A master’s student working on the development of magnetic resonance spectroscopy, also known as MRS, has been named Canada’s Three Minute Thesis champion.

Chidera Nwaroh is a master’s student in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. Her research focusses on the application of new MRS technology to observe metabolite changes in the brain chemistry of children.

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Dr. Suning Wang, Department of Chemistry at Queens University, has won the first Canadian Association for Graduate Studies Award for Outstanding Graduate Mentorship.

CAGS’ President Susan Porter stated: “There were many extraordinary nominees for this award, and the competition was extremely difficult to adjudicate. Dr. Wang’s record and the sincere gratitude and enthusiasm of your students for the mentorship you provided them was truly inspiring and stood out as exemplary.

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Budget 2018

The Canadian Association for Graduate Studies applauds the major investment in research and in particular in people in Budget 2018.

The increases announced for each of the Tri-Council members, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and for additional Canada Research Chairs will indeed support many more students and early career researchers.  As well, the focus on supporting and encouraging women, indigenous peoples and other underrepresented groups in the research enterprise is an important one.  
The formal recognition of the need for interdisciplinary and international research and the new fund to support it will assist the growing cohort of students and early career researchers who seek to approach research challenges with a broader lens.

As made clear in the budget document, this announcement is only the beginning. CAGS is ready to take up the challenge to work with the Government of Canada over the next year to determine how to better support students, and the next generation of researchers through scholarships and fellowships.  

Searching for Canada’s Top Dissertation

Are you working with or know of a doctoral student whose dissertation makes a unique contribution to their academic field? Then check out Canada’s Distinguished Dissertation Award 2018 call for nominations.

It is an exciting time of year here at CAGS when we put out this annual call. In partnership with publishers ProQuest-UMI we have been seeking out the best dissertations in Canada for more than 20 years.

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Meet Dr. Susan Porter, the new president of the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies for the 2017-2018 term. As the Dean and Vice-Provost of graduate and postdoctoral studies at the University of British Columbia, Dr. Porter’s major focuses have included promoting excellence in graduate supervision and graduate student development, and helping students prepare for their lives as scholars after graduation.

Her work over her 14-year career in graduate administration has helped direct recent attention towards the PhD degree, and the ways in which a breadth of career-relevant scholarship might be integrated in its core elements.

A molecular biologist by trade, Dr. Porter is also a clinical professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UBC.

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NEW!!!!

CAGS’ Award for Outstanding Graduate Mentorship

This award will recognizes graduate faculty members with a record of excellent mentorship of graduate students under their supervision.

The prize will be awarded on the supervisor’s demonstrated ability to:

• inspire, guide and challenge supervisees to achieve excellence in scholarship;
• provide a supportive environment
• respond to the needs of their supervisees and their career/future aspirations;
• encourage supervisees to pursue opportunities to share and disseminate their research
• support supervisees in developing their academic and professional skills
• support supervisees in transitioning beyond graduate studies.

55th Annual Conference

For more than 50 years, deans and administrators from Canada’s graduate schools have met in the late autumn to share information on the challenges and trends in graduate education. The CAGS annual conference is an opportunity to explore best practices, discuss hot topics, co-ordinate advocacy and connect with colleagues from across the country and the world.

More scholarships, more opportunities to study abroad, and better access to graduate education.

Those are some of the outcomes CAGS hopes will be the result of recommendations made by president Dr. Brenda Brouwer to the Standing Committee on Finance at the House of Commons on September 28.

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2017 DDA Winner: New ways of looking at justice

The winner of the 2017 Distinguished Dissertation Award for Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences is being praised for breaking new ground in the ethnomusicology of Ethiopia. Since 2002, Leila Qashu (PhD, Ethnomusicology, Memorial University of Newfoundland) has been researching the juxtaposition between Ethiopia’s legal system and the customary practices of conflict resolution practiced by the indigenous communities of the Arsi Oromo, who are also a political minority.

