Graduate Awards & Scholarships

Help finance your studies by taking advantage of the awards available to graduate students. In addition to reviewing the international development-related scholarships listed here, we recommend that you search all internal award opportunities as there are many others that may apply to you.

PhD students in IDS are strongly encouraged to apply for external scholarships from SSHRC, OGS, IDRC and other sources.

Lila Engberg Scholarship in International Development 

Eligibility: Full-time masters students entering the collaborative program in International Development Studies with a research agenda in the area of poverty alleviation, economic empowerment of women and/or ways to improve livelihood security for women and families in developing countries will be eligible. Preference will be given to a student from a developing country.

Application materials to pursue studies at the University of Guelph received by May 30th will be considered as application for this award. Students will be selected based on their experiences and/or involvement in this area to date, and personal plans to improve everyday lives in a local community of a developing nation.

Alastair Summerlee Scholarship

Eligibility: This scholarship will be awarded to a graduate student contributing to civil society through international field work that is part of a course of study and preference is given to students working in Africa. Students registered full-time with a minimum 80% average.

H. H. Harshman Foundation Doctoral Scholarship

Eligibility: Full-time student entering or enrolled in any PhD program in the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences whose thesis research is devoted to the strengthening of the family unit in Canada. Application materials to pursue studies at the University of Guelph received by February 1st will be considered as application for this award.

Richard and Sophia Hungerford Graduate Scholarships

Eligibility: Established to support graduate students in financial need whose research interests relate to developing countries. Recipients will be selected on the basis of financial need, academic achievement, and the quality of their intended research in developing countries.

Bill Graf International Development Scholarship

Eligibility: Graduate students in political science with a focus on international development or IDS, with a minimum 80% average and demonstrated financial need. Additionally, students must meet the government-mandated terms for receipt of an OSOTF award (see General Statements on Awards).

David Knight Scholarship

Eligibility: Graduate students registered in the collaborative program in International Development Studies who are entering the second or subsequent semester of a master's degree program in the departments of Geography, Political Science, Psychology, or Sociology & Anthropology, and who have a minimum cumulative average of 75% and demonstrated financial need. Additionally, students must meet the government-mandated terms for receipt of an OSOTF award (see General Statements on Awards).

O.P. Dwivedi Graduate Prize for International Development 

Eligibility: Students who have completed the requirements for their graduate degree from the International Development Studies Collaborative specialization, including successful defense of their thesis, and whose research applies social science theory and/or method to the understanding of development issues in the Global South or Global North. Preference will be given to students who conducted research on the Global South. The student’s home unit will nominate candidates.