• Description
• Eligibility
• Funding
• Application
• Review
• Award
• Post-award requirements
• Regulations, policies and guidelines
• Resources

The Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Doctoral (CGRS D) is a scholarship in the Canada Research Training Awards Suite (CRTAS) administered by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). The CRTAS includes the following programs: the Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Master’s (CGRS M), the CGRS D and the Canada Postdoctoral Research Award (CPRA). The CRTAS recognizes and empowers the next generation of highly qualified innovators, knowledge workers and creative thinkers. It supports outstanding graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in developing their research skills and provides the funding and flexibility needed to support their contributions to  building world-class research capacity and to Canada’s prosperity and competitiveness.

The CGRS D program supports and promotes research excellence in a wide variety of disciplines and broad fields of health, natural sciences and engineering and social sciences and humanities, including interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research. This support allows scholars to concentrate on their doctoral studies more fully, to seek out the best research mentors in their chosen fields and to contribute to the Canadian research ecosystem during and beyond the tenure of their awards. 

Applications must be complete and meet all the eligibility criteria to be considered.

Note: If you are eligible to apply to the CGRS M program, you may be able to maximize your potential period of funding by applying to the CGRS M program for your first year of doctoral funding instead of the CGRS D program. You are responsible for choosing the award program to which you apply. See Other restrictions below for more information.

To be eligible to apply to the CGRS D program, you must have completed no more than 36 months of full-time equivalent study in the doctoral program, the PhD portion of the joint professional undergraduate/PhD program or the joint program for which you are requesting funding by December 31 of the calendar year of your application.

Months of study are calculated as follows:

• all months of full-time study, including summer months, count toward the degree for which you are requesting funding
• two terms of part-time study count as one term of full-time study
• the agencies count all studies toward the doctoral degree for which funding is requested, whether or not they were completed in the same program or at the same institution

The following rules apply to specific program types:

• Fast-track programs: If you were registered in a master’s program and subsequently transferred to a doctoral program (fast-track), the months of study completed are calculated starting from the date on which you transferred into the doctoral program.
• Joint programs: If you are registered in a joint program and will obtain a master’s degree as part of the program (for example, MA/PhD, MSc/PhD, MBA/PhD), the months of study are calculated starting from the date on which you officially registered in either portion of the joint program (including the master’s portion of the program).
• Joint professional undergraduate/PhD programs: If you are registered in a joint professional undergraduate/PhD program (such as MD/PhD, JD/PhD, DVM/PhD), only the months of study in the PhD portion will be counted.

• You can apply to only one CRTAS program per academic year through CIHR, NSERC or SSHRC. If you apply to more than one program, only the first eligible application submitted to the agencies will be retained.
• You can apply a maximum of three times to the CGRS D program.
• You cannot have already received a doctoral-level scholarship from CIHR, NSERC or SSHRC (including a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship).
• If you receive an award from CIHR or NSERC, you cannot hold a tenure or tenure-track appointment or be on leave from such an appointment concurrently with your CGRS D award.
• If you receive an award from SSHRC, you may hold this award while on an approved leave of absence from a tenure or tenure-track position to undertake your first doctoral degree. You should contact SSHRC as soon as possible to determine eligibility if you are uncertain.

An eligible doctoral program must be predominantly research-oriented, leading to the completion of a thesis, major research project, dissertation, scholarly publication, performance, recital and/or exhibit that is merit-reviewed by a panel of experts at the institution as a requirement for completing the program.

Joint programs with a professional degree (for example, MD/PhD, DVM/PhD, JD/PhD, MBA/PhD), as well as clinically oriented programs of study, including clinical psychology, are eligible if they have a significant autonomous research component as described above.

If you are not a Canadian citizen, permanent resident of Canada or protected person under subsection 95(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada), you must be registered in your doctoral program of study at an eligible Canadian institution by the application deadline. Up to 15% of awards will be available to international applicants.

You may propose to hold your CGRS D at any eligible Canadian or degree-granting institution outside of Canada (or eligible CIHR institution paid). To be eligible to hold your award at a degree-granting institution outside of Canada, you must both:

• be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident of Canada or protected person under subsection 95(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada) as of the application deadline
• have completed at least one previous undergraduate or graduate degree at a Canadian institution

Up to 20% of all doctoral awards will be available to be held outside of Canada.

When considering locations of tenure outside of Canada and to help you plan for safe travels and to safeguard your research abroad, you are encouraged to consult the Government of Canada’s resources related to travel and research security. These include the following pages:

• Travel advice and advisories by destination
• Travel health notices
• Registration of Canadians abroad
• Emergency assistance outside Canada
• Safeguarding Your Research portal, which includes resources such as a Travel security guide for university researchers and staff, a series of self-directed research security training courses and Canada’s list of Named Research Organizations
• Safeguarding Science Initiative, which offers virtual training modules including on the protection of your research while travelling abroad

Please note that the Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (STRAC Policy) does not apply to scholarship and fellowship programs, such as the Canada Research Training Awards Suite (CRTAS). However, all Canadian researchers are encouraged to consult the Tri-agency guidance on research security and associated resources in order to exercise due diligence when managing their research.

