The Indigenous Graduate Fellowship (IGF) offers multi-year fellowships to Indigenous Master’s and Doctoral students in all disciplines. Award winners are selected on the basis of academic merit through an annual competition, administered by the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. Opportunities are also available for (i) Indigenous PhD students in their fourth year to apply for a fifth year of funding and (ii) for research Master’s and PhD students to apply for research funding, which are also outlined below.
Please note that a distinct application deadline has been set for candidates, February 14, 2025 at 4:00PM PT, and the graduate program nomination deadline follows two weeks later.
Indigenous Graduate Fellowships competition
Each fellowship provides a stipend of $25,000 per year for Doctoral students or a stipend of $17,500 per year for Master’s students. Additionally, IGF recipients are eligible to receive tuition funding. Tuition funding will not exceed the current value of the standard Doctoral or Master’s degree tuition fees. In all cases, continued fellowship support is conditional on satisfactory academic progress. Recipients of Master’s fellowship funding must re-apply to be considered for Doctoral funding.
All Indigenous students are eligible to apply, but priority is given to Indigenous students whose traditional territory falls, at least in part, within Canada. This includes Canadian First Nations, Métis or Inuit students and may include Indigenous students from Alaska and other states of the USA. The University may request further information to confirm Indigenous eligibility. Since January 2023, the IGF is also open to students in professional and coursework-only Master’s programs.
- Application Deadline: February 14, 2025, at 4:00PM PT
- Graduate Program nomination deadline: March 3, 2025, at 4:00PM PT
- For complete application and nomination details, see https://www.grad.ubc.ca/awards/indigenous-graduate-fellowships
Indigenous PhD students in their 4th year are able to apply for 5th year funding through the IGF 5th Year Award. The award, valued at $25,000 per annum plus tuition, is awarded on the recommendation of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies to full-time Indigenous doctoral students from all disciplines to fund their 5th year of study, where research involves community-engaged methodologies and approaches.
IGF Research & Engagement Award
Funding in support of research and travel expenses for Indigenous graduate students has been made available through the IGF Research & Engagement Award to current holders of the Indigenous Graduate Fellowship. Recipients of the award will be engaged in work that contributes directly or indirectly to community engagement and relationship building with Indigenous communities. Successful candidates will receive a minimum of $3,000 for Master’s students and a minimum of $5,000 for Doctoral students. Additional funding may be offered depending on budget availability.
- Application deadline for both awards: February 14, 2025, at 4:00PM PT
For information on eligibility and application procedures, including application forms, please consult the G+PS webpages linked above.