Grants and Writing Resources for York University

At the first undergraduate research fair of the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, held on March 18, 2026, York undergraduates presented posters after a peer-review committee approved ten proposals. Two students shared first place for best poster, one for work on annual floods and sediment mobility in Black Creek, the other for work on gender, 2SLGBTQIA+ identities and gaps in homelessness policy. Later that year a Bachelor of Public Administration student received the Distinguished Service Award, one of the three 2026 Daniel G. Hill Human Rights Awards from the Ontario Human Rights Commission, all of which went to members of the York community.

Writing Prizes

Any paper written for a Writing Department course (WRIT or PRWR) that earned an A or better can be put forward for the Jan Rehner Prize for Writing, by its author, a TA or the course director. Judges may name a winner and a runner-up at each year level from 1000 to 4000. Finalists receive a transcript notation and a gift card. They can also publish the winning essay in the prize's online journal.

The LA&PS Writing Prize takes undergraduate writing of every kind except creative writing, from formal essays and case studies to reports and reviews, and any course director in Liberal Arts & Professional Studies may nominate one paper per course or section. There are five categories, one for each year of study plus one for undergraduate theses and major research projects, and winners and honourable mentions receive a cash prize and a transcript notation. Past winners' papers appear in Noteworthy, the prize's journal. Digital assignments from first- to fourth-year LA&PS courses go to the separate LA&PS Digital Composition Prize.

Fellowships and Graduate Awards

Doctoral students in their final year can be nominated for the Provost Dissertation Scholarship, with up to six awards of up to $22,500, or the Susan Mann Dissertation Scholarship, with up to nine awards of up to $22,500 over three terms. Each package includes a $1,000 research allowance and a $1,000 completion bonus paid after the dissertation is submitted. Candidates need an approved proposal and everything but the dissertation finished, and they must be able to complete the degree within twelve months of the award's start.

After the defence, the Faculty of Graduate Studies gives up to six Thesis and Dissertation Prizes a year, normally three for master's theses at $1,000 and three for dissertations at $2,000, and each program may nominate one of each. The Barbara Godard Prize for the Best Dissertation on the Study of Canada goes to a PhD candidate whose work on a Canadian topic best advances knowledge of Canada. For travel, the Anne Simone Graduate Student International Conference Award gives $1,000 to one LA&PS master's or doctoral student presenting research at an international conference. The full list of York internal awards adds field-specific money, such as fieldwork awards in social anthropology and a conference award in geography.

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre works one-to-one with undergraduate and graduate students from every faculty, in Ross South 311 or online through WCOnline, by appointment or at drop-in sessions during the fall and winter terms. Its Write Now! workshop series leads to a certificate in academic writing.

Doctoral writers can apply for the PhD Café, a free ten-week virtual program that pairs group writing sessions on Tuesdays with several one-to-one meetings with the Graduate Writing Specialist. It takes about twelve writers a term. Those at or past the proposal stage get preference, and the centre's graduate student resources add guides on literature reviews, dissertation structure and the doctoral defence.

Repository and Journals

York's electronic theses and dissertations have been hosted in YorkSpace since September 2013, and a Faculty of Graduate Studies policy allows delayed or restricted access. The Libraries' York Digital Journals service runs York-affiliated journals on Open Journal Systems, among them YU-WRITE: Journal of Graduate Student Research in Education, Revue YOUR Review, and the online journals of the Jan Rehner and LA&PS writing prizes. For articles in outside journals, the Libraries negotiate article processing charge discounts with publishers. Some agreements cover up to 100% of the charge for certain hybrid and gold open-access journals.

When a paper, thesis, or dissertation is ready for a final edit, our editors can help. See our York University dissertation and thesis editing page, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.

From Our Writing Guides

• How to Write an Expository Essay: Reveal the Proof
• From Dissertation to Publication: The Final Scholarly Synthesis
• The Dissertation Conclusion: Closing the Logical Loop