Welcome to McGill University
Department of Integrated Studies
in Education
PhD Orientation, Sept. 2015
Table of Contents
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Student Groups & Welcome Events
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Useful Links
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DISE Doctoral Program
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Co-Curricular Activities
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Funding
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Good Advice
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PGSS (Post-Graduate Students’ Society)
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For all graduate students, university-wide
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organizes social events
provides financial advice
provides insurance coverage advice
is a route for participation in PGSS and university committees
has headquarters at Thomson House (second building downhill) with
social spaces and dining facilities
provides student advocacy services
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Contact: http://pgss.mcgill.ca
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PGSS Orientation Events
Tuesday, Sept. 9th
Thomson House, 3650 McTavish
Wednesday Sept 9 15:30 – 19:00
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Redpath Hall followed by BBQ at Thomson House
• meet other new students
• get info re McGill Services
• meet faculty Deans
• meet PGSS executives
http://www.mcgillpostgradorientation.ca/
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EGSS (Education Graduate Students’ Society)
For
graduate students in the Faculty of Education (DISE, ECP, KPE)
•shares insights, expertise and fellowship
•recognizes the collective voice of the graduate student body
•supplies representatives for departmental committees
•provides study spaces, a lounge in Rm. 631
•provides travel awards
•supports solidarity initiatives
•organizes the annual Graduate Student Conference (March)
Co-Presidents: Chloe Garcia – Domenico Tullo
DISE representative to EGSS: Ashley Demartini
ashley.demartini@mail.mcgill.ca
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 Professional
seminar series
 Sponsored
by the Faculty of Education and open to all
graduate students at McGill University.
A
one-of-a-kind program at McGill University. This
initiative is run by students for students with the aim of
supporting peers through the PhD journey.
 Currently
run by Sabrina Jafralie
(Sabrina.jafralie@mail.mcgill.ca) and WY Alice Chan
(alice.chan@mail.mcgill.ca).
More info at:
https://www.mcgill.ca/education/research/abc
September 16, 2015 session –
“Funding: Possible sources & tips”:
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International awards
National awards - SSHRC
Provincial awards – FRQ awards
McGill financial aid
Internal faculty awards
Departmental awards
Program awards – ECP, KPE, DISE
Student awards – EGSS awards
McGill staff, faculty, and student speakers.
Sessions are advertised monthly
online, and via the EGSS Newsletter,
PGSS Newswire, and SkillSets.
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Common ABBREVIATIONS
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DISE = Dept. of Integrated Studies in Education
ECP = Dept. of Educational & Counselling Psychology (Faculty of Ed.)
GPS = Graduate & Post-Doctoral Studies
GPD = Graduate Program Director
GPC = Graduate Program Coordinator & Graduate Program Committee
CaPS = Career Planning Service
TLS = Teaching & Learning Services
MINERVA = student online information system
myCourses = online Learning Management System
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MCGILL Academic LINKS
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GPS policies: http://www.mcgill.ca/gps
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Faculty of Education: http://www.mcgill.ca/education/students
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DISE: http://www.mcgill.ca/edu-dise/
Teaching & Learning Services: http://www.mcgill.ca/tls/
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Statistical Consulting Service: http://www.math.mcgill.ca/~scs/
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MCGill Student Services
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Service Point, Enrollment Services: http://www.mcgill.ca/es/
First Year Office: http://www.mcgill.ca/firstyear/
CaPS Career Planning Service: http://www.mcgill.ca/caps
Student Legal Information Clinic: 398-6792
http://licm.mcgill.ca/site.php?lang=en&page=legalclinic
International Students Office:
http://www.mcgill.ca/internationalstudents/
IT (Computer Help Desk): 398-3398 http://www.mcgill.ca/it/
Student Financial Aid: http://www.mcgill.ca/studentaid/awards/
Student Health Services 398-6017
http://www.mcgill.ca/studenthealth/
Counselling Centre 398-3601Mental Health 398-6019
http://www.mcgill.ca/studenthealth/information/mentalhealth
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Calendars of Key Dates
For registration, adding and dropping courses, class schedules…
•http://www.mcgill.ca/importantdates/
•http://www.mcgill.ca/students/courses/dates/
KEY REGULATIONS
•http://www.mcgill.ca/gps/policies/regulations#REG
ULATIONS
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DISE GRADUATE STUDIES
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Chair of DISE
Dr. Steve Jordan
steven.jordan@mcgill.ca
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PhD Graduate Program Director
Dr. Bronwen Low, Rm. 248 B/339
bronwen.low@mcgill.ca, 514 398-4527 ex 09613
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Graduate Program Coordinator:
Mr. michael larivière, Rm. 244
michael.lariviere@mcgill.ca 398-4527 ex 09133
office hours 9-4 (4-5 with advance notice)
email, telephone or show up!
