We are pleased to announce a new awards program to fund graduate students — the Graduate Student Research Award (GSRA).

The GSRA provides matching funds to faculty members who have a Tri-council operating grant that will be/are supporting graduate students with their grant in the Summer 2013 term.

This program requires Faculty members to nominate students using the Application for GSRA form. For this program it is incumbent upon the faculty member, not the student, to complete and submit the form.

The purpose of the Graduate Student Research Award (GSRA) is to:

• increase the number of PhD and Master’s students funded from Tri-council operating grants and/or increase the length of time for which a student is funded
• enhance/encourage through “matching” funding the use of Tri-council funds to support our graduate students
• augment a faculty member’s limited ability to support graduate students
• indicate that funding of our graduate students from one’s Tri-council funds is a priority at SFU.

Value and Tenure of Award

The tables below provide the relative contribution from each party to fund a graduate student in any given year permitted under this program. The value of a full GSRA will be a minimum of $12,500 and $6,250 for a half GSRA and will be disbursed in the Summer 2013 term.

Full GSRA

Half GSRA

Supervisors may choose to pay a graduate student more than the respective total; however, Graduate Studies will only match the amounts shown.

Eligibility Criteria

• full-time graduate students registered and in good standing at time of application
• should normally have a grade point average of  >3.5
  
• students will normally be eligible to receive GSRA support during the first six (6) terms of a master's program and during the first twelve (12) terms of a PhD program. The total duration of support for any graduate student may not exceed 4 years. (Where a student transfers from a master's program directly into a PhD program, the first term registered in the PhD program will be used to determine eligibility.)

For each eligible (individual) tri-council operating grant, Graduate Studies will support a maximum of one (1) student at a time. For team grants, each investigator is limited to one (1) student at a time to a maximum of three (3) investigators (i.e. 3 students at a time).

Funds will be allocated in accordance with the priorities as ranked below:

• Untenured faculty members will be prioritized over tenured faculty members
• PhD students have a higher priority than master’s students
• GPA will be taken into consideration when making final decisions

Note: Recipients of a Graduate Student Research Award (GSRA) may accept scholarship support from other sources, but the total value of the support should not exceed $35,000 per year.

Application Deadlines

• By March 22 April 5, 2013, faculty members must submit nominations directly to the Dean of Graduate Studies (DGS) Office
• Note: Deadline has been extended to April 5 so that the results of the NSERC Discovery and SSHRC Insight grants will be known.

How to nominate a student for the GSRA

• Faculty members complete the application form, print it and attach copies of transcripts. For the GSRA unofficial transcripts and/or photocopies are acceptable. Advising transcripts are not acceptable.
• Faculty members check over the application for completeness and submit it directly to the Dean of Graduate Studies Office by April 5, 2013.
• DGS will review all applications and prioritize applications according to the criteria set above. All awards will be disbursed  in the Summer 2013 term. There is limited funding available, awards will be offered until the funding runs out.
• Students approved for a GSRA by Graduate Studies must complete the Personal Data Form (if they have not yet done so already) and submit it to their department manager.
• The Department Manager must send the personal data form and completed Student Research and Other Non-Union Appointment Form (FPP4), for the faculty portion of the award, to Payroll. A copy of the department’s FPP4 must be sent to DGS at the same time. The receipt of the FPP4 form in our office will trigger the disbursement of the Graduate Studies portion of the award. (See also: Guide to the Completion of Appointment Form FPP4.)