In Budget 2024, funding was provided to support an increase in the number of awards, a portion of which will be dedicated to supporting priority research areas. The agencies will make additional award offers for select meritorious applications that align with one or more of the following priority research areas:

• Advanced digital technologies (including AI, quantum, and cybersecurity) 
• Health, including biotechnology 
• Clean technology and resource value chains 
• Environment, climate resilience, and the Arctic 
• Food and water security 
• Democratic and community resilience 
• Manufacturing and advanced materials 
• Defence and dual-use technologies 

See agency-specific application instructions for guidance on how to identify your research as being aligned with a priority research area.

The agencies may offer supplementary funding to award holders, some of which is offered through joint initiatives (collaborations with organizations from across the not-for-profit, private and public sectors to support and promote training, research and connection activities). Joint initiatives and supplements are designed to reflect the strategic objectives and mandates of each respective agency, inform decision-makers and, in certain cases, address specific needs of their partners. See the agency websites (CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC) for more information on related opportunities.

The Indigenous Scholars Awards and Supplements Pilot Initiative provides financial support to meritorious Indigenous students (First Nations, Inuit and Métis) whose nations or communities are located in Canada and who have applied to the CGRS D program through NSERC or SSHRC. To the limit of available funding, Indigenous students who are successful in the CGRS D competition will be offered the Indigenous Scholars Supplement valued at $5,000 for one year. Additional CGRS D awards and supplements may be offered to select meritorious applicants who have not been offered an award in this competition.

The Tri-Agency Policy on Indigenous Citizenship and Membership Affirmation and the associated directive apply to these awards and supplements; successful applicants must provide documentation as outlined in the Policy and Directive.

For more information, refer to the Indigenous Scholars Awards and Supplements Pilot Initiative web page.

• an opportunity for self-identified Indigenous doctoral applicants whose nations or communities are located in Canada to have their application considered for submission beyond their institution’s quota, provided that self-identified Indigenous student researchers agree to the use of their personal information for this purpose by making the appropriate selection in the application form
• a checkbox in the application form to identify a proposed program of study as Indigenous research, such that the Guidelines for the merit review of Indigenous research will apply (CIHR and SSHRC only)
• instructions for members of the review committees to consider special circumstances that may have had an impact on the academic or career paths of Indigenous applicants
• concerted efforts by the agencies to include Indigenous members and experts in Indigenous research on review committees

The Government of Canada has provided additional funds to increase direct support for Black student researchers. Meritorious CGRS D applicants who self-identify as Black and provide consent to be considered for funds designated for specific groups may be selected to receive this funding. Each agency has up to 10 additional awards reserved for Black student researchers.

As the application deadline approaches, the high volume of users accessing the online application systems may cause delays that prevent you from submitting your application on time. It is your responsibility to strictly follow the instructions for completing an application by the deadline. Late applications will not be accepted.

With the exception of personal contact information, you cannot make any changes or updates to your submitted application either before or after the deadline. You may update your personal contact information by sending an email to the relevant agency.

If you are applying through an institution, you must submit your application by the deadline set by the institution, which may be well in advance of the agency deadline.

For more information about institutional deadlines, contact your faculty of graduate studies (or its equivalent).

If you are eligible to apply directly to one of the agencies, you must submit your application using the appropriate agency application portal before 8:00 pm (ET) on October 17. If the deadline falls on a weekend, applications can be submitted the following business day before 8:00 pm (ET).

The faculty of graduate studies (or its equivalent) at each Canadian institution is responsible for coordinating an institutional evaluation of CGRS D applications. Institutions then submit applications according to their quotas to each agency for consideration.

Agency-specific review committees evaluate applications submitted to the agencies (either directly or via the Canadian institutions).

The evaluation of CGRS D applications, whether by institutions or the agencies, is based on the following criteria:

You will be notified of the results by April 30.

If you accept an award, the relevant agency will publish your name (and other basic award information) on its website.

For more information, see the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act.

Award holders must comply with the policies and guidelines set out in the Tri-agency research training award holder’s guide and in any other documents related to scholarship applications and awards.

The agencies reserve the right to interpret and enforce the policies and guidelines for their funding opportunities set out in their published materials.

Award holders may be eligible to hold their awards part time. See the Tri-agency research training award holder’s guide for further information.

Active career planning has been shown to improve success in degree progression and success in securing awards.

The agencies encourage applicants and award holders to make use of available resources to develop a career plan that reflects their values, strengths and goals, and helps identify any skill gaps. There are tools, such as individual development plans (IDPs), available to support you throughout your training.

For more information, including IDP training modules and an IDP form, see the resources available at CIHR’s Individual Development Plans website.

IDPs are not a CGRS D selection or evaluation criterion.