As one of Canada's leading research institutions, we place great importance on helping you finance your education. While at Western, you will want to devote your full energy to the successful completion of your studies, so we want to ensure that stable funding is available to you.
Some funding is awarded to you upon entry into a program, some is based on recommendations from the program that is admitting you, and others you must apply for yourself, either to Western University or to an external funding agency.
Graduate programs are the primary source of internal funding for many of our graduate students through the Western Graduate Research Scholarships (WGRS) program, and teaching and research assistantships.
Generous donations from our alumni and from corporations, foundations and other friends of Western University have helped to create many graduate student award and support programs. Recipients are selected by nomination or by an internal competition. Please contact your graduate program for more details about awards that may be available to you. For a comprehensive listing of all current donor-funded graduate awards at Western, please access the Donor-Funded Award Search:
Graduate students who find themselves in financial need have access to a full range of bursary programs, loans and financial aid counselling at Western.
The Province of Ontario is a very generous supporter and promoter of graduate student excellence and runs a suite of lucrative scholarship programs annually through its universities such as the Ontario Trillium Scholarships for doctoral study, the Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarships in Science and Technology, and the Ontario Graduate Scholarships.
The Federal Granting Agencies, mandated by the Government of Canada to support and promote high-quality research in a wide variety of disciplines and areas, are the most lucrative and prestigious sources of competitive funding for Western scholars through such programs as the Canada Graduate Scholarships, the NSERC Postgraduate Scholarships, the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowships and Master’s Scholarships, and a vast suite of CIHR training scholarship programs.
The Governor General’s Gold Medals are awarded to students graduating with the highest academic standing in a Master's or Doctoral degree program.
Our scholars go where the research takes them and Western has partnered with international institutions and agencies to support that experience via international exchange agreements and programs.
Incoming and Outgoing Competitions
Outgoing Competitions
These graduate program staff coordinate external scholarship operations in each of Western’s graduate programs and together are the front-line service team dedicated to assisting students and faculty throughout the competition season.
Access Western's award-winning support series for external scholarship applicants.
The chart below summarizes graduate student funding for the period of May 1, 2011 to April 30, 2012.
