Queen’s Minimum Funding Guarantees
Queen’s University has a minimum guarantee of funding for full-time doctoral students of $18,000 per year for each of the first four years of full-time study. Queen’s does not mandate a minimum funding package for master’s students.
The Department of Psychology offers highly competitive funding packages for all full-time master’s students in years MSc1 and MSc2 and full-time doctoral students in years PhD1, PhD2, PhD3, and PhD4 in good standing. Each eligible student is allocated a minimum combined funding package of $18,000 annually. In recent years, Psychology has been able to exceed this minimum to approximately $23,000 per eligible student per year.
Definition of Full-Time Funding Eligible Student
Queen’s School of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs defines full-time student status as follows:
Full-time students should not hold paid employment of more than 10 hours a week unrelated to their research.
Full time students may be eligible for a wide range of internal and external scholarship and bursary awards including Queen's Graduate Awards (QGA), International Tuition Awards (for international students only), and NSERC, SSHRC, CIHR and Ontario Graduate Scholarships (OGS). Many external awards are restricted to Canadian citizens and landed immigrants who have held this status at least one year. Some Queen's internal awards have similar restrictions.
Teaching Assistantships (TAs) and research Assistantships (RAs) are normally assigned to full-time graduate students.
Tuition Fees
Tuition Fees for domestic and international students are available on the Registrar & Financial Aid Services website.
Sources of Funding:
External Scholarships and Awards
External funding is available via the Tri-Agency institutions at both the Master’s and Doctoral level: Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and Ontario Graduate Scholarships (CIHR / NSERC / SSHRC). Please refer to Tri-Agency website for procedures and timeline.
Read more about Tri-Agency CGSM Master’s Award
Read more about Tri-Agency CGSD Doctoral Award
Exclusive to Queen’s University:
Tri-Agency Recipient Recognition Award for Canada Graduate Scholarship (TARRA)
Queen’s University invests in Canada’s most talented graduate students with the Tri-Agency Recipient Recognition Award for Canada Graduate Scholarship – $5,000 for incoming Master’s (CGSM) and $10,000 for incoming Doctoral (CGSD) Recipients.
All eligible applicants to the CGSM who identify Queen's as their destination of choice (host institution) are automatically considered for the Tri-Agency Recipient Recognition Award. Only eligible CGSM and CGSD holders will receive the Tri-Agency Recipient Recognition Award.
All graduate students are eligible to hold an Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) no matter where they are living at the time of application. The Department of Psychology requires eligible students to apply for the OGS funding award during each year of their degree in order to also be eligible for nomination for Queen’s internal fellowships and scholarships.
OGS application opens in December and the deadline is February 1. Please refer to Queen’s SGSPA OGS page for application open timeline and procedures.
The Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Vanier CGS) program is designed to attract and retain world-class doctoral students by offering them a significant financial award to assist them during their studies at Canadian universities. Vanier Scholars demonstrate leadership skills and a high standard of scholarly achievement in the social sciences and humanities, natural sciences and engineering, and health-related fields. Canadian and international students are eligible to be nominated for a Vanier CGS, which is valued at $50,000 per year for up to three years.
The Ontario Women’s Health Scholars Awards Program was established with the support of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to ensure that Ontario attracts and retains pre-eminent scholars studying women’s health.
The Autism Scholars Awards Program aims to establish a research community that meets or exceeds internationally accepted standards of scientific excellence in its creation of new knowledge concerning child autism, and its translation into improved health for children through more effective services and products for children with autism, and thereby adds to the province’s capacity in diagnosis and assessment of autism and the quality of its treatment system.
Please see more information about the Ontario Women’s Health Scholars Award and Autism Scholars Award.
Please see more information about Other External Award opportunities.
Internal Fellowships and Awards
Eligibility
Students must have applied for the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) funding award in order to be considered for nomination for any Queen’s Internal Fellowship opportunities.
Application Process
Candidates nominated for a Queen's Fellowship award are identified by PSYC Graduate Committee and ranked using the student's OGS application. Students are not required to prepare any additional application for the Internal Fellowships.
Value
Queen’s Internal Fellowships are valued between $5,000 and $10,000 and are awarded on a competitive basis.
The PSYC Graduate Committee identifies which students will receive QGA. No other action is required of the student. QGA amounts vary from year to year. Specific details will be provided to students via email.
Departmental Awards and Prizes
The Department of Psychology is fortunate to have a number of prizes/awards/scholarships that are normally awarded yearly to qualified students, no application is necessary. Currently, they are as follows:
Established from the estate of Dr. Violet Beryl Head. Awarded on the basis of merit and need to the female Ontario resident completing the Clinical M.Sc. program with the highest standing who is proceeding to a doctoral degree in clinical psychology at Queen's or another well recognised university in North America, Great Britain or Continental Europe. The student must not receive any other award of higher value. A committee appointed by the Head of the Department makes the selection each spring. The scholarship may be renewed, normally up to a maximum of twice, provided that satisfactory standing has been maintained. (Value: $17,700)
Established by Mrs. Shelton in memory of Brian R. Shelton, a graduate of the Department of Psychology at Queen's University. To provide annual support to a deserving graduate student entering the Ph.D. program in Human Experimental Psychology or Psychophysics in the Department of Psychology at Queen’s University. The Fellowship may be renewable each year for three years with a possible extension for a fourth year. (Value: variable)
Professional Student Research Award Voucher. Offered to a graduate student in the Clinical Program finishing their first year in the Clinical Program. The purpose is to enable health professional students to gain exposure to health research at any time during the year, however, awards are generally held for the maximum term of three months and must be held for a minimum of one month. (Value: $4,048)
Established by family, colleagues, students, and friends in memory of Andrew McGhie, Professor of Psychology at Queen's from 1968 to 1988 and Head of Department from 1981 to 1988. Awarded to the student graduating from the Department of Psychology who is judged to have submitted the most outstanding doctoral thesis in the previous twelve months. The judgement is made each spring, the names of all winners are engraved on a plaque which is retained in the Department. (Value: variable)
Established by family, colleagues, students, and friends in memory of Arthur Z. Arthur, Professor of Psychology at Queen's from 1966 to 1990. A book prize to be awarded to the student who has the highest standing in the M.Sc. Clinical Program. The selection is made each August by a committee appointed by the Head of the Department of Psychology.
