Scotia Scholarships

The Scotia Scholarship is a funding opportunity that is available under our Research Trainee Funding Program. The Scotia Scholarship is intended to provide financial support to high caliber trainees engaged in health research related academic study at Nova Scotia universities. The goal of the Scotia Scholarship is to support the development of the next generation of highly qualified health researchers and leaders in the Nova Scotia health research enterprise.

Specifically for Scotia Scholarships, we consider research trainees to be: students enrolled at Nova Scotia universities who are completing thesis based degree programs at the Master and Doctorate levels or honours based degree programs at the Undergraduate level at institutions that do not offer graduate level thesis based degree programs.

Our Scotia Scholarship funding opportunity is designed to support individual research trainees as a way to encourage continued interest in careers in health research. Applicants will be evaluated based on their past academic, leadership, and research achievements. For the 2012-13 competition, each university will have a minimum quota of one (1) scholarship. Additional allocations beyond the minimum will be based on the percentage of past NSHRF student specific funding (i.e., Student Research Award allocations between 2000 and 2010) allocated to each university.

Applicants must identify the health research category which best aligns with the research activities they will be completing during their degree. Our four health research categories are:

Medical Research
Basic scientific and biomedical study; clinical and epidemiological investigations.

Health Policy Research
The impact of social factors; allocation of resources; legal and ethical issues; and the administration, organization and financing of health care.

Health Outcomes Research
Changes in the health status of populations as a result of health programs or services.

Health Services Research
How efficiently and effectively health services are managed, organized, and delivered.

Applicants who identify to align with the Biomedical (MED) category will be reviewed against other applicants who self identified the Biomedical category on their application form. Those who identify either the Health Policy, Health Services or Health Outcomes Research (PSO) categories on their application form will be compared against other applicants who have selected one of these three categories. A set quantity of MED and PSO funding has been allocated within university quotas.

To help you determine if you are eligible to apply for a Scotia Scholarship answer the questions asked in our Eligibility Decision Tree. Tip: Use your zoom function to see text more clearly.  Click here for a printable version of the Eligibility Decision Tree. 

Competition Process

Step 1: The student contacts his/her university immediately to determine the university’s internal application deadline, then submits the completed application to the university by that deadline. 

For more information please choose the degree level:
Doctorate
Master
Undergraduate (Cape Breton University only)

Step 2: The university evaluates all applications in accordance with our eligibility and evaluation criteria and establishes three categories: A-list (unranked) applications, which are recommended for awards; B-list applications, which are not recommended; and a list of alternate (ranked) applications. The university informs all applicants whether they are on the A, B, or alternate list. The number of A-list applications forwarded must match the quota assigned to the university, accounting for the category (either Biomedical or Health Policy, Health Services and Health Outcomes) distribution of the 2012-13 quota. Universities are encouraged to provide sufficient numbers on the alternate list to ensure when sliding scale calculations are factored in on the award value of those approved, we will be able to award the quota based monetary equivalent among those on the A-list and those provided on the alternate list.

Step 3: The university submits all A- and alternate-list applications to us for review, verification and final decisions. Applications submitted to us must be complete and have all the required components. Incomplete applicatios will be deemed ineligible. We will notify only those applicants who were forwarded on to us by their university. Notification will be by email. We will also select The Quest winner from among those awarded a Scotia Scholarship. 

Applicants who wish to be considered for special awards and prizes, such as The Quest, The Colleen Elliott Award or The George Turnball Student Research Award, and are listed on the university A-list or alternate list will be considered for these awards even though they may not be awarded one of the university’s 2012-13 quota allocated Scotia Scholarships. 

We reserve the right to audit the university evaluation process and the records of decision.