Awards and Other Support Funds - Graduate Program in Sociology

Many graduate students at York are successful in winning prestigious external or internal scholarships and you are encouraged to seek eligible opportunities. The university also offers bursaries and other support funds to assist with your scholarly and research activities. Common types of funds include the following:

External awards such as SSHRC, NSERC, CIHR doctoral and CGS-Masters programs, as well as the Ontario Graduate Scholarship;

Bursaries that are allocated based on demonstrated financial need;

Research support funds to cover expenses related to scholarly and research activities;

Donor-supported internal awards: To find internal award opportunities, please use the award search.

Internal Awards

The Mary-Jo Nadeau Activist Scholar Award (the M.J.) was established in 2021 for full-time Ph.D. students in Sociology at York University. Dr. Nadeau graduated with a Ph.D. from the York’s Graduate Program in Sociology in 2005. She was an anti-racist feminist scholar, activist, instructor, and union organizer who believed that these categories should never be separate. Dr. Nadeau was involved with anti-poverty campaigns, labour struggles in the university sector, Palestinian solidarity, and support of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. She was committed to social justice in her scholarly research, the classes she taught, and the labour unions she fought for. Over her long career of activism, Mary-Jo inspired many younger activists and scholars in and around Toronto. This award will support emerging activist scholars who integrate anti-racism, feminist inquiry, and solidarity with local and global struggles for social justice into their own research.

The M.J. is awarded annually to a full-time Ph.D. student enrolled in the Graduate Program in Sociology at York University. The value of the award is $1000, and a student can hold the award only once. The M.J. supports a Ph.D. student whose dissertation research reflects the principles of activist scholarship developed by Dr. Nadeau, including, most importantly, a commitment to anti-racism and feminist inquiry and solidarity with local and global struggles for social justice.

Applications are assessed by the Graduate Program in Sociology Research Awards and Appeals Committee.

The Gordon Darroch International Scholar Award was established in 2023 by family, friends and colleagues of Professor Gordon Darroch. Appointed to York in 1967, Gordon was a social historian whose research centered on population, census data and mobility patterns. He was a celebrated and award-winning teacher who served on over 90 MA and PhD committees and who also left his mark as the Graduate Program Director in Sociology for several years.

The Gordon Darroch International Scholar Award is awarded annually to a full-time international PhD student enrolled in the Graduate Program in Sociology at York University. The value of the award is $1000, and a student can hold the award only once. To support and sustain the Program’s small body of international students is entirely in keeping with Professor Darroch’s distinguished legacy.

Applications are assessed by the Graduate Program in Sociology Research Awards and Appeals Committee.

The Graduate Program in Sociology Distinguished Dissertation Award of $1000 will be given to a PhD student in the Graduate Program in Sociology in recognition of their dissertation being nominated by the Sociology program for the annual university-wide dissertation competition.

The student must be nominated following the guidelines for Dissertation Prize nominations outlined by the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

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The Graduate Program in Sociology at York is an exciting environment to pursue innovative, socially engaging, career-ready education. Contact our Graduate Program Assistant to learn more.

How to Apply

Internal Awards

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