Instructions for Queen s University Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) competition, 2015-16 GO TO OUR WEBSITE: Click on OGS application button on the SGS website. ARE YOU ELIGIBLE? Review the eligibility requirements for this application, to determine if you are eligible to apply to this competition If you meet all the eligibility requirements, proceed to the online OGS application website by clicking on Click here to access the OGS online application. ONLINE APPLICATION WEBSITE: https://webapp.queensu.ca/sgs/ogs/ogs/applications.php is the SGS OGS online application website. CREATE AN OGS APPLICATION ACCOUNT: For Queen s Students Note that if you are a current Queen s student you must click where directed, to sign on to the OGS application via the Queen s University Single Sign On (SSO) website. When you successfully login, your OGS application account will be created. For Non-Queen s Students CREATE A NEW ACCOUNT (for Non-Queen s Students): Set up an account to fill out the online OGS application. Create a new account, if a first time user, by clicking on Create a new account and following the instructions. You should receive an email with a link to the OGS application. Sometimes the email generated goes to the applicant s junk, spam or trash mailbox, so check there. Hotmail email addresses usually have issues, so if you have another email address, use that. (NOTE: Once you have established your account, any time fill in the information under log into an existing account to return to your in-progress OGS application). PASSWORD (for Non-Queen s Students): Click on the link in the email message to return to the OGS application and continue with the next step of your account creation, creating a password. Follow the instructions to set up and save your password. When your password has been correctly entered and saved, you will be taken to the next screen to Select your OGS application. AFTER ACCOUNT CREATION: SELECT YOUR OGS APPLICATION: You should now be on a screen that reads, There are TWO different OGS Applications. Please read each description below and select the appropriate application. Select the appropriate button that corresponds with the kind of OGS applicant you are: a student who will be starting a new graduate program in 2015-16, or a current graduate student who will be in the same program in 2015-16.
You will next be asked to confirm the application you selected. It is important to select the correct application. Click the button continue with your application when you are sure you have selected the appropriate OGS application. APPLICATION MANAGER: You should now be on a screen with the words Application Manager near the top of the screen. From the application manager screen, you will be able to see the following details about the status of your OGS application(s): Application #: if you submit an OGS application to more than one program, you will see an Application Manager section for all applications listed. Program: you will see the Program applied to here. Deadline: you will see the OGS deadline of the program applied to here. Application Type: you will see the type of OGS application you are working on or have submitted here: NEW if you will be a new graduate student in 2015-16, CONTINUING if you are a current graduate student continuing in the same graduate program in 2015-16. Status: this shows the current status of your online OGS application (In Progress, or Submitted) References: if references are required, you will see information when your referees have been contacted by the online application, and also when those referees have submitted their online reference letters in support of your OGS application. Keep in mind the NEW OGS applicants will not be required to designate OGS referees. As you begin and then save and complete each step of the online application, each step will then be listed on the Application Manager screen. LOG OUT: From the Application Manager screen, you will also see a Log out link which will log you out of your application. CONTACT US: From the Application Manager screen, you will see a Contact Us link. Click on Contact us if you need assistance with the OGS application process. CREATE THE OGS APPLICATION/EDIT APPLICATION: From the Application Manager screen, click on Create a new OGS application to begin your application OR click on Edit Application to continue working on an in-progress application. THE OGS APPLICATION: You should now be on a screen that reads STEPS TO COMPLETING YOUR APPLICATION and a button for each of the five steps to complete the application. The steps are the sections of the online application. Step 1: Personal Information Step 2: Research/Program Statement of Interest (limited to two pages) Step 3: Publications and Presentations (Optional) Step 4: Significant Accomplishments (Optional)(limited to two pages) Step 5: Checklist (check before submitting) Some sections are mandatory, and some sections are optional. Review any on-screen instructions. Fill in all the mandatory sections and any optional sections you want.
MAKE SURE you click on Save the Information on this page to ensure all the data you have entered gets saved. Clicking on the Save Information button will also take you to the next page or section of the application. REFERENCES: Students who are currently graduate students at Queen s will be required to submit information for 2 referees who have agreed to submit letters of reference in support of your application. This is not required for applicants who are not currently graduate students, as the reference letters submitted when you applied or apply to a graduate program will be used in the evaluation of your OGS application. All other sections are the same for both kinds of applicants. VERIFY APPLICATION/CHECKLIST: When you have entered and saved your data, if any sections are missing you will be presented with a Checklist that will present you with incomplete/missing sections that are mandatory. Complete the sections as instructed. SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION: When the checklist is cleared, or if the checklist is not presented to you, that means your OGS application can be submitted. Click on Submit application. You should receive an email confirming successful submission. Sometimes the email generated goes to the applicant s junk, spam or trash mailbox, so check there. CHECKING YOUR STATUS: You can log back into the application https://webapp.queensu.ca/sgs/ogs/ogs/applications.php and review the status of your reference letters, and review your submitted application via the Application Manager, at any time. OGS REVIEW: The review of their OGS applications is done by the department/program you apply to, according to their own schedule and processes. It may take some time for the department/program to determine the outcome of the competition and to notify applicants of their decisions. ------------------------------------------------- INFORMATION AND ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS, 2015-16 Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) competition Purpose and Funding of the OGS Program: OGS awards are merit-based scholarships available to graduate students in all disciplines of graduate level study. The OGS program is jointly funded by the Province of Ontario and each university, with the Province contributing twothirds of the value of the award and the university providing one-third. Value: The OGS value is $15,000, paid in installments of $5,000 per term for one year. Awards must be held for at least two sequential academic terms. If a student cannot hold his or her OGS for at least two sequential terms, repayment in full will be required.
