Ellen Jopling
Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD)
Stress and Depression
Governor General's Gold Medal
Deadline
Applicants: check with graduate program (likely February 2022); Graduate programs: check with the Dean's office of your disciplinary Faculty; G+PS Deadline: Likely March 2022
Annual Value
n/a
Citizenship
Canadian
Permanent Resident
International
Degree Level
Masters
Doctoral
One gold medal is awarded to the student who has achieved the most outstanding academic record as a doctoral student. A second gold medal is awarded to the graduate student who has achieved most outstanding academic record as a Master’s student completing a thesis. This is an opportunity to honour the best in the graduating class within the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, as there is only one award for more than 2,000 Master’s graduates and one award for more than 500 doctoral graduates. Medals are presented on behalf of the Governor General of Canada by participating educational institutions, along with a personalized certificate signed by the Governor General. There is no monetary award associated with the medals.
Eligibility
Students must have submitted the final copy of their thesis to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020.
Evaluation Criteria
One gold medal is awarded to the student who has achieved the most outstanding academic record as a doctoral student. A second gold medal is awarded to the graduate student who has achieved most outstanding academic record as a Master’s student completing a thesis.
Outstanding academic record is assessed through the applicant’s submitted materials: Transcripts (ie. GPA), External Examiner’s report on doctoral dissertation (PhD nominees only), letter of support from thesis supervisor, letter of support from Department Head.
Nomination Procedures
Graduate Programs
Graduate programs must check with their respective Dean’s Office for their Faculty’s internal nomination deadline. Internal nomination deadlines are normally several weeks before the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies deadline. Each graduate program nomination must include the following:
- Application form filled out by the student
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All undergraduate and graduate transcripts
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Official transcripts are preferred, where possible. Due to COVID-19, unofficial transcripts are also acceptable in cases where an official transcript cannot be obtained in time. Unofficial transcripts must still be authentic, up to date and complete.
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UBC transcripts: The ”Academic History” document from SISC is acceptable (request from your graduate program; SSC grade summary page is not acceptable)
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Transcripts must be complete and up to date – issued in Fall 2020 if currently registered, or after the last term completed if not currently registered.
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- Copy of External Examiner’s report on doctoral dissertation (for PhD applicants only – Master’s applicants do not need to provide an equivalent document)
- Letter of support from thesis supervisor
- Letter of support from Department Head
Faculty Dean’s Offices
Deans review nominations submitted by their graduate programs and nominate up to two students to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, one for the Master’s medal and one for the doctoral medal. Each Faculty nomination must include the following:
- Cover memo with the names of the recommended students and a brief description of the Faculty’s internal review process and the rationale for ranking candidates (maximum 1 page)
- Nomination package for each student as submitted by graduate program (see section above)
Nomination materials must be submitted electronically. When you're ready to submit your nomination materials, please contact joanne.tsui@ubc.ca. We will create a shared folder in Workspace and provide instructions for uploading files.
The deadline for disciplinary Faculties to submit their nominations to G+PS is 4:00 p.m. on Friday, 12 March 2021.
Adjudication Procedures
The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies will form a committee to review the recommendations from all Faculties and select the two winners.
The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies will:
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When graduation ceremonies are held in-person, a 150 word citation is prepared and read at the ceremony for each Gold Medal winner in attendance. Due to COVID-19, it is uncertain at this time what UBC’s process will be for the graduation ceremony in May 2021.
Governor General Recommendation Forms for the winners will then be submitted to the Enrollment Services office, which assigns the awards on the Student Information System and coordinates mailing the gold medal to the recipient.
Previous Award Winners
Doctoral Students
- 2021: Madeleine Ransom, Philosophy
- 2020: Rebecca Sherbo, Chemistry
- 2019: Shekoofeh Azizi, Electrical Engineering
- 2018: Thomas Hutchcroft, Mathematics
- 2017: Stilianos Louca, Mathematics
- 2016: Dustin Thomas King, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
- 2015: Adam Thomas Ford, Zoology
- 2014: Jan Janouskovec, Botany
- 2013: Asato Ikeda, Art History & Visual Arts
- 2012: Peter Dominic Maxwell Eirew, Genetics
- 2011: Rowan D.H. Barrett, Zoology
- 2010: Jeremy Goldbogen, Zoology
- 2009: Mirela Andronescu, Computer Science
- 2007: Gordon Patrick McTaggart-Cowan, Mechanical Engineering
- 2006: Jeremy Michael Van Raamsdonk, Medical Genetics
Master's Students
- 2021: Nevena Rebić, Pharmaceutical Sciences
- 2020: Ellen Jopling, Psychology
- 2019: Mohit Sodhi, Experimental Medicine
- 2018: Xue Bin Peng, Computer Science
- 2017: Matthew Gordineer Warner, English
- 2016: Sameer Hemant Shah, Resource Management & Environmental Studies
- 2015: Niki Myrto Mavraki, Mathematics
- 2014: Carling Dawn Gerlinsky, Zoology
- 2013: Chipman Taylor Drury, Experimental Medicine
- 2012: Jennifer Mary Burt, Forestry
- 2011: Arpeeta Sharma, Pharmacology
- 2010: Clarice Hei Lok Fu, Zoology
- 2009: Milica Mandic, Zoology
- 2007: Jordan Ali Guenette, Human Kinetics
- 2006: Maxim Metlitski, Physics
Further Information
Questions about Governor General's Gold Medal should be directed to Joanne Tsui at joanne.tsui@ubc.ca.
Further information about the Governor General's Academic Medals can be found on the website for the Governor General of Canada.