Monday 16 August 2010

Canada:Doctoral Student Research Award (DSRA) For All Countries

This program is designed to assist full-time graduate students at degree-granting institutions of higher education, whose dissertations are related in substantial part to Canada, to undertake doctoral research about Canada. The purpose is to increase knowledge and understanding of Canada and to support the development of Canadian Studies. The award provides assistance towards international airfare and a monthly flat rate allowance for up to a maximum of 6 months spent in Canada while doing research.

Research Fields

Awards may be granted for research in any of the following categories:

  1. Although we welcome applications from all disciplines lending themselves most readily to Canadian Studies research development, we are particularly interested in projects that have policy relevance for Canada and Canada’s foreign policy. Topics that are highly relevant to Canada’s foreign policy include Democracy & Rule of Law, Economic Development, Environment, Managing Diversity, North American Partnership, Peace and Security;
  2. Comparative studies with substantial Canadian content (33% or more);
  3. Aspects of Canada's bilateral relations with participating countries.

(Purely scientific subjects such as physics, chemistry, medicine, engineering, etc. which would not lead to a better knowledge and understanding of Canada per se are not eligible, nor are proposals which focus exclusively on technological or methodological issues).

Eligibility

Applicants must be:

  1. a citizen of the country (or have legal resident status) where he/she is submitting an application; NOTE: Applicants who are registered in institutions outside their home country should apply in their country of citizenships.
  2. a graduate student in a recognized institution of higher education or equivalent degree-granting institute in the determined country who will have completed course and course-related doctoral requirements by the time a graduate student award would be granted;
  3. proficient in either English or French.

Value of Awards

The maximum value of any award will consist of a contribution towards international airfare (ecomony class), an allowance of CDN$ 1,200 per complete month towards expenses while in Canada, up to a maximum of 6 months, and an allocation of CDN$ 300 upon submission to the appropriate Canadian Mission of a final report on the award. Smaller awards may also be made.

Terms and Conditions

The International Council for Canadian Studies through a contribution of the Government of Canada and with the assistance of the appropriate Canadian Mission, will award non-renewable grants to successful candidates on condition that the candidate must give a written undertaking on his/her own behalf that:

  1. the applicant will personally apply for an award and will carry out his/her own doctoral dissertation research, as part of his/her formal program of studies leading to a degree;
  2. awards are intended to assist in defraying only direct costs resulting from a period of time spent in Canada while doing research, including return travel to Canada;
  3. the applicant will make all arrangements relating to the research project, including: international travel; visa and passport (if needed); accommodation and travel within Canada; medical insurance while in Canada; study plans, including inter alia appointments with Canadian academics and other resource persons, access to libraries and other study centres, etc.;
  4. the applicant will reside in Canada throughout the period to which the award relates;
  5. within 60 days of returning home, a candidate will send to the appropriate Canadian Mission a detailed report, in English or French, on the work done during the stay in Canada. Failure to do so may result in the forfeiture of the final payment of the award;
  6. the rights to the research will remain the exclusive property of the researcher. However, the Canadian Mission requires two copies of the subsequent dissertation when completed. (One copy will be forwarded to the, the International Council for Canadian Studies, Ottawa, for possible onward transmission to the Library and Archives Canada; the other will be retained by the Canadian Mission for consultation purposes);
  7. candidates who drop out of their doctoral program will immediately inform the Canadian Mission.

Deadlines

Deadlines vary from country to country. Please click here for country-specific deadline information.

Application Procedure

Applications must be submitted through the local Canadian Mission in one's home country or territory for which a given Canadian Mission has responsibility. Applications submitted directly to the ICCS cannot be accepted nor redirected. An application dossier, in either English or French, will consist of a filled out application form accompanied by a concise curriculum vitae.

Application forms can be obtained from your local Canadian Mission or you can print or download the forms from the following links:

DSR Application form: Adobe PDF Form format
DSR Application form: Microsoft Word format

Selection and Notification

All applications will be reviewed by a pre-selection jury established in the participating country/region by the Canadian Mission or regional network. The jury will include representatives of the academic community in the country or region of citizenship of the applicant (including if possible a representative of the national or multinational association for Canadian Studies) and, when possible, Canadian academics.At the discretion of the pre-selection jury, an applicant may be invited to submit additional information or an amended application.

Pertinent criteria will be:

  1. academic excellence of the proposal;
  2. Canadian content;
  3. relevance of the proposal to identified priorities and to Canadian Studies;
  4. feasibility of the project.

After reviewing applications and the recommendations of the pre-selection jury, the International Council for Canadian Studies in Ottawa will forward its recommendations to DFAIT, which will make the final selection.

All applicants will be notified in writing of the results of their application, normally within 90 days of the deadline for submission of applications.

Payment Procedure

Successful candidates will be sent a Grant Agreement detailing the value and conditions of the award, to be signed and returned to the local Canadian Mission within 30 days.

Awards will be paid in several instalments. The first payment, upon reception of the signed Grant Agreement, will include the allocation for international transportation (economy class) and the first monthly allowance; the following monthly allowances will be paid at the end of each month in Canada up to the maximum number of months of the award; final payment of Cdn$300 will be disbursed only upon submission of an acceptable report on the research activities and progress while in Canada.

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