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2017 DDA Winner: Solving the organ donor shortage

The field of tissue engineering has been around for years, but scientists’ inability to build blood vessel networks to keep those artificial tissues alive has – to date – been a major stumbling block. Enter Boyang Zhang (PhD, Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto). The 2017 winner of Canada’s Distinguished Dissertation Award in the category of Engineering/Medical Science/Natural Science is the first in the world to create functional heart and liver tissues with built-in, 3-D blood vessel networks that can be surgically connected to the patient’s own system.

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University of Waterloo recognized for accessibility to graduate education

Thanks to its generous parental leave and day care bursary programs, the University of Waterloo has won the 2017 CAGS Award for Excellence and Innovation for Enhancing the Graduate Student Experience.

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Graduate Professional Development Program Survey: Towards a National Strategy

Universities across Canada are actively working to provide graduate students with opportunities to hone skills that will serve them well in any work place. CAGS and the Canadian Consortium of Graduate Studies Professional Development Administrators, with the support of the Tri-Council, has developed a report , available here, that summarizes and categorizes the skills development offerings   available to graduate students by university in Canada. This report includes a searchable catalogue, available here, to help professional development administrators access content and keep up with trends and innovations. The goal is to continuously update the catalogue and maintain it evergreen.
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Observations from the 3Minute Thesis Judge’s Chair

Canada’s 3MT is gaining in popularity due to the amazing student presenters, mentors and coaches, regional organizers and our judges. In 2017, CBC Radio producers Nicola Luksic and Tom Howell, engineer Ian Baines, and Tragically Hip’s Rob Baker spent hours reviewing the presentations, making comments and choosing winners. In this short piece, Baker takes a break from his musical work and talks about what his time as a judge and his thoughts about presenters - current and future.
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Power of the Pitch: Guelph Grad Students Aces Canada’s 3Minute Thesis

Ottawa - An animated explanation of a plant-derived compound that extends the shelf life of fruit and could impact food supply in developing countries has won Canada’s 3Minute Thesis competition.
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Talking Dissertation at 2017 Congress

For several years, scholars across Canada have been engaging in a conversation about if, and how, educational approaches to the PhD need to be changed. It has been a challenging issue. That’s why the Canadian Association of Graduate studies formed a working group to study critical aspects of doctoral education as they relate to the dissertation. It is an important conversation given the multitude of career paths, changes to the academy and to society.
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Why Canada has become a destination of choice for international graduate students

by Brenda Brouwer in University Affairs, May 9, 2017.
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Symposium Explores Potential of Electronic Theses

There is a perception that Canada’s graduate schools have completed the transition to electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) leaving behind the age-old format of paper and print. That transition into the digital world is far from complete, according to James MacDonald, the Digital Initiatives librarian at the University of Northern British Columbia.
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CAGS’ work on the future of the PhD continues with a consultation that will take place at this year’s Congress 2017.

“Humanities and social sciences have led the way in contesting the boundaries of the dissertation,” says CAGS President, Brenda Brouwer..”it is a natural fit for us to partner with the Federation for the Humanities and Social Science to hold this event on Monday, May 29 between 1530-1730.”
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Project Provides Insight on Life After PhD

A project which tracked more than 2,700 humanities PhD grads from 24 Canadian universities and 60 departments has released a quantitative report which reveals some interesting information about how and where those grads are using their skills.
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Advice from a 3MT Winner: Take a Deep Breath, Then Do It

Graduate education’s most popular – and most fun - skill development competition is gearing up for another round. 
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WAXING ELOQUENT ABOUT GRAD SCHOOL

As anyone toiling away at a dissertation knows, writing can be an isolating experience. But the English department at Mount Royal University is working to
change that with a project called Pop Up Poetry.   
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Levelling the Field

Nominations are now open for the Canadian Graduate School program that best supports an accessible and productive environment for students.

The CAGS’ sponsored 2017 Graduate Student Experience Award will recognize excellence and impact.

“Financial stress. Mental health. Physical limitations. Graduate school can be a stressful time,” says CAGS executive director, Sally Rutherford. “We know that many graduate schools are increasingly effective at helping students cope and excel. This award will profile a program that helps challenge personal impediments as well as prejudice and misinformation.”    »»» more info

The Canadian Association for Graduate Studies expresses its deep regret to the family, friends and colleagues of Khaled Belkacemi, an engineering professor at Laval University who was killed in an attack on a Quebec City mosque. He was one of six confirmed fatalities and five injured who were at the mosque when they came under gunfire.

