Flagship federal scholarship names first recipients

Ottawa, April 30th, 2009 — The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada welcomes the announcement of the first 166 recipients of the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships, prestigious doctoral scholarship valued at $50,000 each per year for up to three years.

“AUCC has long advocated for a program of this kind that can attract and retain top-tier doctoral students,” says Tom Traves, chair of AUCC and president of Dalhousie University. “Funding at this level will allow Canada to attract the world’s top graduate students while also supporting the most promising Canadian doctoral students.”

“University leaders across the country are extremely pleased to see the federal government investing in advanced learning and research through these doctoral scholarships,” says Claire Morris, president and CEO of AUCC. “These awards demonstrate Canada’s commitment to global research excellence. They will strengthen Canada’s reputation as a world-class research destination.”

Of the 166 awards, 129 scholarships will go to Canadian students pursuing doctoral studies while 37 will be given to international students pursuing doctoral studies at Canadian universities.

The Vanier scholarships are awarded across all disciplines and will be administered by the three federal granting agencies NSERC, SSHRC and CIHR. The program will award a total of 500 scholarships over the next three years.

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AUCC is the voice of Canada’s universities representing 94 Canadian public and private, not-for-profit universities and university-degree level colleges.

For more information, please contact:

Leslie Cole
Assistant Director of Communications
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada