Applicants must meet all eligibility requirements.
Academic Standing
Students with a minimum first class standing in each of the last two years of full-time study are eligible to apply. GPA is calculated using all courses taken in a given year. For UBC courses, first class standing is 80% and higher. At other universities, first class standing is determined from marking keys that accompany transcripts. For transcripts that are not accompanied by marking keys, applicants should consult with their UBC graduate program staff.
Citizenship
All students regardless of citizenship are eligible to apply. However, Canadian citizens and permanent residents are required to apply for Canada Graduate Scholarships-Master's (CGS M) (or doctoral funding from CIHR, NSERC, or SSHRC), if they are eligible to do so, to additionally be considered for Affiliated funding.
Fields of Study / program of study
Students must be enrolled in, have applied for, or will apply for full-time admission to an eligible graduate program. Eligible graduate program must have a significant research component. A significant research component is considered to be original, autonomous research that leads to the completion of a thesis, major research project, dissertation, scholarly publication, performance, recital and/or exhibit that is merit/expert-reviewed at the institutional level as a requirement for completion of the program.
With the exception of those program listed below, students in all fields of graduate study are eligible to apply. Exceptions:
- Programs that are not administered by the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (such as MBA, MM, MDS)
- Programs that do not include a significant research component (ie. coursework-based programs such as MPPGA, MOT, MPH, MPT, and MKIN)
- Doctor of Pharmacy
Student Status
Applicants who will be registered full-time graduate students at UBC's Vancouver campus as of September 2025 are eligible to apply (current and prospective UBC students are both eligible to apply).
Months of Graduate Funding
Master’s-level Funding
To be eligible, applicants must have completed, as of December 31, 2024, between 0 and 12 months of full-time (or full-time equivalent) graduate-level studies.
Please note that:
- All previous studies at the graduate level, regardless of institution and discipline, will be included in determining eligibility*. For example, a previous period of Master’s or PhD study (either completed or incomplete) at another institution would be counted as part of the total graduate-level months of study.
- Successful applicants for Master's-level funding who plan to hold that funding as a Master's student will not receive funding past the end of their 24th month of Master's-level study.
- Successful applicants for Master's-level funding who plan to hold that funding as a doctoral student will receive a funding offer restricted to a maximum of 12 months, and they will not be considered for doctoral-level Affiliated Fellowships funding such as a Killam Doctoral Scholarship.
- Students in this category would be fast-track program (accelerated from a Master’s program into a doctoral program without obtaining the Master’s degree) or a direct-entry doctoral program (no Masters-level studies) who have completed between 0 and 12 months of graduate-level studies by December 31, 2024.
- Students who will have completed more than 12 months of Master’s-level studies by December 31, 2024 should apply to the doctoral-level funding competition instead, if they are eligible to do so (ex. If they are planning to transfer to a PhD).
Other funding
- While award recipients will be selected based on the evaluation criteria, priority will be given to eligible candidates who do not hold significant scholarship funding (i.e., $16,000 or higher) for the 2025/26 academic year (September 2025 to August 2026). If a student is offered Affiliated funding and later receives other scholarship funding for the same period, the Affiliated funding offer will normally be rescinded.
- Exceptions:
- Students are normally permitted to hold GSI, department-recommended donor-funded awards, and RA/TA positions at the same time that they hold Affiliated funding.
- Some of the Affiliated awards have very niche award descriptions (eligibility requirements). If an Affiliated award receives a very low number of eligible applications, it may be awarded to a student who already has significant scholarship funding. This exception only typically only applies to 1 to 2 awards in the competition.
*All previous months of master's will be counted in assessing eligibility, except in cases where the previous master’s study was required by the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies as a basis of admission to the applicant's UBC graduate program. This exception may affect a small number of students from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and the Philippines. This exception does not apply in cases where the previous master’s study was required by the applicant’s graduate program, but not by the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.
