Financial Support and Tuition

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) invests in people, discovery and innovation through master's and doctoral scholarships and fellowships in the natural sciences and engineering on the basis of national competitions. NSERC Scholarships are available to top students who have graduated from Canadian universities. They are open to students studying science or engineering who are Canadian citizens or Permanent Residents. 

Value of Funding:

• Canada Graduate Scholarships — Master’s program - up to $17,500 for one year
• Canada Graduate Scholarships — Doctoral program - up to $35,000 per year for three years

NSERC Postgraduate Scholarships – Doctoral program

The Canada Graduate Scholarships - Doctoral (CGS D) and NSERC Postgraduate Scholarships - Doctoral (PGS D) provide financial support to high calibre scholars who are engaged in master's or doctoral programs in the natural sciences or engineering. There is only one application for both awards. Applications to the PGS D program will automatically be considered for the CGS D award. If your application is one of the highest-scored applications, you will be offered a CGS D award; if your application is among the next tier of meritorious applications, you will be offered a PGS D award. 

The FGSR Graduate Scholarship Base Fund (GSBF) is provided by the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research and distributed by the departmental graduate committee. Each line faculty may determine the application and adjudication criteria against which they want to evaluate students, provided the students meet the minimum requirements, as described in the Terms of Reference listed above in Eligibility. Please contact your faculty for full details.

Each line faculty may determine the number of awards and the amount of each award, subject to the total amount they are allocated from FGSR and the three (3) funding levels, outlined below: 

1. UR Graduate Fellowship (URGF)

• PhD URGF: A minimum of $20,000 per year, for up to four years
• Master’s URGF: A minimum of $10,000 per year, for up to two years

2. UR Graduate Award (URGA)

• PhD URGA: A minimum of $10,000 per year, for up to four years
• Master’s URGA: A minimum of $5,000 per year, for up to two years

3. UR Graduate Scholarship (URGS)*

• At the academic unit’s discretion

*The Department of Computer Science uses the URGS for most of the awards from the three funding levels from FGSR. Supervisors nominate one of their students for the award for payment in the Fall or Winter semesters.

Students may only hold one of the above awards. 

A Graduate Teaching Assistantship is provided by the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research and distributed by the departmental graduate committee. The criteria are the overall course marks, publications if any, and the supervisor's evaluation of the student's progress. The student is required to do some TA jobs such as teaching a lab, marking assignments, giving tutorials, etc. The tenure of a TA is 4 months only and only full-time students are eligible.

*The Department of Computer Science does not require students to submit an application for a GTA.  Supervisors will nominate one of their students for this award for either the Fall or Winter term.

A Departmental Teaching Assistantship may be provided to some full-time graduate students studying in the department. The student is required to do about 6-15 hours of marking per week for 10 to 12 weeks in the Fall or Winter semester depending on the course(s) assigned. Some Spring and Summer marking is also available. Masters students in their first two years and Ph.D students in their first three years are encouraged to apply. Salary is per CUPE 2419 agreement.

Posting for Teaching Assistant positions are published three times a year. For the Fall semester, the request for applications are advertised between June 1 and July 31; for the Winter semester between October 1 and November 30 and the Spring/Summer term between Feburary 1 and March 31. 

To apply for a Teaching Assistant position, please download the application form. Completed forms/applications should be submitted to the CS Department Office, College West 307.14 or emailed to CS@uregina.ca. 

If you are a successful candidate, you will receive an email notification that a formal letter of appointment has been received and is waiting to be accepted through UR Self Serve. Unfortunately due to the number of applications received, unsuccessful candidates may not be contacted.

A Graduate Teaching Fellowship may be provided by either the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research or the Faculty of Science. The student is selected by the head of the department and is required to teach a regular undergraduate course. The tenure is 4 months. Current students with teaching experience and good spoken English should apply. It is challenging but good experience.

The Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research provides small travel awards for graduate students travelling to perform research or to present research results. Application must be made well in advance of the planned travel:

• URGSA Travel Awards
  
• FGSR Graduate Student Online Conference or Travel Award
  

The Department of Computer Science supports some Graduate Travel Awards applications submitted to FGSR each year. Each eligible student is limited to one application per competition. Submit a completed application to the Department Office for approval and signature.

Deadlines for applications (subject to change without notice):

• March 1 - for events scheduled from April 1 to July 31
• July 1 - for events scheduled from August 1 to November 30
• November 1 - for events scheduled from December 1 to March 31

A research award is support offered by a faculty member and funded from a research grant. The exact nature of the work required will vary with the needs of the particular research project. It can range from computer programming to research and can be an individual or group project. It is not guaranteed that your supervisor will offer you this type of financial support or that such support will necessarily continue. It is important that you reach a clear understanding with your supervisor of what you can expect. Do not be shy about asking your supervisor if he or she is able to provide financial support in the coming semesters. Typically, this type of support is only offered to students who do not have other financial support.

There are also numerous scholarships from various companies and organizations listed on the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research's Graduate Scholarships Database. The amounts vary from $500 to $20,000. The graduate studies scholarship committee handles the awards. Every student should check their eligibility and apply for them on their own.

Canadian citizens and landed immigrants can get a loan from the Canadian Government to support their studies. There are many good reasons for getting a loan:

• Students without loans can concentrate on their studies without doing anything not related to their studies and therefore can graduate earlier. Support other than scholarships usually requires some or even extensive work not related to the students' studies.
• Students with a loan usually study much harder than students with support listed above, as every minute costs them money.
• The students do not need to return all the money to the government because part of it is given to the students.