Summary
All graduate students in the funded cohort* who are in good academic standing in the Graduate Department of Chemistry are supported at an annual level of at least $19,000 plus tuition/incidental fees. The stipend usually includes three components: teaching assistantship, research assistantship and fellowships/bursaries/awards/scholarships.
- For students with external scholarships, the level of support is higher.
- For students outside the funded cohort*, the annual level of support is at least $15,000 plus tuition/incidental fees. This is the minimum annual amount of funding specified by the Faculty of Arts & Science.
- Second year Masters students will receive a monthly pay equivalent to a funded cohort student up to the 18th month of their registration.
The stipend rates for 2008-2009 are as follows:
- $26,155 - base stipend
- Up to $28,600 - holders of Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Ontario Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology, RAP, CIHR
- Up to $30, 600 - holders of NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship (PGS/CGS M)
- $35,000 - holders of NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship (CGS-D)
All scholarships, awards, fellowships and some bursaries are considered part of the funding package. The supervisor may match a portion of the award at his or her discretion.
*Funded cohort is defined as the following: Year 1 of MSc, years 1 to 4 PhD: and up to year 5 of Ph.D. for direct-entry Doctoral students.
Fellowship
Students in the funded cohort are eligible for the following fellowships. Deadline for application is July 1. This fellowship is part of the funding package.
The Regular University of Toronto Fellowship (R-UTF) is worth $4000 (although this amount might vary, depending on the UTF allocation given to the Department). Three equal lump sum instalments are payable by cheque directly to students at the beginning of term, usually in September, January and May. For the purposes of calculating monthly pay, UTF is prorated over a 12-month period (September to August, inclusive) at $333.33 per month.
The Teaching Reduction University of Toronto Fellowship (TR-UTF) is worth $5000. Three equal lump sum instalments are payable by cheque directly to students at the beginning of term, usually in September, January and May. For the purposes of calculating monthly pay, UTF is prorated over a 12-month period (September to August, inclusive) at $416.67 per month. **
Please note that students with TR-UTF also hold R-UTF (i.e., scholarship income of $333.33+ $466.67 = $750.00 monthly).
Only students in the funded cohort (i.e., year 1 of M.Sc.; years 1 to 4 of Ph.D.; and year 5 of Ph.D. for direct-entry Doctoral students) are eligible for R-UTF support. The TR-UTF is generally awarded to continuing students in the funded cohort.
In addition and if eligible, graduate students in Chemistry must apply to all scholarships, awards, bursaries and fellowships. The most important of these are the Ontario Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology (OGSST), the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS), and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Postgraduate Scholarship. These and all other scholarships, awards, fellowships and some bursaries are considered part of the funding package.
For details on each of these competitions, please refer to the http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/cps/graduate/chemistry/financial-support/scholarshipsfellowshipsawards page.
Teaching
Most students not holding an NSERC or OGS scholarship are required to apply for a TA, which insome cases may necessarily be found in cognate departments outside of Chemisrty. Because a TA is considered as an integral part of the guaranteed funding packages extended to non-scholarship students, failure to apply for and obtain a TA position can jeopardise guaranteed fuding. A student who refuses a TA assignment that is offered as part of the funding package relinquishes t he corresponding funding that the TA provides.
The number of hours to be worked as a TA is about 150-160 hours per academic year.
Research
The funding package at UTM is completed with the Research portion of your income. Based ont he stipends listed above and the Teaching Assistantship you have taken, we calculate the Research Assistantship in a way to avoid any fluctuations in pay throughout the year.
Should you wish to teach beyond your assigned number of hours (and this is accepted by your supervisor), this will not affect the RA amount in your stipend. The additional remuneration will reflect as increased income from the stipends above.
TA and RA PaymentThe TA and RA components of salary are payable monthly, by direct deposit. Payday is the 28th of each month, or the Friday previous should the 28th fall on a weekend. Please see Payroll Procedures to arrange payment.