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Advising: Ask the GPC first about
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Program requirements
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Registration for courses
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Grades (e.g. incompletes)
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Change of program option
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Changes of status between full-time and half-time
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Leaves of absence; withdrawal
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http://www.mcgill.ca/students/records/forms
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Thesis submission (deadlines, preparation and submission
guidelines) (see below)
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Michael Lariviere may be reached by email, phone or office
visit. Office Hours: 9:30am-4pm TWR, 10am-4pm MF; closed
1:00-2:15pm. By arrangement between 4-5pm.
Always follow up with a confirmation email.
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Academic Integrity Outreach
Online Tutorial
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Information on critical issues of academic integrity.
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Intended to reduce the number of academic infractions.
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On your MINERVA student menu for you to do.
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At some point a hold will be put on registration if you
have not done this.
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Registration & Fees
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International /ROC / Quebec Status:
International students must be full-time
STATUS: full-time / half-time
you must be full-time to apply for external grants
RESIDENCY PERIOD: 2 years.
ADDITIONAL SESSION:
o For the PhD program you pay a third year of full-time fees
prior to additional session status, which has lower fees.
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You must be registered for every single term from the time you
first register until you graduate, including leaves or thesiswriting.
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http://www.mcgill.ca/student-accounts/tuition-fees
http://www.mcgill.ca/student-accounts/tuition-fees/non-tuitioncharges
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http://www.mcgill.ca/student-accounts/tuition-charges/fallwinterterm-tuition-and-fees/graduate-fees
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Ph.D. in Educational Studies
Program Requirements
General information:
http://www.mcgill.ca/education/prospective/graduate
Options: Language Acquisition Program; Gender & Women’s
Studies
•Required Courses (8
credits)
•Complementary Courses (3 credits)
•Elective Courses (0-12 credits)
•Candidacy Papers
(formerly Comprehensive Examination)
and oral defence
•Thesis Proposal
•Ethics review (if applicable)
•Dissertation & Defence
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Required Courses (8 credits)
First year: EDEC 700 (Fall) & 702 (Winter) Proseminar
in Education 1 & 2
Second year: EDEC 703 Ph.D. Colloquium
EDEC 701 PhD Candidacy Papers
(Comprehensive Exam)
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Complementary Courses (min. 3 credits)
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Consult with your supervisor to choose at least one of
these courses.
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EDEC 705 – Advanced Research Design
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EDEC 706 – Textual Approaches to Research
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EDEC 707 – Interpretive Inquiry
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EDSL 630 – Qualitative / Ethnographic Methods
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EDEM 692 – Qualitative Research Methods
Elective courses (3-12 credits)
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are encouraged to take as many courses as you can in your
first two years; this will help you in preparing your candidacy
papers and your thesis proposal.
Elective courses
are determined in consultation with your
supervisor and Doctoral Advisory Committee. Common elective
courses taken by our Ph.D. students include:
•EDEM 690 Research Methods: Philosophy and Practice
•EDEM 630 Qualitative/Ethnographic Methods
Students
needing to take graduate courses in statistics will select
from courses such as:
•EDPE 575 Educational Measurement
•EDPE 676 Intermediate Statistics
•EDPE 682 Univariate/Multivariate Analysis
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Milestones & Time Limitations
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Entering with an MA degree, you are “PhD 2”, in your first year
of the doctoral program. Entering without an MA degree, you
are “PhD 1”, in your first year of the doctoral program.
