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Frequently Asked Questions: Scholarships and Fellowships

Do I wait until final grades are posted before ordering my transcript? What is an official versus non-official transcript and how do I send my transcript?

Reviewers will want to see final grades on your transcript if you are in courses for the September-December semester prior to the January 15th deadline. Please wait until final grades are posted to order a transcript from your institution to include in your application.

Official transcripts are defined as transcripts issued by the institution鈥檚 registrar office. Transcripts from other sources, such as those printed from the student鈥檚 account on the institution鈥檚 website, are not official. Please order your most recent official transcript (i.e., includes Sept-Dec semester before the January 15th deadline if you were registered) for pick up or by mail, and then scan them. The official transcript is not mailed to the BC NEIHR. The application and all supporting documents must be submitted as one PDF file by email to bcneihr@sfu.ca.

Can I apply for a scholarship if not currently enrolled in a program? For example, apply for scholarship in January, but starting the program in September of that year. 

You do not need to be currently enrolled or registered in a MA of PhD program to apply for a scholarship. The deadline to apply is February 1st and the funds will not be distributed to the student until the September term of that year. If successful, the BC NEIHR will require proof of enrollment sometime before the September term (but not required at the time of application). Because the funds are transferred between the institutions (i.e., the students do not receive the funds directly from the BC NEIHR), and it is the student鈥檚 own institution that distributes the funds to them, you must be enrolled by September to receive the funds.

Can I accept but defer a BC NEIHR scholarship or fellowship?

No. BC NEIHR scholarships and fellowships must be accepted at the time of notification of results and payments must commence within 12 months of notification.

Do you have to be Indigenous to apply for a BC NEIHR Scholarship or Fellowship?

Yes. All BC NEIHR funding opportunities, including our Scholarship and Fellowship Programs, are only available to Indigenous (First Nations, M茅tis and Inuit) Peoples.

The BC NEIHR refers to the Law Society of British Columbia () for acceptable proof of Canadian Indigenous ancestry, requiring, specifically, a photocopy of either a status, citizenship, membership, registration, or enrolment card issued by*:

• The Registrar of the Federal Government鈥檚 鈥淚ndian鈥� Register;
• A Band within the meaning of the Indian Act that has control of its membership list;
• An Indigenous group under a modern land claims agreement;
• An Inuit organization that is recognized by the Government of Canada;
• An Inuit organization that is recognized by the Government of Nunavut;
• One of the M茅tis Settlements in Alberta;
• A provincial organization that is a member of the M茅tis National Council, which includes the M茅tis Nation of British Columbia, the M茅tis Nation of Alberta, the M茅tis Nation of Saskatchewan, and the M茅tis Nation of Ontario; or
• A M茅tis organization that is recognized by the Government of Canada (e.g. the Manitoba M茅tis Federation)

*If you are unable to provide any of the listed documentation, please contact the BC NEIHR Network Coordinator at bcneihr@sfu.ca.

Can you hold a BC NEIHR Scholarship or Fellowship at the same time as holding other external funding (e.g. SSHRC, CIHR, NSERC)?

For the Master's, Doctoral, and Postdoctoral programs, no you cannot hold both a BC NEIHR scholarship/fellowship and Tri-Council funding. You must declare on your application form if you have either received Tri-Council funding or applied to Tri-Council. If you are waiting for competition results at the time of submitting a BC NEIHR application, you must declare to the BC NEIHR if you are successful and accept a Tri-Council scholarship/fellowship once known to you. 

For the Thesis Fellowship and Research Experience Award, yes you can have either have held or hold Tri-Council funding at the same time.Yes, you can hold other funding and a BC NEIHR Scholarship or Fellowship at the same time. However, preference will be given to students who are not currently externally funded. On the application form, you must state if you have applied for other external funding as well as the status of such funding (i.e. waiting for notification, funded, waitlisted, not funded).

Can I add an additional page to the Application Form if needed?

Yes. If needed, you can add an additional page for your answer(s). The answers to the questions are intended to be brief. Please ensure that you answers are less than 100 words per question.

Can my letters of support or other supporting documents be sent directly to the BC NEIHR?

No. The student is responsible for collecting all required documentation (e.g. letters of support, transcripts, fulfillment of degree requirement form, etc.) and sending the application as one PDF file to bcneihr@sfu.ca prior to the deadline. Incomplete or late applications will not be accepted.

How should I format my resume or CV?

The resume or CV does not have to be in any specific format (e.g. Canadian Common CV format). You can create one in Word or use an existing CCV (save as a PDF and include it with the full application). For doctoral and fellowship applications, the Overview and Instructions document has suggested headings and subheadings (e.g. education/degrees, recognitions, research funding history, etc.) as a guideline.

Do my references count as part of my page limit for my proposal?

No. The references will not be considered as part of your page limit for your proposal.

For the fellowship program, who is authorized to complete the Institutional Letter of Endorsement?

The Institutional Letter of Endorsement must be signed by the institution鈥檚 president (equivalent or designate, for example, the AVP Research Operations) and must be on the institution鈥檚 letterhead. If signed by someone else, it should be clearly indicated in the letter that the signee has this institutional authority. The exception to this are for fellows interested in a program at the University of Victoria (UVic). Because the funds are held at UVic (i.e., the location of our BC NEIHR offices), fellowships at UVic are considered internal competitions and, therefore, the Office of Research Services (ORS) does not need to review the application or endorse the candidate. If your postdoctoral program is at UVic, the Dean can serve as an authorized institutional signature for the Letter of Endorsement.

Why did I receive a high (i.e., fundable) score on my application, but did not get funded?

It is always our hope that all applicants with fundable scores are funded. Unfortunately, the BC NEIHR budget is limited in terms of how many awards we can provide each year. Currently, our budget permits us to fund 9 Master鈥檚 Scholarships and 3 Doctoral Scholarships each year, and 1-2 Postdoctoral Fellowships every two years. It is regrettably the case that each year, we might have more fundable applicants than we do funding to support them.

Should more funds become available to the BC NEIHR, additional scholarships and fellowships may be awarded. For frequent posts on other external funding opportunities, please follow our social media pages. You can also reach out to the Network Coordinator (bcneihr@sfu.ca) for more information on how to find other funding opportunities right for you.