“This tragedy strikes right at the heart of what it means to live and work in Canada,” says Brenda Brouwer. “Professor Belkacemi was worshipping peacefully in the city that he had adopted as home. His work in green chemistry and agri-food engineering was a major contribution to all society.”

Diversity and inclusivity are fundamental tenets of Canada and of graduate education. Canada’s graduate schools host over 40,000 international graduate students and foreign born and visiting professors. They contribute to the vibrancy of our universities and bring global perspective so critical to the advancement of knowledge, understanding and discovery which benefits us all.

In terms of the Presidential Executive Order which bans individuals from seven Muslim-majority countries, The Canadian Association for Graduate Studies has been in touch with the U.S.-based Council of Graduate Schools to determine what role Canada can play to help allay the immediate and profound impact of this situation.

CAGS urges all of its graduate school members to explore ways to be of real help to students, faculty, researchers and staff affected by the Quebec City killings as well as Presidential executive order.

Gearing Up for Canada’s 3Minute Thesis

Graduate education’s most popular – and most fun - skill development competition is gearing up for another round.

The University of New Brunswick in Fredericton is hosting the 2017 Eastern region. It is set to take place on April 20. University of Waterloo has chosen April 12 as the big day that will see reps from Ontario schools compete for the regional champion. The Western Region will hold their event at the University of Saskatchewan on April 28.   »»» more info

Canadian, International Students Follow Different Paths at Grad Schools

Ottawa - The top three choices for International students studying at Canadian graduate schools are Engineering, Sciences and Social Sciences. That’s according to the latest data from the 2016 Canadian Graduate and Professional Student Survey. By contrast the most popular programs for Canadian students were Social Sciences, Sciences, and Health Science.

There is also a marked difference in preference between Canadian males and females. The top 3 disciplines studied by Canadian males were Engineering, Sciences, and Social Sciences. The top three disciplines studied by Canadian females were Social Sciences, Sciences and Health Sciences.

The 2016 survey is based on data received from more than 144,000 students studying at 50 graduate schools across Canada.

2016 Edition Results - November 2016 Luc Simon BPEI (.pptx)

Searching for Canada's Top Dissertation

Are you working with or know of a doctoral student whose dissertation makes a unique contribution to their academic field? Then check out Canada’s Distinguished Dissertation Award 2017 call for nominations.

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Talking the Talk: Why Canada’s 3Minute Thesis Is Vital

CAGS’ sponsorship of Canada’s 3MT is in its fourth year – increasing in popularity each year. “It’s good for grad students,” says Brenda Brouwer, CAGS president and dean of the school of graduate studies at Queen’s University. “It’s good for public recognition of their work and the value of their research, not only to the discipline and to academics but to all Canadians.” This feature article by Suzanne Bowness explains how Canadian academics are recognizing the importance of strong communication skills and are using competitions like the 3MT as a training tool. It was first published in University Affairs.

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The Doctoral Dissertation - Purpose, Content, Structure, Assessment

Earlier this year, the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies formed working groups to study two critical aspects of doctoral education in light of these changes: the dissertation and the comprehensive exam. The dissertation working group has written the discussion paper found here. It is intended to form the basis of a conversation across Canadian universities, and to assist with that, it includes a consultation guide at the end of the document.

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Science Review

The federal government is in the brainstorming phase of developing a co-ordinated strategy on innovation. In July, CAGS was invited to one of its roundtables as part of developing a Science Review component.

“How can Canada support a solid science policy?” we were asked.

“Federal support for investigator-led science is one element of a successful formula,” we answered. We reminded the them that since broad science enterprise is dependent on people, effective methods of supporting established and emerging researchers as well as students is critical. And we outlined numerous ways this could be achieved. It was the same message that we reinforced in our federal budget consultation. Our follow up brief to the science review was thorough and to the point.

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