Award search

In addition to these awards, the University supports graduate students through teaching, research, and service fellowships and assistanceships. For these, contact your graduate chair or administrator for details.

Governor General's Gold Medal

Value: Over the years, this has become one of the most prestigious award that students in Canadian schools can receive. Medals are presented on behalf of the Governor General along with a personalized certificate signed by the Governor General. There is no monetary award associated with the Medal.
Number offered: 2 Annually | Fall and Spring Convocation
Eligibility:

This national competition recognizes excellence and original quality in graduate student research. In particular, components of the graduate program to be considered by the selection committee include the thesis, coursework, publications and presentations.

Students who will be graduating with a PhD in the fall of 2025 are eligible to be nominated. If nominated by the home department, both students and their departments will be required to submit required documents.

Nominations are limited to one per department/program.
Apply:

Departments wishing to nominate a student must provide the following documents in PDF format.

  • A letter from the Department Head giving a detailed rationale for the nomination*;
  • A letter from one additional faculty member*;
  • A letter from the External Examiner that covers the topics found in the Nomination Letter Guidelines*;
  • A non-technical abstract or summary prepared by the student (1,000 to 1,500 words) describing the research and its significance. The abstract/summary should be written for a general academic audience of non-specialists;
  • The abstract and table of contents for the nominated thesis;
  • A CV from the student nominee. This must include the student's most up-to-date contact information.
  • Submit documents at:
*The letters should include information regarding the significance of the thesis, the contribution of the thesis to the University of Saskatchewan program, and the impact of the thesis on the knowledge base of the discipline.
Deadline:

September 15, 2025