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Excellence Award

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These awards recognize excellent performance in the BBME graduate program. The number of awards varies from year to year. See criteria/eligibility section below for additional details.

See the award history.

Criteria/Eligibility

  • Awarded annually to eligible “in program” Master'sand Doctoralstudents as one-time awards of $10,000 each.
  • The call for applications is made during the summer by email to the departmental mailing list.
  • Any student in good standing is eligible except those currently holding a recruitment award, CIHR award, NSERC award, FQRNT award or any other award larger than $10,000 + tuition fees payable for that year (e.g., for a student paying $2,500 tuition fees, the limit is $12,500).
  • Given the low number of Excellence Awards, each supervisor is limited to nominating one trainee per category (1 Doctoral, and 1 Master’s) for consideration in each competition.
  • The Committee will review the applications and make recommendations to the BME Departmental Chair for final approval.
  • Exceptionally, when the Department's purse has excess funds Excellence Awards of lesser value may be given to nominees in the runner-up ranking.

Selection will be based on a combination of:

  • Overall excellence
  • Performance in the program
  • Grades
  • Progress in project
  • Publications (number and quality, student's role in publication)
  • Need for funds (i.e., students who are no longer eligible for external awards and nearing end of program)
  • The affiliation of the student's primary supervisor with the BME Department


The application has two parts - a free form document and a letter from the supervisor(s).

The application document should contain:

  • 1page CV (incl. list of selected recent awards & main publications)
  • 1page project description with emphasis on accomplishment since entering the program
  • Transcripts from your current program (do not need to be official)
  • Copies of all progress meeting reports (exclude meeting minutes)

Format and deadline:

  • The application form should be completed in 12pt Times New Roman font, 0.75in margins, with all documents listed above merged into a single PDF file
  • The pdf should be named "LASTNAME-FIRSTNAME-ExcellenceAward.pdf"
  • The pdf should be sent toinfo.bbme [at] mcgill.cawith a subject line: “LASTNAME-FIRSTNAME Excellence Award”
  • Applications that don't comply with the application rules, e.g., submitting a CV with more than 1 page, will be disqualified.
  • Deadline for application isend of June (exact deadline to be posted at a later date)


Letter from supervisor:

  • A letter of support is required from the supervisor, and should be sent by email to info.bbme [at] mcgill.ca with a subject line: "LASTNAME-FIRSTNAME Excellence reference"
  • The letter is to be sent (by email) separately from the rest of the application
  • The email should originate from a 91 account
  • Deadline for the letter of reference is end of June (exact deadline to be posted at a later date)

Other timing details:

  • Limit to 1 per staff per category for Excellence awards (1 Master's, 1 Doctoral)
  • Any application received after the deadline will not be considered
  • Results will be announced by end of August.
  • Payments will start mid to end of September
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