Funding

Funding

Graduate Funding Package

All successful doctoral stream program applicants are guaranteed financial support: 5 years of funding for the PhD direct-entry and 4 years of funding for those with a qualifying MSc degree. No application is required for consideration of standard department support.

The intent of the departmental graduate student funding level is to ensure that all students have at least $40,000 (inclusive of top-ups) after payment of tuition, non-academic fees and UTGSU fees. This is derived from a minimum base support of $37,000 plus any top-up support – e.g. major award bonuses or entrance scholarships. A student, who falls below the established $40,000 total, will receive a $3,000 top-up from the department.

The base support is comprised of several sources: departmental, university and/or major scholarship/fellowships (if applicable), research assistantship stipendiary funds, and teaching assistantship income. Note the TA income contribution toward the AY2026-27 funding package is capped at $6,900. Any TA income above this amount is treated as top-up (paid above the base).

At the end of the funded cohort, students are no longer eligible for the standard graduate funding package. Students entering the first unfunded year are eligible for consideration of the Doctoral Completion Award which is nominal and typically provides tuition support. As well, academic year (fall and winter sessions) teaching assistantships are guaranteed through the 6th year per the CUPE 3902 Unit 1 Collective Agreement. (After the 6th year appointment, students may also be entitled to additional appointment(s)  of 70 hours per academic year in accordance with Article 16:06(1.b) of the collective agreement.) Research assistantship stipendiary funds may be issued at the discretion of the student’s supervisor.

Major Fellowship/Scholarship Awards

All students are required to apply for any major competitive fellowship/scholarship awards for which they are eligible. Please refer to the Scholarships + Awards page for full details. Note that major awards (greater than $10,000) will be counted toward the graduate funding package. e.g. If you receive an NSERC CGRS D, the $40,000 in scholarship funds will replace the equivalent in department/university and supervisor support funds.

Major award holders will receive the following bonus in each active year of the award (paid by the department in the first year and supervisor(s) in subsequent years). Awards:

• between $10k and $20k: $5,000 (OGS, QEII-GSST)
• between $20k and $30k: $6,000 (CGS-M, DSI)
• greater than $30k: $7,000 (CGRS-D)

Note that this bonus scheme is specific to competitive awards that a student makes a direct application to and only one major award bonus will be applied in a given year.

For awards of $10,000 and under, 50% is paid as top-up and 50% is counted toward the graduate funding package exclusive of the Faculty of Arts & Science Doctoral Excellence Scholarships and Lachlan Gilchrist Fellowships which are 100% top-up.

Research Assistantship Stipendiary Funds

Please note that first year direct entry PhD students do not finalize their research supervisor arrangement until the beginning of the second year. This gives students the opportunity to explore potential thesis research topics and supervisor arrangements. The directed research advisors do, however, provide $10,000 of the first-year support as RA stipendiary income: $5,000 in each the winter and summer sessions from the respective advisors. Starting in the second year of doctoral studies, the RA stipend is provided by the thesis supervisor(s) who will carry more financial weight then.

The research assistantship is classified as T4A income  and paid as a graduate research trainee stipend toward a advancement of research goals for the doctoral degree. Such work may include research collaboration with the supervisors or others, developing techniques and methodologies, or gaining knowledge of scientific or scholarly ideas or materials.

Travel for Research and Training and Publication Support Funds

Departmental funds are available for thesis research-related travel made available through Graduate Program Award and a bequest made to the department by Carl Reinhardt. The Thesis Research Travel Award is in support of presentations at academic conferences or workshops (paper or poster), scientific meetings with collaborators, observing runs, and data analysis. These award funds in combination with support from the student’s supervisor greatly increases the opportunity for our students to attend international conferences and conduct observing runs globally.

Note that funds are separately available through the Dunlap Institute Student Training Grant for professional development, training or educational activities. Typically, however, there is not overlap between the awards with attendance at CASCA excepted.

The David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics (DADDAA) & Dunlap Institute Student Publication Fund provides publication grant support to encourage astronomy graduate students at the University of Toronto (U of T) to publish papers in academic journals.

There are two levels of publication awards dependent on the student’s authorship. The fund will pay up to $2,600 (CAD) in publication charges in cases where a U of T astronomy graduate student is the first author on a refereed publication. Where a graduate student is a co-author on a refereed publication, the fund will pay the student’s prorated share (half if two authors, a third if three, etc.).

Payment Schedule

Payments are normally made in three lump sum installments in September, January and May, TA salary excepted which is disbursed monthly September through April. Starting in January, ACORN award payments are automatically applied to the student account balance, and the remainder is issued as stipend.