How to Apply

Overview of the 2011 Competition Process
ResearchNet—Application Instructions
ResearchNet—Post-Application

Overview of the 2011 Competition Process

1. Applications are initiated in one of two ways. Either:
   1. the candidate informs the faculty of graduate studies at the selected university of their intent to apply to the Vanier CGS competition; or
   2. the university initiates the nomination process by contacting the candidate.
2. Applications are prepared and submitted using the ResearchNet application system.
3. The nominating university sets its internal deadline.
4. The nominating university performs its internal candidate-selection process.
5. The nominating university forwards recommended nominations to the appropriate granting agencies by October 20, 2010.
6. The granting agencies perform their peer review process.
7. The granting agencies forward their nominations to the Vanier Selection Board.
8. The Vanier Selection Board recommends Vanier CGS scholars to the three granting agency presidents.
9. Successful candidates are notified of the competition results in April 2011.

Important notes:

• Students wishing to apply for a Vanier CGS should verify that the university to which they are applying for doctoral studies has a Vanier CGS allocation.
• They must then inform the university that they wish to be considered for a Vanier CGS.
• Once they have completed the Vanier CGS electronic application through ResearchNet, students must submit their application online to the Canadian university that will be putting forward their nomination. Applications submitted by candidates directly to one of the granting agencies, instead of through a Canadian university, will not be considered.
• Only one university can submit a nomination for an individual student to an agency. If more than one university is interested in nominating an individual student for an award, the student must choose the university that will submit their nomination. Multiple nominations will not be accepted.
• Based on its allocation, the university will forward their nominations (including the electronic application and the university’s nomination letter) for review to the appropriate granting agency.
• The university is responsible for notifying candidates if their application is not forwarded to one of the agencies.

Choice of University

Vanier scholars are encouraged to continuously broaden their research horizons and seek new challenges. For this reason, Vanier CGS candidates are encouraged to pursue their studies at a university other than that (or those) which granted their undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Candidates who are nominated by a university at which they have completed a previous degree must provide a compelling rationale, in the Special Circumstances section of the application, as to why they have chosen to undertake their PhD at a university through which they have previously earned a degree.

Evaluation of Leadership Potential

Nominees are evaluated on academic excellence, research potential and leadership potential. There are four opportunities in the nomination package for a Vanier CGS candidate to highlight their leadership potential:

1. Students must list their previous leadership activities/accomplishments according to the categories listed under Selection Criteria in the program description. Students are also asked to write a self-assessment detailing the impact of their activities and accomplishments, and how they judge themselves to be a potential Vanier CGS recipient and a leader in their research community.
   
   
2. The student’s referees are asked to comment on the student’s leadership potential and to elaborate on the impact of the activities and accomplishments mentioned in the self-assessment.
   
   
3. The leadership reference letter should be written by someone who knows the student in a non-academic capacity. It should describe how the student has demonstrated, and will potentially continue to demonstrate, leadership.
   
   
4. The Vanier nomination letter submitted by the university should also highlight the student’s leadership qualities—especially if the nominee is an international student, as some context may be required. The university must also address how it will support the nominee to help them fully develop their leadership potential.

Presentation of Attached Documents

Students must prepare their Vanier CGS application and supporting materials using the following formatting standards:

• Text must be single-spaced, with no more than six lines per inch.
• The accepted font is Times New Roman (regular, minimum 12-pt.), or any comparable serif font.
• Condensed type is not acceptable.
• Set margins at a minimum of 2 cm (3/4 of an inch) all around.
• Use a left-justified, standard page layout.
• Include your name in the page header (on every page).
• For multipage attachments, number the pages sequentially.
• The maximum number of pages permitted is indicated in each section of the application. Pages in excess of the number permitted will be removed.
• Do not refer readers to websites for additional information.
• If you have supporting documents written in a language other than English or French, you must provide a certified translation of the document.
• All attachments must be in PDF format before they can be attached to the electronic application.

