- Canadian citizens or permanent residents are eligible to apply.
- International students and temporary residents are not eligible.
Apply for Round 2
Priority Research Areas
- Climate change
- Natural (including marine/ocean) resources management
- Sustainable development
Award Streams and Award Values (CAD)
Scholarships for graduate students (Master’s/PhD):
• 12 weeks: $12,000
• 24 weeks: $17,500
Fellowships for faculty and research staff:
• 4 weeks: $10,000
• 12 weeks: $15,000
• 24 weeks: $22,500
Key Dates – Calls for Applications
- Applications open: April 27, 2026
- Deadline: Friday May 15, 2026 - 12:00 noon Atlantic time (late submissions cannot be accepted)
- Results (notifications): June 2026
- Placements to begin: July 1 - October 31, 2026
- Applications open: Monday, August 10, 2026
- Deadline: Friday, September 25, 2026, at 12:00 noon Atlantic Time (late submissions cannot be accepted)
- Assessment and selection: Late September-October 2026
- Anticipated notification: mid-late October 2026
- Placements to begin: December 01, 2026 - April 30, 2027
to be announced
to be announced
Eligibility
Applicants must meet all of the following criteria:
- For Round 2, the host institution must be located in India or the Philippines and must be an existing Dalhousie partner institution (see list in section below).
- Applicants must check Government of Canada Travel Advice and Advisories before applying and before travel. IPSFC will not fund travel to destinations where Global Affairs Canada advises “Avoid non-essential travel” or “Avoid all travel.”
- Scholarship awardees must be registered Master’s/PhD students during the entire period of the planned research placement.
- Fellowship awardees must hold an active, full-time Dalhousie appointment during the entire period of the planned research placement – either tenured/tenure-track faculty members, Postdoctoral Fellows, or Research Associates.
Eligible Host Institutions
For Round 2, applicants must propose a placement with one of the following existing Dalhousie partner institutions in India or the Philippines.
Priority will be given to applicants whose proposed projects align with the Tirupati Tri-Institutional Global Innovation Campus based at IIT Tirupati/IISER Tirupati.
- IISER Mohali - https://www.iisermohali.ac.in/
- IISER Tirupati - https://www.iisertirupati.ac.in/
- Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) – directly associated research institutions - https://icar.org.in/en/institutes
- Indian Institute of Management Tiruchirappalli - https://www.iimtrichy.ac.in/
- Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati - https://www.iitg.ac.in/
- Indian Institute of Technology Ropar - https://www.iitrpr.ac.in/
- Indian Institute of Technology Tirupati - https://www.iittp.ac.in/
- Jamia Hamdard University - https://www.jamiahamdard.edu/
- Manipal Academy of Higher Education - https://www.manipal.edu/
- Nirma University - https://nirmauni.ac.in/
- O.P. Jindal Global University - https://jgu.edu.in/
- SRM Institute of Science and Technology - https://www.srmist.edu.in/
- Tamil Nadu Agricultural University - https://tnau.ac.in/
- University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore - https://www.uasbangalore.edu.in/
- Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) - https://www.mmsu.edu.ph/
- University of Santo Tomas - https://www.ust.edu.ph/
- University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) - https://uplb.edu.ph/
- University of the Philippines Visayas - https://upv.edu.ph/
- West Visayas State University - https://wvsu.edu.ph/
Required Deliverables (Conditions of Award)
Applicants must demonstrate an ability to meet the required deliverables for their award stream and provide evidence through post-placement reporting.
By the end of the placement, each Fellow is expected to deliver:
• One guest lecture at the host institution;
• One conference presentation related to the placement activities, at the host institution or another institution in the Indo-Pacific region;
• At least one joint follow-up research project planned with host collaborators;
• At least one joint scholarly publication planned with host collaborators.
Following the placement, each Fellow is expected to achieve and report on the following longer-term outcomes:
• At least one research funding application submitted within one year of completing the placement;
• At least one joint scholarly publication published within two years of completing the placement.
By the end of the placement, each graduate student Scholar is expected to deliver:
• At least one joint scholarly publication planned with host collaborators.
After the placement:
• At least one joint scholarly publication published within two years of completing the placement.
Eligible Costs
Award amounts for Scholars and Fellows have been calculated on the basis of placement location and duration, and are intended to meet the full cost of placements at the host institution.
