Master's Faculty Awards
The McGill Engineering Faculty Awards program aims to recruit the best and brightest new master's students from all over the world. Selection for these awards is based on the excellence of a student’s academic and research record. This includes publications, presentations, and the student's potential to make a major impact on the quality of research both in McGill University's Faculty of Engineering and in the field of engineering as a whole.
Master's Funding Information
- All students stay on the funding packages that correspond to the semester and year that they began their program.
- Graduate students are required to notify their supervisor, department, and graduatestudies.engineering [at] mcgill.ca of any external awards they receive.
- Awards are not subject to taxes.
- Awardees are responsible for paying their tuition and fees.
- For information on tuition and fees, please view McGill’s Tuition & Fees Calculator.
- For information on program progression and program residency, please visit McGill’s PhD Program Progression page.
McGill Engineering Faculty Awards
All funding schemes below are for incoming students as of Winter 2025. Award payments are subject to the awardee remaining a full-time student. The definition of “full-time student” can be found on McGill's Program Requirements section of the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Calendar. Please refer to your offer letter or contact the Faculty of Engineering at graduatestudies.engineering [at] mcgill.ca for further information on your funding package.
McGill Engineering Undergraduate Student Master's Award (MEUSMA)
Please note: Funding numbers are effective Winter 2024
The McGill Engineering Undergraduate Student Masters Award (MEUSMA) provides multi-year graduate funding to McGill Engineering Undergraduate students who are accepted to enter directly into a Research (thesis-based) Master’s program within the Faculty. Eligible students are nominated for this award by a Faculty of Engineering professor with the support of the Department or School.
Nominated students must meet the following criteria:
- Graduated from a McGill Engineering undergraduate program with a CGPA of 3.5 or higher
- Have participated in the Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering Program (SURE), an internal Faculty of Engineering Research Traineeship with a McGill Engineering professor or completed one of the following research courses: BIEN 471, CHEE 494, CHEE 495, CHEE 496, CIVE 470, ECSE 498, ECSE 499, MECH 403, MIME 410, MIME 484.
- Be admitted to a thesis-based Master’s program within the Faculty of Engineering directly from a McGill Engineering Undergraduate degree
Please note that in order to be nominated for this award, students must:
- meet the above listed criteria
- be nominated by an Engineering professor in their department, with the support of their Department or School; it is recommended that students meet with a professor in their department to discuss MEUSMA funding and their nomination.
For international applicants, the program must begin in the Fall term (there are no International MEUSMAs available in the Winter term)
This award is valued at a minimum of $24,000 per year for two years. The international package for incoming students includes a supplement to offset international tuition and is valued at approximately $74,000 total for two years.
Leveraged McGill Engineering Undergraduate Student Master's Award (MEUSMA)
Students who have won a MEUSMA and an external award become a Leveraged MEUSMA student. These students' MEUSMA awards will be reduced by the amount of their external award and then they will receive an additional top of $5,000.
For example: A student has a MEUSMA ($24,000) and an FRQNT Award ($20,000). This student will receive their reduced MEUSMA ($4,000), their FRQNT Award ($20,000), and a $5,000 top up award. This totals to $29,000 in award funding per year.
Master's Top-up Award
The Master's Top-Up award provides competitive recruitment funding to assist in attracting more high-caliber domestic Master's students to the Faculty of Engineering’s Masters and PhD programs by focusing on Master's students who are Tri-council and Provincial award recipients - NSERC (PGSM, CGSM), CIHR, SSHRC, FQRNT, FRSQ, and FQRSC Masters scholarships.
This award is in the amount of $5,000 per year, for one or two years, corresponding with the duration of the external award.
Both incoming and continuing students are eligible for this award. Please contact your Department or School if you believe that you are eligible for this top-up award.
Graduate Excellence Fellowship (GEF)
In the Faculty of Engineering, this award is designed to assist in funding new and continuing Graduate students. The value of the GEF is at the discretion of the Department or School and is available to Research Masters students registered full-time within their first two years of study (M1-M2) and PhD students in PhD1-PhD5.
Nomination for this award is at the discretion of the Department or School. No additional application is required.
Differential Fee Waiver (DFW)
Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (GPS) allocates DFWs to McGill University faculties for international Doctoral students, and exceptionally to international thesis master’s students. Only international students who are allocated a DFW, by their respective faculties, are exempt from paying the international tuition supplement.
The Faculty of Engineering assigns DFWs as part of the Faculty Awards process. Only international students who are receiving faculty awards (MEUSMA, MEITA and MEDA International) might be assigned a DFW. The value of the original award will remain the same, regardless of if a student is assigned a DFW. Master's DFWs for 2024/2025 are valued at $17,352.51.
Eligibility
DFWs are restricted to international graduate students at McGill whose visa status requires them to pay full international tuition fees. Recipients must be:
- Registered with a full-time status for the Fall and Winter semesters. Must be registered as “continuing” for the Summer.
- Within Curriculum Year 1-3 (for Ph.D.) or Curriculum Year 1 (for thesis master’s). See Student Advising Transcript.
Please note that if a student withdraws or is withdrawn from McGill University during the eligibility period, the DFW may be revoked. Removal of the DFW will result in the student having to pay full international student fees for the term in question. Students in a qualifying year or additional session are not eligible. Students in "privatized" programs are not eligible. Eligible international students are automatically considered by their academic unit. Since DFWs are awarded based exclusively on unit nomination, there are no application forms provided/required.