ResearchNet—Application Instructions

Before You Begin
ResearchNet Application Process: General Information
Deadlines
Components of a Complete Vanier CGS ResearchNet Application

Before You Begin

Ensure you have access and permissions to the research application tools listed below, which you will need in order to complete your application. If you do not yet have access and permissions to these, you may register now via the following links:

• ResearchNet account
• ResearchNet PIN  
• access to Common CV

Important notes:

• You should have only one ResearchNet account. If you have already accessed ResearchNet, do not register for a new account.
• You will need your ResearchNet PIN in order to validate your Common CV; however, your PIN cannot be used to log on to the Common CV website.
• You need a Common CV account to prepare a CV to upload into ResearchNet during the e-submission process. An application Common CV includes data required by all agencies (on the first screen of each section) and additional agency-specific data. If you have previously registered for a Common CV account, do not re-register.

ResearchNet Application Process: General Information

1. In ResearchNet, complete all tasks listed for the Vanier CGS competition by following the on-screen instructions in one of Canada’s official languages.
2. Preview the Full Application Package version of your application in ResearchNet, using the "Preview Application Materials" task, to ensure that your application is complete. Note: What you see previewed is exactly how your application will look when submitted electronically to the granting agency.
3. Indicate that you have verified the application for completeness on ResearchNet.
4. Print the entire application.
5. Save the PDF version of the entire, completed application.
6. Submit the completed electronic application through ResearchNet by completing the "Consent and Submit Application" task. Note: The nominating university cannot accept your application until you complete this task.
7. For technical help, call 1-613-941-9080 or email support@researchnet-recherchenet.ca.
8. For program-related help, please contact info@vanier.gc.ca.

Deadlines

There are two deadlines pertaining to the 2011 competition.

1. Program deadline: Universities must forward their selected nominations to the granting agencies by October 20, 2010.
   
   
2. University deadline: Following the student’s identification in ResearchNet of the university proposed for doctoral study, an additional deadline date and time will appear at the top of each page. This is the deadline by which your application must be submitted to the university through ResearchNet. This deadline is set and controlled by each university. You will not be able to submit your application past this precise date and time.

Components of a Complete Vanier CGS ResearchNet Application

Task Tips
Task 1: Identify Area of Research
Task 2: Identify Applicant
Task 3: Identify Referees
Task 4: Attach Common CV and Supporting Documents—Candidate
Task 5: Enter Degree Information
Task 6: Enter Project Information and Supporting Documents—Research Proposal
Task 7: Confirm Documents Have Been Sent
Task 8: Preview Application Materials
Task 9: Consent and Submit Application

Task Tips

The following are tips only; it is the responsibility of the applicant to submit a complete application.

• Bold text and stars indicate mandatory fields.
• It is important to save any additions or changes before navigating away from the task page(s).
• The status of all tasks must be indicated as Complete in order for you to submit your application.

Task 1: Identify Area of Research

This task identifies the intended granting agency to which your application is being sent. Your research proposal and doctoral program of study must be eligible within the mandate of the agency to which your nomination will be submitted. If in doubt, you or the nominating university should consult with the agencies prior to submitting your application.

This also applies to nominations involving interdisciplinary fields of research, or disciplines that span the mandates of two or more of the federal research granting agencies. For additional information on mandate and subject matter eligibility please consult the granting agency websites: 

Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

Choose the research subject that most closely corresponds to your proposed research using the drop-down menu for the "Areas of Research Classification."

Task 2: Identify Applicant

This task collects information about you and your current university. Click the “Edit” button to complete the details. Once the mandatory information is entered, the status for this task will be marked as “Complete.”

The “Manage Files“ button is a link to the task for attaching supporting documents (see Task 4).

Task 3: Identify Referees

Note: Two referee forms are required.

This task collects information about two of the three referees whose assessments accompany your application. These two referees must be able to assess your academic excellence, your research potential and your demonstrated and potential leadership ability. Information regarding the third referee for the leadership reference letter is provided under Task 4.

You can add a referee by clicking on the "Add Referee" link and completing the mandatory fields.

You must have two referees provide assessments in support of your application. It is your responsibility to ensure that your referees complete the assessment form.

