Queen’s currently boasts 334 graduate students who hold scholarships from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) or the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

These exceptional students not only contribute to Queen’s impressive output of scholarly research, but also allow the university to stretch its award dollars further. More than $8 million of Queen’s scholarship support comes from one of the three agencies.

“These are highly competitive awards,” says Vice-Provost and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies Brenda Brouwer. “In 2009, there were more than ten thousand applications reviewed nationally, and many of those were submitted after first making it through an internal adjudication process.”

Queen’s will recognize these impressive students at a reception this week. The event allows students and their supervisors to meet and mingle with their colleagues.

“It’s really special to be recognized and have the chance to expand your network within the university,” says Mohamed Hefny, a PhD candidate in the School of Computing.

The reception is also a chance to highlight the importance and benefit of collaboration between graduate students and faculty members.

“They’re not just doing a masters or a PhD, they’re doing this great research, and they’re doing it here, with our faculty,” says Colette Steer, Coordinator of Recruitment Activities in the School of Graduate Studies. “This is our way of honouring those relationships.”

For more information on the School of Graduate Studies visit the website.