of support at the D level (through a 24-month IPS 2, CGS D, PGS D or Vanier CGS) providing you meet the other eligibility criteria for those programs (months of study, etc.).
Note: If you have held a 24-month IPS 1, you may still be eligible to hold a CGS D for a period of 36 months, providing you meet the other eligibility criteria (months of study, etc.). This is the only exception to the maximum four years of support.
* For purposes of duration of support and eligibility, IPS includes all NSERC industrial postgraduate scholarships programs.
You are not eligible to receive scholarship support while you are in a qualifying year of study.
Value of scholarships
NSERC will pay a stipend of $15,000 per year to your university. In addition, your sponsoring organization is required to pay at least $6,000 per year to the university in scholarship funds to support you (you should not be paid directly by the organization). Although NSERC cannot award you more than $15,000, the sponsoring organization can contribute more than $6,000 to support you or the project. As a result, the scholarship is worth a minimum of $21,000. IPS award holders may be eligible for some postgraduate supplements (see Table of Supplements).
Source: http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Students-Etudiants/PG-CS/IPS-BESII_eng.asp