Grant & Teaching Assistant Support

The Department of Mathematics and Statistics endeavours to ensure a reasonable minimum level of financial support for all its graduate students, subject to their satisfactory progress.

Students admitted into our graduate programs with full funding receive a minimum of $12,250 annually at the Master's level, or $14,250 at the Doctoral level. This support generally comes from a combination of the following sources:

  • Fellowship support from the School of Graduate Studies
  • Graduate Assistantship duties
  • Research Grant held by the student's supervisor

Supervisors have the discretion to vary the amount of their contribution, and so the financial packages offered often exceed the minimum levels indicated above.

Fellowship support from the School of Graduate Studies is awarded on a competitive basis. To be eligible for fellowship support, applicants who have attended North American schools must have obtained an average mark of 80% in required courses. Eligibility for applicants coming from overseas is determined, case by case, by the Graduate Studies Committee.

Since fellowship monies are limited, some students are offered admission with only partial funding (in the vicinity of $6,000 to $7,000).

In return for a Graduate Assistantship, a student is expected to perform duties such as marking and helping in undergraduate classes or consulting laboratories. These duties will be kept small so that they do not interfere substantially with the student's graduate program. Since we believe teacher training is an important aspect of a graduate education, we also provide opportunities for qualified students to hold Graduate Instructorships, which provide $3,800 per course taught (in addition to the financial support already being provided).

Master's students will not receive financial support for more than 2 years. A Ph.D. student will not normally receive financial support for more than 4 years.

In order to be considered for full financial support, the department prefers that students commence studies in September and have their application complete by the end of the previous January.

Frequently Asked Questions about Financial Support

If you have other questions about financial support in our department, please contact our Graduate Officer by email mathgrad@mun.ca at or the departmental secretary at mathstat@mun.ca.


Do you offer tuition waivers?

At present, no, we do not offer tuition waivers. However, we are pleased to have tuition rates that are not excessive, and which have even been reduced or frozen in each of the past few years (for example, the tuition for an international student in a Ph.D. program is $2,661 for the 2007-2008 academic year).

What scholarships do you offer?

We have a separate section of our website on which we discuss awards and scholarships that are open to graduate students.

How do I apply for a Graduate Assistantship or SGS Fellowship?

To be considered for these types of support, simply answer Yes to the question on the application form that asks if you wish to be considered for financial support.

Can I apply for a Graduate Instructorship?

We generally try to avoid awarding Graduate Instructorships at the time that offers of admission are prepared. However, in cases where an applicant is known to us, and we can therefore be assured that the applicant is qualified to teach, we can entertain requests to be considered for a Graduate Instructorship.

If we are unable to assess your ability to teach before you register, then we must wait for your arrival before making any decision. Part of this assessment process will involve presenting a lecture before a sample audience.

It is uncommon for international students to be assigned a Graduate Instructorship in their first semester. In part this is because of the need to perform a suitable assessment of teaching and language abilities prior to awarding a Graduate Instructorship, and it is also because of the need to assign instructors to courses well in advance of the start of classes for the semester.

Note also that the consent of your supervisor must be obtained prior to being awarded a Graduate Instructorship. Some supervisors prefer that students only consider teaching once they have successfully completed the course-work requirements of their programs of study.

If I have an NSERC or Canada Graduate Scholarship, then what additional funding can I qualify for?

In addition to an automatic top-up, students who hold NSERC or Canada Graduate Scholarships can receive Graduate Assistantships and Graduate Instructorships.