UBC Research Graduate Programs in Rehabilitation Sciences
Writing Great Scholarship Applications.
Tips from Dr Linda Li and Dr Liisa Holsti, March 9, 2010
General
 The application needs to be understandable by anyone. Those reviewing your application
may not be knowledgeable re your area of research.

Before writing, examine the criteria for the award and their weighting. Remember the
reviewers will be using the same criteria to judge your application. Keep these in mind when
you write and when you provide info to your referees to assist them in writing reference
letters.

Your academic record, research productivity and proposed project are important in a
scholarship application, but knowing how to ‘market’ your application is equally important.
For example, highlight your publications / academic activities and give examples why you
are great (it’s a wrong time to be shy when you are writing an application). Or if your
supervisor provides an exceptional training environment, emphasize it.

Do not complete the application at the last minute. Ask someone else to read it. Think
about it as an investment; if you get the scholarship you’ll have less need for employment.

If your PhD supervisor is a junior faculty member, but have an outstanding track record at
the early stage of his / her career (e.g., number of papers, tri-council grants, etc), it is
important to emphasize. If he/she is an award-winning researcher, highlight it.

Leave some spaces in the application. It’s very tiring for reviewers to read documents that
are crammed. Use Bold, Underline, or Italic fonts to emphasize things that you want
reviewers to notice.

Emphasize your own publications and conference presentations. If you have numerous
presentations, just highlight recent presentations and state that you have an additional 20
previous presentations.

No two funding agencies function the same way, so it is important to know what is viewed
as important by each agency.
CIHR


In 2010, the success rate is expected to be about 14% - 15%.
There is no committee meeting to discuss applications; two people review each application
on the ReseachNet. If their ratings are far apart, they will be requested by CIHR to discuss
their marks. The reviewers may then adjust their marks or defend their position, and an
average is calculated.

Look at the website and use CIHR buzz words and definitions, e.g. If you use the terms
“patient oriented research”, “integrated knowledge translation”, you need to apply the
same definition used by the CIHR

Reference letters are extremely important. When funding is tight you need 3 solid
references. Indifferent letters and canned letters are noticed. The content of the reference
is more important than the rank of the individual writing the letter. Obtain references from
the highest ranked people who know you best. The referee should provide concrete
examples to support their statements. A statement such as “ this person is in the top 2% of
students I have supervised over the last 20 years” is very helpful.
Michael Smith
 The research project, research environment (the supervisor) and how your research is
aligned to that of the supervisor are weighted more heavily than the reference letters.

A Michael Smith buzz word is “return on investment”

The reviewers meet for a day to discuss applications.