The University of Guelph announced that it will be offering 25 doctoral scholarship awards, worth $30,000 each, and 30 master’s scholarship awards, worth $15,000 per individual. These bonuses are strictly entrance awards and will be divided amongst the university’s seven colleges depending on the numbers of full-time enrolment.
According to Charlotte Yates, provost and vice-president (academic) at the University of Guelph, the colleges themselves will be setting the criteria for the awards. Overall, however, graduate students will be awarded based on their grades, which are required to be 85 per cent at the minimum. Doctoral students will be awarded based on their letters of reference, focus of research, as well as their research profile. Yates explains that these entrance awards were put in place in hopes of attracting “top student researchers” to Guelph. Attracting such students is a competitive process, but by doing so, the university hopes to encourage growth both in the amount of research being conducted, its quality, as well as to help the University of Guelph become a stronger contributor to the world through the examination of challenges and the development of unique solutions to these challenges.
The Office of Research at the University of Guelph runs a $140 million research enterprise across seven colleges, four campuses, 10 research stations, and the University of Guelph’s partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).
The OMAFRA partnership alone funds an immense amount of the University’s research. Through this agreement, the university and the OMAFRA hope to generate “world-leading” research and development, laboratory services, and education, which will form the foundation of health, environment, and economic and rural development activity and policy in Ontario.
The University of Guelph has already been recognised for its great contributions to the areas of:
Agriculture, food and the bioeconomy; biodiversity, environment, and ecology; economic management, governance, and public policy; health and well-being in humans and animals; human behaviour, cultural evolution, and creative communities; and technology and applied sciences.
By attracting top student researchers, the University of Guelph is a taking a step closer to its research goals.