Alberta Innovates Graduate Student Scholarship
The Alberta Innovates Graduate Student Scholarships support academically superior graduate students who are receiving training and conducting research in areas that are strategically important to Alberta’s economy.
In addition to the information provided below, students must also review the appropriate Alberta Innovates guidelines for detailed requirements on applying for, holding, and renewing awards. See important links below.
Full award: Ranging from $12,000 to $31,000 per year, and the terms vary from one to four years, depending on the recipient’s time in the program.
Award start: Applicants may choose to backdate payments to Sept. of the year of application or begin in Jan. of the following year of application.
For students who hold a major award (e.g. Canada Graduate Research Scholarship—Master’s program, Alberta Excellence Graduate Scholarship), the Alberta Innovates Graduate Student Scholarships will issue a top-up award. The stipend will increase once more when the external funding ends for the remainder of the scholarship term.
Award payments will be made in equal installments throughout the award term. Awards will not be issued in a lump sum payment.
DEADLINE EXTENDED: Dec. 1, 2025 at 11:59 pm (Mountain): Deadline to submit completed application and all required supplemental documentation
This program is open to students pursuing full-time graduate students studies at Athabasca University in one of two eligible research areas (Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies (AMM)).
To be eligible, the applicant must meet the following criteria:
- The applicant must reside within Alberta.
- The applicant must be:
- a domestic student (i.e. a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada or a protected person within the meaning of subsection 95(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada)), or
- an international student (i.e. means a student who is not a Domestic Student who is authorized to study in Canada at the post-secondary institution under a study permit issued by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada).
- A minimum cumulative program GPA of 3.5 is required, calculated based on the current graduate program graded course work at AU, or, if a student is newly admitted, the most recent 2 years of study will be used to determine eligibility.
- To be eligible for a full award, the applicant must demonstrate that they have a minimum of 2 full years remaining until program completion (e.g. Sept. 2025- Aug. 2027; Jan. 2026 – Dec. 2027).
- To be eligible for a partial award, the applicant must demonstrate that they have a minimum of 1 full year remaining until program completion (e.g. Sept. 2025 – Aug. 2026; Jan. 2025 – Dec. 2025).
Award terms for students who transfer from a Master’s program into a doctoral program without completing a Master’s degree will continue until the tenure of the award term has been completed. The award total will not be modified.
Award terms for students who withdraw or complete their program earlier than the anticipated timeline will not receive payments beyond the date of withdrawal or program completion.
Students cannot simultaneously hold support from more than one Alberta Innovates studentship program.
A student cannot receive more than a total of four years of combined master’s/doctoral support from Alberta Innovates (across all programs). This includes support from the Alberta Innovates Graduate Student Scholarship, Alberta Innovates Graduate Student Scholarship for Data-Enabled Innovation, the Alberta Innovates Graduate Studentship (Health), and the Alberta SPOR SUPPORT Unit (AbSPORU) Graduate Studentship.
Requirements
Scholarship requirements and conditions at the start date of the award continue through the term of the scholarship. Students who have been awarded an Alberta Innovates Graduate Student Scholarship must complete annual and final reports through the term of their award and post-award reports after the end of the award.
Multi-year scholarships are renewed annually after the first year upon satisfactory reporting by the student.
Sponsoring supervisor
Each applicant must be sponsored by a faculty supervisor, possessing both a record of productive research within an emerging technology research area (Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies (AMM)) and sufficient resources to ensure the satisfactory conduct of the research.
See the for more information.
To apply for the Alberta Innovates Graduate Student Scholarships, you must complete the application form before the deadline. Consult the for detailed requirements on applying for, holding, and renewing awards.
Late applications will not be accepted.
Applicants with an 星空影视email address (current 星空影视students) can via the student awards portal.
Applications open Sept. 1.
Applicants will be notified by email of results and instructions for award payment within 2 months of the deadline.
Updated October 16, 2025 by Digital & Web Operations (web_services@athabascau.ca)