Eligible Students: In order to be considered eligible to be nominated for and to hold an OGS, a student must be: A Canadian citizen, Permanent Resident or Protected Person (under subsection 95(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protections Act [Canada]) at the time of the 2015-16 OGS application deadline date. Enrolled in an eligible postsecondary institution in Ontario (one offering graduate programs). Enrolled full time in an eligible full time graduate program. Note re. Visa students: Foreign students who are studying in Ontario under a temporary resident visa-student study permit are eligible for the allotted visa OGS awards. At Queen s in 2015-16, the 6 OGS awards to be awarded to international students will be selected through the adjudication processes of the annual internal fellowship competition in May June 2015. Departments/programs will be given full details of how to nominate an international student for an international OGS, with all the other materials for the internal fellowship competition. Minimum Academic Requirements: Applicants entering the first or second year of graduate studies at the time of application must have an overall average of at least A- or the on the last 20 one-term/semester courses, or the equivalent, completed. Applicants entering the third year or beyond of graduate studies at the time of application must have an overall average of at least A- or the equivalent on all graduate courses completed. When master s or doctoral degree marks would typically be used for calculating an applicant s academic eligibility but are not available, for example, because the master s degree courses were graded on a pass-fail basis, the average will be calculated using the most recent, available, undergraduate or graduate marks. Applicants that do not meet the minimum academic requirements are not eligible to be considered and will be automatically removed from the competition. Eligibility Conditions: 1. OGS recipients must remain enrolled as full-time students. OGS recipients who withdraw, transfer to part-time studies, or fail to complete the term in which an OGS installment has been issued, are required to repay the award. A withdrawal in a subsequent term will not require repayment of the award for any completed terms. A recipient who graduates during a term in which they hold an award is permitted to keep the award for that term. 2. Master s students can receive OGS for a maximum of two years (one year in 1 year programs) and doctoral students for a maximum of four years, subject to a lifetime maximum of six years of OGS funding per student.
3. A university may opt to not provide an award to a master s student who has been enrolled for more than two academic years or a doctoral student who has been enrolled for more than four academic years. 4. Students cannot exceed a lifetime maximum of six (6) years of government-funded graduate awards. Awards under the following programs are counted toward this lifetime maximum: Ontario Graduate Scholarship Program (OGS) Queen s Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Sciences and Technology (QE II GGST) Ontario Trillium Scholarship (OTS) Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Vanier CGS)
5. Students cannot hold an OGS award and an award from any of the following programs, concurrently: Queen s Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Sciences and Technology (QE II GGST) Ontario Trillium Scholarship (OTS) Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Vanier CGS) 6. OGS recipients cannot hold any other graduate award or awards greater than $10,000, at the same time as OGS. This includes a single award of over $10,000 or a combination of awards that total over $10,000. This includes but is not limited to all external scholarships or awards greater than $10,000, Queen s internal fellowships and scholarships greater than $10,000 or that in combination with other internal fellowships and scholarships are greater than $10,000, departmental awards with a value or values greater than $10,000, and Queen s Graduate Awards (QGA) greater than $10,000. 7. Applicants must not have exceeded the maximum number of awards for their level of study. A student can hold one year of OGS funding in a 1 year Master s program. A student can hold up to two years of OGS funding for a 2 year Master s program. The OGS can be awarded for one or both of the first two academic years, but not after the second year. A student can hold up to four years of OGS funding for a program at the doctoral level. The OGS can be awarded in any of the first four years. In 2015-16, consideration will be given for OGS nominees in the fifth year of their doctoral program 8. OGS awards are tenable ONLY at the university that grants them. If an OGS holder transfers to another university, during the tenure of their OGS, the unused portion of the award remains with the university, NOT with the student. 9. Recipients must remain enrolled as a full-time student in an eligible program. Recipients who withdraw, transfer to part-time studies, or fail to complete the term are required to repay the award for incomplete and future terms. A withdrawal in a subsequent term will not require repayment of the award for any completed terms. A recipient who graduates during a term in which they hold an award is permitted to keep the award for that term. 10. An OGS recipient may be granted a leave of absence, not to exceed, on any one occasion, more than 18 consecutive months, for an approved maternity or parental leave, or an approved medical leave of absence. Queen s University School of Graduate Studies policy concerning length of allowable leaves of absence from a program shall apply, where the allowable leave is 18 months or less. Queen s University School of Graduate Studies policy concerning how the award is disbursed when the leave ends, shall apply. 11. Prior to releasing the OGS to the student, the SGS must confirm that the nominee is not on the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) restricted list. Students on OSAP s
restricted list will NOT receive the OGS.