Vanier Scholarships: rewarding excellence, fostering innovation, strengthening Canada

OTTAWA, May 13, 2010 –The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada welcomes today’s announcement of the 2010 Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships. The Vaniers are one of Canada’s most recent initiatives to attract and retain the very best talent needed to strengthen Canada’s innovative capacity and build the economy of tomorrow.

Launched in 2009, the Vaniers are intensely competitive and reward promising students who have a track record of excellence and demonstrate outstanding potential. “The Vaniers are quickly becoming scholarships of global stature that serve as a magnet for talent,” says Michel Belley, chair of the AUCC Board of Directors and rector of Université du Québec à Chicoutimi.

The Vaniers are providing opportunities for young Canadians from all parts of the country and in a wide range of disciplines. These exceptionally capable students will pursue their doctoral studies at 30 institutions from coast to coast – reflecting the diversity and strength of Canada’s universities.

The Vaniers are attracting increasing international attention, and are an important part of Canadian universities’ efforts to recruit from the global talent pool including India – one of the fastest growing research environments in the world. “The competition in global research is accelerating. These new scholarships enable Canada to attract the next generation of global leaders in research and innovation,” says Paul Davidson, president and CEO of AUCC.

Today’s scholarship recipients will pursue their studies in a wide range of disciplines at the frontier of knowledge. Their research will lead to significant discoveries, new processes and services which will benefit all of society.

Each of the 174 Canadian and international doctoral students will receive a scholarship of $50,000 per year for up to three years enabling them to pursue studies in one of Canada’s universities. The Vanier scholarships are administered by the three federal granting agencies NSERC, SSHRC and CIHR.

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AUCC is the voice of Canada’s universities representing 95 Canadian public and private, not-for-profit universities and university-degree level colleges.

For more information:

Lyse Huot, director, Government Relations and Communications
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada