Graduate Award and Scholarship Deadlines

Award Overview

Purpose

The Temerty Faculty of Medicine will annually award up to 6 Graduate Faculty Teaching Awards (GFTA). The purpose is to honour and celebrate outstanding contributions to graduate education by faculty in Temerty Medicine who teach in doctoral stream or professional graduate programs.

Eligibility

The nominee must be:

• Nominated by a Graduate Unit (where primary graduate {SGS} membership is held) through a student (or recent graduate)-initiated process.
• Holding a full time primary academic appointment in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine.
• A faculty holding either an Associate or Full graduate faculty membership in the School of Graduate Studies.
• Teaching in either the doctoral (thesis MSc or PhD) or professional graduate programs.

Also:

• A previous winner may be nominated for a Graduate Faculty Teaching Award in a different category at any time but not for the same award category already awarded.

Each Graduate Unit may only submit ONE faculty member per award category:    

1.  Early Career Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Mentorship
   This award recognizes outstanding contribution to the training and experience of graduate students, as evidenced by excellence in teaching, supervision and mentorship and dedication to students. This award is restricted to Faculty in the early stages of their career within 8 years of their initial SGS membership (including graduate memberships elsewhere) as of December of application year. 
2. Mid-Career Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Mentorship
   This award recognizes sustained (between 8 to 15 years of all graduate memberships as of December of application year) contribution to graduate student mentorship, teaching and supervision exemplified by but not limited to:
   1. major contribution to graduate student learning
   2. enthusiastic and empathic critical appraisal of students’ work
   3. timely assessment of students' research programs including program advisory committee meetings and prompt turnaround of written work
   4. careful attention to a critical path laid out for students' research

Objective evidence of graduate student outcomes, including number of:

• students with publications
• students with first authorship
• students holding major, competitive external awards
• students with timely completion of degree

Mentorship and teaching life skills and advising on career matters including:

• academic/career options
• CV preparation 

3. Sustained Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Mentorship

This award recognizes sustained contributions (at least fifteen years of all graduate memberships as of December of application year) to any aspect of graduate teaching including:

• graduate student supervision and mentoring
• curriculum development
• regular support of Graduate Departmental, Faculty and University graduate activities
• graduate program administration (as applicable)

Review Criteria

The committee will consider each nominee’s applicability with the award category’s criteria and the following; however, it is not expected that all of these points below will apply to all nominees:

1) Commitment:

• quantity of teaching (number of courses and hours)
• accessibility to students
• research and publications on teaching methods

2) Excellence in communication skills

3) Subject mastery

4) Ability to organize material and emphasize principles

5) Demonstrated ability to stimulate students:

• encourages interest in and enthusiasm for subject
• displays good rapport with students
• leads and challenges students to think critically, analytically and independently, and to organize their own learning

6) Effective use of appropriate teaching resources and instructional methodologies

7) Innovative, creative and experimental teaching methods

8) Evidence of mentorship (e.g., Identified in supporting letters from those mentored)

9) The COVID-19 Pandemic continues to present significant challenges to the way we teach and how our graduate students learn and are supervised.  Mentoring in the time of COVID-19 is particularly important as our research activities and the career paths of our graduate students and post-doctoral fellows continue to be impacted.  Continuing from last year, special attention will be made to faculty members who have made extraordinary efforts in pivoting to remote or new ways of learning. 

Nomination Process

• The nomination items should be submitted as one combined PDF document arranged in the order listed below to pharmtox.dept@utoronto.ca by the student nomination deadline.
• The GFTA nomination should be submitted through the Graduate unit where the nominee’s primary graduate (SGS) membership is held. If a unit wishes to endorse a nomination for a faculty member with a primary SGS membership held elsewhere, the unit will need to coordinate this with the primary graduate unit.
• Letters of support should be addressed to Dr. Justin Nodwell, Vice Dean, Research & Health Science Education, Temerty Medicine, University of Toronto.

The required documents:

• Nomination Form.
• Letter of support from the Chair/Director of the nominee’s Graduate Unit.
• Letters of nomination from 2 students or recent graduates supporting faculty member for category being nominated in. Maximum of 2 pages per letter.
• Abridged CV (max 10 pages) which includes a full description of the contribution to graduate teaching and accomplishments relevant to the award eligibility criteria, including:
  • a list of graduate students supervised (dates, thesis title, and student’s awards, and follow-up post graduation (if available)
  • a list of publications with the graduate student’s name underlined or bolded
  • quantity of teaching courses
  • relevant graduate teaching
  • course evaluations, if available
  • relevant teaching awards
• A short biosketch of candidate (max 150 words – suitable for public release).  Additional short paragraph of “Reflections” may be included with the biosketch.

OPTIONAL: 

• Additional letters of support (faculty/students). Maximum of 3 optional letters of support and maximum of 1 page per letter.

Tips and FAQ

1. Who should complete and submit the GFTA nomination to GLSE? 

Answer: Preference is for the Graduate Unit to complete and submit the application(s) after the student requests the nomination. However, the student may help complete and submit the GFTA application to GLSE as long as the Graduate Unit is aware of the submission and ensures only one faculty member per award category is submitted from their Unit. Also, it is suggested that the Graduate Unit assist the student(s) with the application, if it is submitted by the student. 

The GFTA nomination should be submitted through the Graduate unit where the nominee’s primary graduate (SGS) membership is held. If an unit wishes to endorse a nomination for a faculty member with a primary SGS membership held elsewhere, the unit will need to coordinate this with the primary graduate unit.