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You have 6 years to finish your PhD degree, i.e. PhD 2 – PhD 7,
or PhD 1 – PhD 6.
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You are expected to finish your coursework in the first two
years. (Statistics courses are often taken later.)
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You are expected to defend your Candidacy Papers by the end
of the summer of your second year.
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Progress Reports, signed by student and supervisor(s), are
required by the end of September for all students, annually.
Forms are on the DISE graduate Ph.D. site.
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MILESTONES / SCHEDULE
YEAR
COURSES
1
Professional
Seminar
Various
courses
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Professional
Colloquium
Various
courses
OTHER
Candidacy Papers
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Thesis Proposal, Ethical Review, Data
Collection
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Data Collection, Writing
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Writing
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Writing, Submission
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Why time limitations?
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Train students to define objectives and meet them
proficiently and efficiently.
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Our resources are limited.
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government funding for PhD students is given
only in the first 3.4 years of program
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limited number and availability of faculty
supervisors
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funding sources are increasingly competitive and
scarce
Your resources are limited.
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Balancing act with family, finances, health and
work
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Candidacy Papers
(formerly Comprehensive Examinations)
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Not comprehensive, not exams, but to determine that you are
ready for dissertation research www.mcgill.ca/edudise/students/graduate.
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Two or three questions, agreed on by student and committee.
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In regard to your research question(s), one paper is typically
“What do we know about this?” (literature review) and the
other “How will I find out?” (methodology).
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You consult with supervisor while developing your responses.
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Register with Graduate Program Coordinator for the term in
which you expect to defend them.
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You must defend your papers orally and pass ethical review (if
applicable) before data collection.
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Candidacy Papers & Milestones
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You are expected to defend your CP by the end of your second
year (i.e. August 31).
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If you successfully defend by this deadline, you receive an
ABDUL ($2,000). This “All But Dissertation” award is
incentive and reward for timely completion. If you do not, you
won’t receive it.
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If you do not pass this milestone at the designated time, you
may request an extension of one semester (i.e. Fall) citing
unforeseen and extraordinary circumstances. This will require
the assent of the doctoral advisory committee, the GPD and the
Chair.
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If the extension deadline is not met; you will receive an
Unsatisfactory progress report and a new date will be set for an
interim progress report.
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PROGRESS REPORTS
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These are mandated by GPS and help us ensure that you are
keeping on track.
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The first report form is a contract for the coming academic year,
due by the end of September 2015.
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Subsequent report forms are due by the end of June each year.
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Progress is attested to by both student and supervisor(s).
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If a progress report is unsatisfactory, another progress report will
be due 3-6 months later (determined by student, supervisor and
GPD).
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Two unsatisfactory progress reports mean that the student might
be asked to withdraw from the program.
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Forms are available on the DISE Graduate website. DO NOT
use GPS forms.
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LEAVES OF ABSENCE
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Different types of leave, usually family, medical or
employment; all require documentation.
Note: There is no longer any “non-resident leave”
Grants and student visas do not continue during a leave.
You must be officially registered as on leave. Do not
simply disappear; you may end up not finishing, or owing
lots of back fees.
Stop the clock rather than grind to a halt!
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http://www.mcgill.ca/gps/students/progress/leave-vacation
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THESIS SUBMISSION
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Submission Dates
Note: “Initial thesis submission” refers to official submission
to Thesis Office of entire thesis as the beginning of the
official examination process.
When you are getting close to submission, sit down with the
GPC and go over the steps.
Plan with adequate time for review, getting signatures, etc.
Do not cut the deadlines too closely!
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Thesis Evaluation Status: applies to fees when the thesis
evaluation process crosses two terms.
http://www.mcgill.ca/gps/thesis/guidelines/initial-submission
http://www.mcgill.ca/gps/thesis/deadlines
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Official Thesis Submission Deadlines
Initial
Submission
(affects fees)
Final
Submission
(affects graduation date,
not flexible)
Apr 16 – Aug 15
Aug 16 – Dec 15 Summer
Additional
Session
Thesis
Evaluation
Graduation
Fall
February
Aug 16 – Dec 15 Dec 16 – Apr 15
Fall
Winter
June
Dec 16 – Apr 15
Winter
Summer
October
Apr 16 – Aug 15
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CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Workshops, talks, seminars and presentations:
•Practical help
in learning specific skills, from reference
formatting to grant-writing.
•Opportunities for
informal learning about educational
activities and research in a wide variety of areas with students,
faculty and educators.
Keep
track of your attendance on the Co-curricular Activities
Report sheet (on DISE website)
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Practical Help
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SKILLSETS (GPS &TLS)
http://www.mcgill.ca/gps/students/skillsets
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myRESEARCH (in the Education Library)
http://www.mcgill.ca/gps/students/skillsets/research/myresearch
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ABCs of the PhD (Faculty of Education)
http://www.mcgill.ca/education/research/abc/
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DISE PhD Collaborative (Peer Support) Group
http://phdpeersupportandcollaboration.weebly.com
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Grant-Writing Support (DISE, GPS and SKILLSETS) see below
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Speaker Series
• DISE TALKS! Students, faculty and visitors talking about their
work and projects.
• “Globalization, Education and Change”: inter-disciplinary
perspectives from local and international scholars and educators.
• “Meet the Neighbours”: experiences in community education,
research, knowledge production and social change with community
educators, organizers and practitioners
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Assistantships at McGill
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Research Assistantships
Given on entrance or later to work on a funded research
project.
RA positions are posted on CaPS and must be applied for.
RA group is unionized, with a collective agreement.
Teaching Assistantships
TA positions are posted on CaPS, and must be applied for.
TA group is unionized; there is a collective agreement and a
priority pool.
Degree requirements vary for levels of courses.
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GREATS: Faculty TRAVEL awards
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Helps fund cost of conferences at which you are
presenting.
Awards are usually around $500 for North America and
$800 elsewhere. Conferences in Montreal are usually
$250. Funding depends on the number of applicants.
Preference given to those applicants who did not receive an
award the previous year
Application details s to be found on the form at
http://www.mcgill.ca/dise/grad/phdedstud
Deadlines:
May 1 (for travel from April 1 to June 30)
July 1 (for travel from July 1 August 31)
September 1 (for travel from September 1 to December 31)
January 1 (or first week of Jan. for travel from Jan 1 to March 31)
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EGSS Travel Fellowships:
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$250 (N.Am.) or $500 (outside N.Am.) for conference
presentation
number of awards as funding permits
deadlines to apply on EGSS website
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DISE and Faculty Awards
http://www.mcgill.ca/education/students/graduate/awards
Notifications of award deadlines will be sent to you by email.
DISE Awards: 1 PhD and 1 MA award each; application dates in
Winter
Community Engagement Award
Educator Practitioner-Researcher Award
Innovative Dissemination of Research Award
Faculty of Education Awards:
A variety of awards of varying amounts
• Two application sessions, in Fall and Winter terms.
EGSS Fellowships: two $500 MA awards and two $1,000 PhD
awards.
• Based on research and professional excellence, and need.
• Deadline usually in April.
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GRANTS: external
Information on external and internal grants and awards:
http://www.mcgill.ca/gps/students/fellowships
SSHRC: www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/ [must go through Dept.]
FQRSC: http://www.fqrsc.gouv.qc.ca/fr/accueil.php
Although forms change slightly from year to year, the basic sections
remain the same. You can get a head-start on your drafts by
using the most recent forms on these sites.
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Words to the Wise…
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Communicate with us only via your official McGill student
email address. Always include your student number.
Pay attention to your email messages.
Check your advising transcript regularly on MINERVA
Check your physical mailbox, 2nd floor inner corridor, often.
Make sure your current coordinates and bank account
information are up-to-date on MINERVA.
Register on time. Respect deadlines. Allow time for
signatures. Allow time for unforeseen unknowns.
Double-check conflicting advice!
You must be officially registered for ALL semesters, even on
leave. Do not disappear.
Use the assistance available before you really need it.
Take advantage of McGill and community resources. They
are for YOU!
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