KEY DATES

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

• Be a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant applying to a doctoral program in the social sciences and humanities or registered full-time in the first or second year of such a program at a Canadian university
  OR
  Be a Canadian citizen applying to a doctoral program in the social sciences and humanities or registered full-time in the first or second year of such a program at a foreign university
  OR
  Be a foreign national [with a preference for candidates from the developing world] applying to a doctoral program in the social sciences and humanities or registered full-time in the first or second year of such a program at a Canadian university
• Present a research project linked to one of the four themes of the Foundation
• Be nominated by a university

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

• Completed and printed application form (filled out by using Adobe Acrobat)
• Letter of nomination signed by a high-ranking official of the institution
• Three letters of reference: two (2) from academic referees, principally concerning academic achievements, AND one (1) from a non-academic referee, concerning the non-academic aspects of the application. The letters of reference must be signed and clearly indicate the name and contact information of the referee
• Transcripts of all post-secondary studies, including CEGEP transcript for candidates who attended CEGEP in Quebec

IMPORTANT 

• Official transcripts are not returned to candidates
• Application document must be printed on one side only, and not stapled
• Application forms, letters, or transcripts sent separately to the Foundation, rather than as part of a complete file, are not considered
• Incomplete application files and/or application files received after the deadline will not be considered by the Foundation

SUBMIT AN APPLICATION

Candidates should address their institutions for information about internal application procedures and deadlines. Please note that universities can nominate a candidate from their institution who is pursuing doctoral studies at another university.  There are two ways to submit an application:

THROUGH A CANADIAN UNIVERSITY
Universities in Canada hold annual internal competitions in which six to eight candidates per institution, including affiliated schools, are selected as nominees. The top SSHRC-funded universities are allowed to propose up to eight candidates per institution, including affiliated schools. For the 2011 competition, these universities are: University of Toronto, University of Montreal, University of British Columbia, University of Alberta, McGill University, University of Ottawa, York University, University of Western Ontario, Simon Fraser University and Laval University. Applications must be submitted to the Foundation directly by the nominating university. A complete application file must be submitted for each student.

THROUGH A FOREIGN UNIVERSITY
Foreign universities can propose up to eight candidates per institution, including affiliated schools and colleges. Letters of nomination must be signed by a high-ranking official of the institution. In requesting a nomination from a foreign university, candidates should provide the nominating authority with their completed application form and all supporting documents.  These must be submitted to the Foundation by the nominating authority of the foreign university. A complete application file must be submitted for each student.

APPLICATION FORM

The Application Form is available on the right-hand side of this page.  Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view the application form, to enter data and to print, however this software will not allow saving of successive work sessions or revisions. We recommend that Adobe Acrobat 5.0 or later be used by all applicants, since this will allow saving.  For Apple users, Adobe Acrobat is also recommended since Preview will not allow saving the form in a way that guarantees proper printing of the document (some content could be lost).

SELECTION

Trudeau Scholars are selected through a rigorous process comprised of the following stages:

1. Evaluation of all application files by an internal committee and an external File Review Committee
2. Interviews
3. Approval of the finalists by the Application and Nomination Review Committee
4. Final approval by the Foundation's Board of Directors

SELECTION CRITERIA

• Have a track record of academic achievements at the level of the highest standards of the world's most prestigious doctoral scholarship programs
• Possess exceptional skills that will enable the Scholar to engage in lively exchange with other researchers
• Intend to work in an area related to one or more of the Foundation's four themes and have an expressed desire to contribute to public dialogue

PRIVACY STATEMENT

All information provided to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation is subject to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. The Privacy Act permits candidates to access, upon request, personal information about themselves in letters of reference. The identity of the referee will remain confidential. For more information, please consult our Policies.  

 NEED MORE INFORMATION?

The answer could be in our Frequently Asked Questions.