A "Referee Request" email will be sent to each of the identified referees. The email contains a link to a form that the referees will be able to complete, save and submit to ResearchNet. Prior to this email being sent, you will have the ability to send a personal message to the referees informing them of your request and what to expect. The email message will be sent on your behalf. If the message bounces back, it will be returned to your email inbox.

Referee assessments must be submitted to ResearchNet by the university deadline date in order for your application to be considered in the Vanier CGS competition.

A task status of “Completed” indicates that all the referee assessment forms have been received by ResearchNet.

Task 4: Attach Common CV and Supporting Documents—Candidate

This task allows you to attach the following documents to your application. For each attachment, applicants browse on their computer and upload the specific documents to ResearchNet.

Supporting Documents—Candidate

• Common CV
• Description of Leadership and Communication Skills (maximum 1 page)
• Leadership Reference Letter (maximum 2 pages)
• Research Contributions (maximum 2 pages)
• Special Circumstances

Common CV
You are required to upload a Common CV validated for the appropriate granting agency. All documents must be in PDF format. Click on the “Common CV Website” link. This will open a new window for the online program that helps create the Common CV. Follow the instructions on this website to complete and save your Common CV.

To upload a CV and related documents do the following:

1. Click “Browse” (to the right of the Curriculum Vitae* field).
2. Navigate to and select the appropriate CV file.
3. Click “Attach” to upload the document.

Notes:

• Instructions on the Common CV system for page-numbering do not apply to ResearchNet documents. The granting agency accepts Vanier CGS documents that are numbered in logical order. Fields that appear in bold with an asterisk (*) are mandatory.
• Signatures are not required on the Common CV.

Description of Leadership and Communication Skills (maximum 1 page)
Write a self-assessment detailing the impact of your academic and non-academic activities and accomplishments, and how you judge yourself to be a potential Vanier CGS recipient and a leader in the research community. Consult the program description for further details.

Leadership Reference Letter (maximum 2 pages)
The Leadership Reference Letter should be written by someone who knows you in a non-academic capacity, and should describe how you have demonstrated and will potentially continue to demonstrate leadership.

Research Contributions (maximum 2 pages)
The contributions defined in this section should include academic and research achievements, and their impacts.

For each contribution:

• describe your role in the research, including by clarifying your contribution to collaborative research and to the actual writing of joint publications;
• discuss the reasons for publishing in certain journals (e.g., target audiences, review procedures);
• provide details, as appropriate, on the significance of technical reports and of original research reported in books or technical reports;
• indicate any collaboration with other researchers; and
• discuss the relevance of your work to the social sciences and humanities, natural sciences and engineering, or health-related fields and processes, if appropriate.

Examples of research contributions include activities, patents and intellectual property rights, and publications.

Activities
The activities defined in this section should include both academic and non-academic achievements, and their impacts.

The following are examples of possible entries. This is not necessarily a complete list, and is intended to provide guidance only:

• committee membership;
• consulting/contract activities;
• research development;
• research or technical reports;
• supervisory experience (e.g., training of students);
• technology transfers (specify the nature of the activity and the target audience);
• involvement in public, private or not-for-profit sector activities;
• policy papers;
• presentations as guest speaker (public or invited lectures);
• knowledge translation/dissemination activities; and
• development of a graduate seminar program, journal club or similar activity.

If some of these completed works do not seem to support the research theme of the team or centre to which you belong, provide the necessary explanations.

Patents and Intellectual Property Rights
This section should include details related to patents and intellectual property rights for technology transfer, products and services.

Descriptions might include title; patents or intellectual property rights number and date; country or countries of issue; name of the inventor(s), and relevance or impact of the stated item.

Publications List
List your publications and other research contributions according to the categories below. Categories can be added as needed. List only publications pertinent to the application.

Use each applicable category as a different subtitle,and maintain the same presentation order as shown below. In all instances, use the reference format for complete bibliographical notes of each original publication. Indicate the source of funding, if applicable.

