Departmental Support

All CSB graduate students, whether domestic or international, in the first year of an MSc program or the first four years of a PhD program (first five years if entering directly from a bachelor’s) are in the University’s “funded cohort”. This means they are guaranteed a minimum annual stipend, which for the 2012-2013 academic year is approximately $24,902 for domestic students and approximately $35,312 for international students (because of higher tuition fees). This stipend covers tuition fees, incidental fees and living costs. It is made up of a University of Toronto Fellowship (UTF), a contribution from the thesis supervisor’s grants, and a required 140 hours as an undergraduate teaching assistant.  Students will receive a document outlining details of their annual stipend in August.

External Scholarships

Students holding major external scholarships from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) or the Ontario Graduate Scholarship program (OGS) receive the guaranteed minimum stipend plus a “top-up” of $1,500 (OGS) or $2,500 (NSERC P/CGSM, PGSD and CIHR).  Stipends will be even higher for students holding scholarships of higher values such as the NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarships (CGSD).

Admission Awards

CSB endeavours to attract the most outstanding graduate students possible in a very competitive market. To achieve this the Department awards a limited number of admission scholarships to graduate applicants judged to be exceptional by the Graduate Admissions Committee. Criteria include academic performance, research accomplishments and potential, and receipt of major scholarships (NSERC, CIHR, OGS). These awards are valued at $3,000, and are in addition to the stipend that students would otherwise receive. No application is necessary as every applicant offered admission is automatically considered.