Funding & Scholarships
Pictured are Friderike Spang, Mrs. Margot Bernard, and Atilla Ataner. Friderike and Atilla are past recipients of the Barnard Scholarship.
Graduate Student Funding
The basic funding package for MA and PhD students is normally a combination of Graduate Teaching Assistant salary (which requires being at Western during the academic year) and the supplementary Western Graduate Research Scholarship (WGRS) which is automatically applied toward tuition. The exact amount of your funding package is set out in the offer of admission. PhD students receive four years of funding.
Tuition fees are paid each term. Three terms per year: Fall term, Winter term, Summer term. Graduate students must be continually enrolled each term until completion of all program requirements.
Annual Domestic Doctoral Funding for 2025-2026
- For PhD students who received an external scholarship, such as CGRS D, students will see a reduction of $12,000 related to support from the program, and for an external scholarship, such as OGS, students will see a reduction of $5,000 to support from the program.
Annual MA Funding for 2025-2026
-For MA students who received an external scholarship, such as CGRS M or OGS, there will be no adjustment made by the Political Science Department.
Political Science Fellowship
NEW: Prospective students may apply for one PhD or one MA Public Opinion and Reconciliation Fellowship - $10,000 per year.
Please send the following materials by separate cover to Dr. Alcantara (calcanta@uwo.ca) with the subject line, "Reconciliation Fellowship" before February 1, 2026.
- -Cover letter (1-2 pages, single spaced) that indicates how you define reconcilation, and your interest in public opinion or public policy; your education and career goals; and any substantive, theoretical, and methodological expertise that would benefit this project.
- -CV listing all relevant experience, training, publications, or attributes that would benefit the project, and which speak to your ability to successfully complete a graduate degree at Western.
Awards and Scholarships
A variety of internal and external scholarship opportunities are available at Western that reward academic excellence and support graduate student research. A full listing and detailed information on Western, Provincial, National and International scholarship and award opportunities is provided on the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (SGPS) Funding Opportunities webpage. Information on selected opportunities is provided below:
Department Awards
Barnard Scholarship in Political Philosophy at Western
In memory of Frederick Mechner Barnard who was a distinguished political theorist and intellectual historian at Western. The F.M. Barnard Scholarship Trust offers scholarships to graduate students in political philosophy, entering MA or PhD programs in either Political Science or Philosophy at Western. Recipients must propose to work under the supervision of a member of the Moral, Political, and Legal Philosophy Research Group.
Awarded annually, the Barnard Scholarships may be held during the first year of a student’s program. The awards are additional to the regular funding provided by departments. No special application is needed: recipients will be selected from the applicant pool by a committee appointed by the Chairs of Political Science and Philosophy.
see Moral, Political and Legal Philosophy Research Group for affiliated faculty members.
Dr. Harold D. Clarke Graduate Quantitative Research Methodology Fellowship
Awarded annually to a full-time graduate student in the PhD program in Political Science, based on demonstrated ability and interest in Quantitative Research Methodology. Preference will be given to students who have defended a dissertation proposal that includes quantitative research and who have successfully completed PS 9592. The Political Science Graduate Committee will select the recipient from nominations by faculty members (supervisors or course instructors) received at the end of the winter term in each year. Typically only one fellowship will be awarded each year but in exceptional years two strong candidates could both receive fellowships.
Value: $5,000
Dr. Elizabeth Riddell-Dixon Graduate Scholarship
Awarded annually to a full-time graduate student who is in a doctoral program in the Faculty of Social Science, and based on academic achievement and research merit with preference given to students in Political Science, candidates will be PhD students whose thesis research focuses on promoting one or more of the following: women’s human rights, women’s equality, women’s empowerment, and women’s full participation in decision-making in at least one level of governance.
Through the Ontario Graduate Scholarship Matching Policy, this $5,000 scholarship becomes part of the OGS total worth of $15,000.
Value: $5,000
Clara and Angelo LaSelva Graduate Scholarship in Political Science
Awarded annually to a full-time graduate student in a Masters or PhD program in Political Science, based on academic achievement. Preference will be given to a student in the first year of their program specializing in the history of political thought, contemporary political theory, or the intersection between political theory and another field of political science. The Political Science Graduate Awards Committee will select the recipient. At least one member of this committee must hold membership in the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. Exceptional PhD students may receive this scholarship twice; Masters students may receive it only once. This scholarship was established by the LaSelva family in memory of their parents, Clara and Angelo LaSelva.
Clara and Angelo LaSelva (of Castellion del Biferno, Italy and St. Catharines, Ontario) took great pride in the fact that several of their children and grandchildren attended Western.
Value: 1 scholarship valued at $10,000
Research, Training and Development Fund (RTDF)
Political Science PhD students are eligible to apply to the RTDF to support their research and professional development. Priority will be given to dissertation research-related expenses (e.g., conducting field work; buying a sample for an online survey; paying in-lab participants, acquiring software, books or specialized equipment, among others). Students may also request funds to cover for additional methods training (e.g., ICPSR, Essex or short courses) or academic conference attendance, although these requests will receive lower priority.
Faculty Awards
Social Science Graduate Alumni Awards - For graduate student academic excellence combined with financial need. Applications are due the first Monday of May.
Faculty of Social Science Graduate Research Awards Fund - Designed to support the costs of research undertaken by full-time graduate students. Applications are due by the third Monday in March.
External
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
All students are encouraged to apply for a Tri-Agency Scholarship. See Canada Graduate Research Scholarship - Master's and Canada Graduate Research Scholarship - Doctoral.
PhD students in particular are encouraged to apply for these scholarships, not merely because of the financial advantage but also because grant-writing is an essential part of academic training, and success in acquiring grants will be essential to finding employment in the highly competitive academic job market.
Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS)
OGS awards are merit-based scholarships available to students in all disciplines of graduate study. The OGS program is jointly funded by the Province of Ontario and Ontario universities. See OGS.
Annual Value: $15,000