• Published refereed papers (original articles published in journals with editorial review)
• Accepted or in-press refereed papers
• Submitted refereed papers
• Published books and monographs (as author or editor)
• Accepted or in-press books and monographs
• Submitted books and monographs
• Published contributions to a collective work and book chapters (including chapters written on invitation or collective works derived from conferences or symposiums)
• Accepted or in-press contributions to a collective work and book chapters (including chapters written on invitation or collective works derived from conferences or symposiums)
• Presentations as guest speaker (including conferences, presentations, demonstrations and workshops)
• Published abstracts / number of notes (including name of journal, title of article, and date submitted)
• Accepted or in-press abstracts / number of notes (including name of journal, title of article, and date submitted)
• Submitted abstracts (including name of journal, title of article, and date submitted)
• Works including individual or collective literary or artistic works (e.g., novels, short stories, poetry, films, videos, visual art work, booklets, records, sound creations, books of artists, collections, exhibition catalogues, etc.)
• Research reports or reports produced for the government
• Articles in professional or cultural journals without review committee (including popularized texts)

Use the following format when listing publications:

• full authorship as it appears/will appear in the original publication (with the applicant's name in bold)
• year
• title
• publication name and volume
• first and last page numbers

Example:

Li, H., Applicant, X.X., and Kay, M. (1994) Protein-structure interactions in cell membranes. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 269: 1120-1124 (Master’s work).

Notes:

• Publications submitted, accepted or in press: Indicate the date of submission/acceptance and the number of pages submitted.
• Patents: Include the title and names of joint inventors.
• Posters: Indicate the presenting author with an asterisk (*). Example: Applicant, X.X.*.
• Conferences: Indicate whether institutional, regional, provincial, national or international.
• In all cases: Indicate whether the publication resulted from work done in the process of completing your undergraduate, master’s, or doctoral degree, or from other relevant work experience.
• Many contributions to industry or other end-users take the form of technical or internal reports, some of which may be confidential to protect proprietary information, or may be subject to patent or copyright protection.

Updates to your publication record will not be accepted after the application deadline date.

Special Circumstances (maximum 1 page)

1. Identify any administrative responsibilities, family or health reasons, or any other special circumstances that might have delayed or interrupted any of the following: academia, career, scientific research, other research, dissemination of results, training, etc. Common examples of a special circumstance might be a bereavement period following the death of a loved one, or maternity/parental leave. Include the start and end dates; the impact areas; and the reason(s) for, or a brief explanation of, the absence.
   
   
2. If you are nominated by a university at which you have completed a previous degree, you must also use this space to provide a compelling rationale as to why you have chosen the same/nominating university at which to undertake your PhD.
   
   
3. If you are registered in a combined undergraduate and doctoral program (e.g., MD/PhD) please provide a calculation of all months of doctoral-level studies, regardless of the research discipline for eligibility purposes. You must specify the part-time periods (if applicable). This calculation must be consistent with the transcripts provided. The Vanier CGS program does not consider MD activities as doctoral-level studies.

The agency, the peer review committee and the Vanier Selection Board will take these special circumstances into consideration when evaluating your application. If your potential or current PhD supervisor is unable to provide you with a reference letter, you may also use this section to provide an explanation for this.

Task 5: Enter Degree Information

This task collects information on any degrees, qualifications, certificates and/or licenses in progress, as well as on the degree for which support is being requested.

Please note that in order to complete this task, you must indicate whether there is a degree in progress, and must specify at least one degree for which support is being requested.

Task 6: Enter Project Information and Supporting Documents—Research Proposal

This task collects information related to your research proposal.

Supporting Documents—Research Proposal

• Research proposal (maximum 2 pages)
• Project references (maximum 5 pages)

Project Overview

Title of Research Proposal
Your research proposal title is used by the granting agency to identify your application. For this reason, you cannot edit it once it has been saved. The title will be used for publication purposes. It should describe the subject of the proposed project for which you are seeking support. It should not contain a company or trade name. Spell out scientific symbols and acronyms.

