The three granting councils have announced the result of a harmonization process to make the Canada Graduate Scholarships (CGS) program more user friendly. The changes addressed major differences in how the program was handled within each granting council for the CGS program, which supports 5,000 Master's and PhD graduates at a cost of $132 million annually.

Created in 2003, the CGS program provides 2,500 Master's students with $17,500 for one year and an equal number of PhDs at $35,000 annually for three years.

"It started with three different delivery models for the same program, three different application deadlines, different practices, policies and eligibility. The criteria were all different and students had communicated to us on this," says Gordana Krcevinac, director of the CGS Tri Agency Harmonization Project Team. "And with more inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary research going on, submitting to one agency was becoming problematic. We needed to get rid of the silos.

To streamline the application process, the granting councils agreed to implement a host of changes including a single portal and application form as well as harmonized eligibility and policies while it will be delivered with one administration.

Applicants to Master's awards will now apply directly to the institution they wish to attend with the first deadline of December 15/13. Staring in 2014, PhD candidates will be processed using a two-stage process of applying to a university, with the university then submitting a list of its best applicants.

One source of confusion that won't change is the naming of the CGS awards after three famous canadian researchers/ innovators — Alexander Graham Bell, J'Armand Bombardier and Sir Frederick Banting and Dr Charles Best — depending on which granting council is being applied to. Krcevinac says that multiple names may be addressed next year once an ongoing review of the program is complete.

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