• Economy-class airfare (most direct/economical route) and ground transportation in-country;
• Visa and related fees;
• Accommodation (on-campus accommodation for visitors is encouraged where practical and appropriate);
• Meals and incidentals;
• Travel and health insurance (if not already provided by Dalhousie);
• Fellows only: travel to one conference within the Indo-Pacific region and associated registration fees (where the Fellow is a designated conference presenter). Proof of major expenses incurred (e.g. receipts for air tickets, accommodation costs, etc.) will be required with the end-of-placement financial report.
Terms and Conditions of Awards
- 90% of the award value will be provided to awardees prior to departure, following signature of the Letter of Award and completion of the required pre-departure orientation.
- The final 10% of funds will be released after satisfactory completion of end-of-placement reporting (narrative and financial).
Awardees will be required to undertake the following, to enable data collection by project staff and to meet reporting requirements to the program funder (Global Affairs Canada):
- Pre-departure orientation, including a pre-placement research capacity survey and completion of applicable Dalhousie international travel requirements;
- End-of-placement narrative and financial reports submitted within two weeks of placement completion;
- Post-placement survey (during the reporting window);
- 12- and 24-month follow-up surveys regarding award deliverables.
- Awardees must comply with Government of Canada Travel Advice and Advisories and applicable Dalhousie travel requirements (for graduate students and faculty and research staff).
- Note that some project proposals may require research security review prior to final confirmation of funding.
Application Package (Required Documents)
Online application form, including content on: proposed research activities; intended placement dates and duration; alignment with an IPSFC thematic priority; benefits to Dalhousie and the host institution; planned outputs and evidence; longer-term collaboration plans; environmental implications and mitigations; known research security considerations; and confirmation that the host has the facilities and support required for the placement.
Dalhousie letter of support: a letter on Dalhousie letterhead, describing the planned research placement and intended dates, and signed by the research supervisor (in the case of Scholarship graduate student and Fellowship research staff applicants) or Department Chair/Dean (in the case of Fellowship faculty applicants).
Host institution letter of support: a letter on the proposed host institution’s letterhead, describing the planned research placement and intended dates, confirming the feasibility of the proposed activities and availability of required facilities or support, and explaining the expected benefits to the host institution. It should be signed by the proposed research supervisor (for Scholarship applicants and Fellowship research staff applicants) or faculty mentor (for Fellowship faculty applicants).
Selection Process
- Staff in the Office of Strategic Engagement (OSE) will undertake initial screening of applications for eligibility and completeness.
- All eligible applications will be provided to an internal Dalhousie Selection Committee (membership TBD) for review and assessment.
- Eligible applications will be scored using a structured rubric based on the assesment criteria (see section below).
- Top-scoring applications will be recommended for awards by the Selection Committee to the Vice-President Strategic Engagement and the Vice-President Research & Innovation, who will jointly confirm final selections and issue Letters of Award.
In making final recommendations, the Selection Committee may consider the overall balance of the Round 2 portfolio, including applicant category, award stream, host institution, placement duration, disciplinary representation, equity considerations, and available funding. All eligible applications will be assessed against the published selection criteria; where applications are of comparable merit, faculty-led fellowships may receive priority.
Selection Criteria and Weighting
Applications will be assessed against the following weighted criteria (100% total):
- Quality and originality of proposed research - 35%
- Host institution fit and quality of the collaboration plan - 15%
- Alignment with IPSFC thematic priority areas - 15%
- Planned deliverables (outputs and evidence plan) - 15%
- Sustainability and longer-term impact (credible pathway to follow-on outcomes) - 10%
- For Round 2 – Summer 2026, additional scoring weight will be applied to placements proposed for IIT Tirupati / IISER Tirupati – 5%
- Equity considerations - 5%
The IPSFC project integrates the Government of Canada's Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) framework into the scholarship selection process, to ensure diversity of awardees. All applicants who require special consideration (Woman / Women, Indigenous peoples / Mi'kmaq, Black person / Person of African descent / African Nova Scotian, Member of another racialized group, Person with a disability, Member of the 2SLGBTQ+ community) are therefore invited to self-identify on the application form. Self-identification is voluntary and will be handled confidentially. Information is collected to support GBA+ equity monitoring, and program reporting. Choosing not to self-identify will not affect an applicant’s eligibility.
Contact
For all questions regarding this Call for Applications, please contact ipsfc@dal.ca