Lay Title
Provide a title for your project that is in a language clear to members of the general public. Lay titles and lay abstracts are used by the granting agencies to inform the public and Canadian Parliament about the valuable research supported through public funds.

Lay Abstract
Describe your project in a way that is accessible to a lay audience.

Project Details

Provide information on your nominating university and proposed doctoral studies.

Project Descriptors

Provide keywords to describe your research proposal, and complete any subsequent project descriptor fields using the drop-down menus. Indicate additional descriptors only if the substance of the application significantly overlaps more than one choice from the drop-down menu.

Attachments (Supporting Documents)

This task requests that two documents be attached: research proposal and project references.

Research Proposal (maximum 2 pages)
Provide a detailed description of your proposed research project for the period during which you are to hold the award. Be as specific as possible. Provide background information to position your proposed research within the context of the current knowledge in the field. State the objectives, hypothesis and research question. Outline the experimental or theoretical approach to be taken (citing literature pertinent to the proposal), the methods and procedures to be used, and the contribution of the project to the advancement of knowledge.

State the significance of the proposed research to a field or fields supported by the selected granting agency. Applicants must write their own research proposal independently. Ideas and/or text belonging to others must be properly referenced. Include all relevant information. Do not refer members to URLs or other publications for supplemental information. Describe your research proposal in non-technical terms. Include a description of your role on the project. This proposal should be written in general scientific language.

Provide the requested information according to the guidelines and formatting standards outlined in Presentation of Attached Documents. This attachment is strictly limited to two pages. Pages in excess of the number permitted will be removed.

Notes:

• Your research proposal should be readable by someone with a background in the discipline but no specialized knowledge of the particular field of research.
• If the proposed research is a continuation of your previous work (e.g., honours thesis, master’s thesis), clearly state the differences between the work that you have done and the research activities outlined in this proposal.

Project References (maximum 5 pages)
Enter the references/bibliography/citation of your research proposal. Limit the document to five pages. You must use this section to refer to list publications and other works/sources that support or apply to your research proposal.

Task 7: Confirm Documents Have Been Sent

This task requires a confirmation that all official transcripts have been sent to the proposed nominating university. The nominating university will attach your transcripts to your application should your nomination be forwarded to the granting agency.

Granting agencies will only accept official transcripts from your nominating university.

Task 8: Preview Application Materials

Review your application and print a PDF copy. If a task is incomplete, you must provide the missing information in order to successfully submit your application.

Task 9: Consent and Submit Application

• You must consent to the terms before you can submit your application.
• You must click "Submit" to send your application to your nominating university.
• You will be prompted to confirm that this is what you wish to do. If you accept, you will receive a confirmation screen with a ResearchNet confirmation number (this is not your application number, but a unique ResearchNet identifier).
• You will also receive a confirmation email that your application was submitted to the nominating university’s faculty of graduate studies.

ResearchNet—Post-Application

After you have submitted your application to the nominating university, the activity will move to your "Completed Activities" tab. You will not be able to make any changes to your application.

The nominating university will review your application and either return it to you with comments or approve it. Only authorized representatives can view submitted applications. Faculties of graduate studies have read-only access and cannot make any changes to your application.

If Application is Returned to You

If the faculty of graduate studies returns the application to you, you will receive an email from ResearchNet containing their comments. You will be given a revised university deadline by which you must re-submit your application. Your application will move back to the “Current Activities” tab so that you can modify your application and re-submit it to the faculty of graduate studies. The university will not be able to view your application while you are editing it.

1. Once you have completed all changes, you must re-submit your application to the faculty of graduate studies for review before the university deadline.
   
   
2. Once submitted, your application is moved to the “Completed Activities” tab in Research Net.
   
   
3. The faculty of graduate studies will review your re-submitted application. Note that it will not yet have been forwarded to the granting agency.
   
   
4. If the university selects your application, it will electronically approve and submit your nomination to the appropriate granting agency. You will receive an acknowledgement of receipt by email from the granting agency shortly after October 20, 2010.
   
   
5. If you do not receive this confirmation email, you should contact the faculty of graduate studies to determine the status of your application.