Established by family, colleagues, students and friends in memory of James Inglis, Professor of Psychology at Queen’s from 1959 to 1965 and from 1968 to 1992 and one of the founders of the Clinical Program. A book prize to be awarded to the graduating doctoral student who has the highest standing in the Clinical Program. The Selection is made each August by a committee appointed by the Head of the Department of Psychology. (Value: variable)
Established by the Estate of Wyona Thompson in memory of her husband Ollan White, BA 1960, MA 1968. Awarded on the basis of academic excellence to funding eligible Masters or PhD level students enrolled in the Department of Psychology in the School of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs. Selection will be made by the Departmental Graduate Studies committee or a similar group. (Value: variable)
Established by the Sylvain Routhier Memorial Foundation. Awarded on the basis of academic excellence to funding eligible Masters or PhD level students enrolled in Department of Psychology in the School of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs. Preference will be given to students pursuing thesis research or coursework in clinical psychology or research in first responder therapy and rehabilitation. Selection will be made by the Departmental Graduate Studies committee or similar group. (Value: variable)
Established by the Canadian Psychological Association to recognize the outstanding achievements of students. The Department of Psychology is invited to nominate up to nine students who have produced the three best Honours theses, the three best Master’s theses and the three best doctoral theses. The selection is made by June 15th each year.
Prize for the best T.A. in a Psychology course. Nominations are called for in mid-March and a determination is made by a small sub-committee of the graduate committee. (Value: $400)
Intended to recognize excellence in teaching on the part of Teaching Assistants. All nominees will receive a certificate from CCDP documenting the award. Nominations submitted by mid April. The names of award winners are posted annually on the CCDP website. A call for nominations is sent to all undergraduate students in mid-March.
Research Assistantships
The Collective Agreement (CA) between the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) on behalf of Graduate Teaching Assistants and Teaching Fellows and Queens University (May 1, 2021 - April 30, 2024). Research Assistantships in the Department of Psychology are assigned at the discretion of the hiring supervisor, in accordance with Article 12.15. Please ensure you become familiar with all aspects of the collective agreement.
RAships come to the attention of and are selected by Employment Supervisors through a number of appropriate venues, including direct communication with a candidate(s) and/or with colleagues (see Article 12.16 of the Collective Agreement)
Except in the circumstances referenced in Article 12.16, RAships shall be posted on a department’s website for at least seven (7) Calendar Days (for more information, see Articles 12.17 and 12.18 of the Collective Agreement)
Research Assistant Wage and Stipend rates are outlined in Schedule “A” of the Collective Agreement. The hourly rate for Research Assistants effective 01 May 2023 is $44.02 including vacation and benefits.
As an RA, you are classified as an employee and should receive a fixed hour contract, called a ‘Research Assistant Form’ and be issued a T4 tax form.
You might be employed by your own supervisor, or by someone else, in order to assist them with their projects or other activities. Such duties might include data collection/entry/ analysis, interview transcription, lab maintenance, grant writing, organising conferences, etc. These activities MUST NOT BE directly related to the completion of your graduate degree. They might still be related to your interests, but these duties must not be an integral part of your own graduate thesis or project.
Teaching Assistantships
The Collective Agreement (CA) between the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) on behalf of Graduate Teaching Assistants and Teaching Fellows and Queens University (May 1, 2021 - April 30, 2024). Teaching Assistantships in the Department of Psychology are assigned in accordance to Article 12.04 of the CA. Please ensure you become familiar with all aspects of the collective agreement.
PSYC Grad Prog Assistant forwards TA application instructions to PSYC Grad students via email.
Students to submit their ranking preferences in the application form.
Teaching Assistant Stipend rates are outlined in Schedule “A” of the Collective Agreement. The hourly rate for Teaching Assistants effective 01 May 2023 is $44.02 including vacation and benefits. Eligible PSYC graduate students are assigned a minimum of 208 TA hours in each academic session of their eligible years which include MSc1 and MSc2, PhD1 thru PhD4. These salaried hours form part of the student’s guaranteed funding package as noted in the student’s letter of offer from the Department. Students are eligible for and may accept additional TA hours beyond the minimum allocation to meet departmental needs as offered by the department as required. Students in years MSc3 and PhD5 and beyond are occasionally offered TA hours to meet the needs of the department in specific years.
All PSYC TAs are required to complete the Queen’s Accessible Instruction for Educators Training online tutorial prior to commencing any TA responsibilities.
The Centre for Teaching and Learning at Queen’s University offers a Teaching Development Day for Students and Post-Doctoral Fellows at the beginning of September for new incoming students wishing to hold Teaching Assistantships. Information can be found on their website. This day-long conference is not mandatory, however, we do encourage new incoming students to participate in some or all of the sessions.
We are excited to have you as part of our instructional team in your role as Teaching Assistant within the Department of Psychology. To help orient you to the department, there will be a Psychology TA training session held at new students’ orientation.