2. How do I find out what the primary graduate unit the candidate is in?

Answer: You can check the SGS listings of graduate faculty here

3. What is a “recently graduated student nominator”?

Answer: Preference is for a recently graduated student (within the last 5 years) who completed a doctoral-stream or professional master’s program and was supervised or mentored by the faculty nominee.

4. What are Biosketch and Reflections summaries?

Answer: A GFTA biosketch is a short and specific paragraph about the nominee’s qualifications and achievements in graduate education. A GFTA reflections summary is a personal statement about graduate teaching and mentorship. Click here to see last year’s examples.

5. Who are the previous GFTA winners?

Answer: Click here for listing of previous winners.

Contacts and Resources

Website: www.glse.utoronto.ca  

Email: glse.awards@utoronto.ca

Deadlines

Purpose

The School of Graduate Studies Graduate Supervision Awards aim to recognize outstanding performance in the multiple roles associated with graduate student supervision. Each year, two JJ Berry Smith Doctoral Supervision Awards and two SGS Early Career Supervision Awards will be offered to successful nominees: one of each award in the Humanities/Social Sciences and in the Physical/Life Sciences.

Each Award recipient will receive an SGS Supervision Award certificate, and SGS Travel or Conference Grant (up to $5000) for a current student to support their research travel or conference presentation. Award winners have their names inscribed on a plaque housed at the School of Graduate Studies. Read about SGS Supervision Award Recipients.

Eligibility Criteria

Nominees must be:

JJ Berry Smith Doctoral Supervision Award: Active graduate faculty members at the University of Toronto, having supervised doctoral students (PhD, EdD, DMA, SJD)  for a minimum of 15 years

Early Career Supervision Award: Tenure stream or status-only graduate faculty members at the University of Toronto within the first 6 years of acquiring a graduate faculty appointment, having engaged in supervision of graduate students (master’s degree or doctoral degree) as a committee member, co-supervisor or sole supervisor.

Selection Criteria

Nominations will be evaluated based on how well the candidates have demonstrated excellence in supervision at the University of Toronto by meeting and exceeding each selection criteria below:

1. Inspiring and guiding students to achieve excellence in scholarship, fostering a strong sense of academic integrity;
2. Providing a stimulating and supportive environment with particular attention to mental health and work life balance, and tailored to students’ individual learning styles, needs, and career/future aspirations;
3. Enabling students to learn the essential methodologies, concepts and cultures of their discipline;
4. Introducing students to the wider context of the discipline and relevant communities of scholars; and
5. Promoting student participation in professional development and activities that position them for future careers within and outside academia;
6. Leading a research environment that is committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion

TFOM Nomination Package

The nomination package provides evidence that the nominee has met the above six criteria as demonstrated through the following:

1) completed 2023 OVDRHSE SGS Graduate Supervision Award Nomination Form; please indicate award on the form

2) Letters of nomination (letters may be from an individual or group):

• A letter from the department chair, current or former colleague(s); and
• Two to five letters from current or former students(s) – group letters are encouraged

3) A statement written by the candidate (2-3 pages, suitable for public release):

• Addressing the candidate’s graduate mentoring/supervision philosophy; and
• Describing the candidate’s personal approach or strategies for mentoring/supervision

4) Complete tables listing all current and former graduate (master’s and doctoral) students including their degree information, current positions, etc.; please note the separate tables for each award

5) Abbreviated Curriculum Vitae (max. 8 pages) addressing the following categories, as applicable:

• Academic Appointment(s)
• Mentoring or Supervision awards
• Awards for joint work with graduate students
• Funded or unfunded grants with graduate students
• All publications within the last 5 years with notations* to indicate those co-published with graduate students
  • Additionally, list only co-publications with graduate students beyond the last 5 years and within the last 15 years for JJ Berry Smith Award; or within last 6 years for Early Career Supervision Award
  • Co-presentations with graduate students, within the last 15 years for JJ Berry Smith Award; or within the last 6 years for Early Career Supervision Award
  • Past and current graduate supervision roles (including supervisor and committee memberships)
  • External appraisals of doctoral dissertations, which includes:
    • Appraisal of a thesis or dissertation completed at a university where the nominee was not a faculty member; and
    • Appraisal of a thesis or dissertation completed at the same university as the nominee and supervised by a committee that did not include the nominee. 

7) Service related to graduate student support, supervision or mentoring

8) Other activities or accomplishments relevant to graduate student supervision and mentorship.

*Please indicate publications with current or former graduate student co-authors using the following notations: highlighting the publication in yellow; and underlining the names of graduate students within each publication.

Nomination Process and Other Important Information

1. Nominations are due Monday, March 6, 2023
2. Each nomination package must be submitted electronically as a single PDF, assembled in the above listed order to pharmtox.dept@utoronto.ca.
3. Letters of support should be addressed to Professor Justin Nodwell, Vice Dean, Research and Health Science Education, Temerty Faculty of Medicine
4. To assist Graduate Units in reviewing their nominations, the 2023 SGS graduate Supervision Awards Scoring Sheet is provided (to be used for both JJ Berry Smith Award and Early Career Supervision Award). The rubric can be shared with nominators/nominees.
5. There is no need to obtain the Vice Dean’s signature on Nomination Form. Only the nominations forwarding to SGS will be endorsed.  A letter of support from Professor Nodwell will accompany the applications of selected nominees going forth to the final SGS competition.  

If you have questions about this award, please send to glse.awards@utoronto.ca.