Department of National Defence MINDS Scholarship Initiative
2026-27 competitions
| Overview | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Funding streams | MINDS Master’s Scholarships for Indigenous Students | MINDS Initiative Doctoral Awards | MINDS Initiative Postdoctoral Fellowships | MINDS Scholarship Initiative Supplements |
| Value | $17,500 | $40,000 per year | $70,000 per year | $10,000 |
| Duration | 12 months | 12, 24 or 36 months | 24 months | 12 months |
| Application deadline | December 1, 2026 | Directly to SSHRC: October 17, 2026 Through a Canadian institution with a quota: contact your institution |
September 10, 2026 | Refer to the relevant funding opportunity’s application deadline |
| Apply | Via the Canada Graduate Research Scholarship—Master’s program | Via the Canada Graduate Research Scholarship—Doctoral program | Via the Canada Postdoctoral Research Award program | Via the Canada Graduate Research Scholarship—Master’s program, Canada Graduate Research Scholarship—Doctoral program or Canada Postdoctoral Research Award program (as applicable) |
| Results announced | Fall 2027 | |||
On this page
- Description
- Research areas
- Value and duration
- Eligibility
- Application process
- Merit review
- Conditions of funding
- Regulations, policies and related information
- Contact information
Description
The Mobilizing Insights in Defence and Security (MINDS) program of the Department of National Defence (DND) is committed to fostering the next generation of security and defence scholars in the Canadian academic community and to encouraging a strong Canadian knowledge base in contemporary defence and security issues. To this end, the MINDS program has partnered with SSHRC to deliver the MINDS Scholarship Initiative.
This initiative offers research training awards and supplements to master’s and doctoral students and to postdoctoral researchers in the social sciences and humanities whose work is related to one or more of the MINDS Policy Challenges.
Research areas
For details on the research areas relevant to the MINDS Scholarship Initiative, applicants should consult the MINDS Policy Challenges, which represent key issue areas where DND and the Canadian Armed Forces could benefit from external expertise to challenge or complement their thinking.
Critical research perspectives, which may challenge or invite a reformulation of the policy themes and terms outlined in the MINDS Policy Challenges, are welcome.
The MINDS program is committed to reflecting key Government of Canada priorities in the work it delivers, ensuring the incorporation of Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus). GBA Plus requires the incorporation of diverse viewpoints. This means deliberate efforts should be made to mitigate unintended bias related to intersecting identity factors (including, but not limited to, age, gender, ethnicity, race, disability, religion and geographic region). Applying a GBA Plus lens to research ensures the issue is considered from multiple perspectives, supporting more inclusive research questions and results.
Value and duration
This initiative has four streams of funding:
- MINDS Master’s Scholarships for Indigenous Students: $17,500 for 12 months, in addition to the value of the Canada Graduate Research Scholarship—Master’s (CGRS M) award;
- MINDS Initiative Doctoral Awards: $40,000 per year for 12, 24 or 36 months;
- MINDS Initiative Postdoctoral Fellowships: $70,000 for 24 months; and
- MINDS Scholarship Initiative Supplements: $10,000 for 12 months, in addition to the value of the Canada Graduate Research Scholarship—Master’s (CGRS M) award, Canada Graduate Research Scholarship—Doctoral (CGRS D) award or Canada Postdoctoral Research Award (CPRA).
Eligibility
To be eligible to apply to each of the funding streams, applicants must:
- be working in research areas related to one or more of the MINDS Policy Challenges and be eligible for a SSHRC-funded Canada Research Training Award Suite (CRTAS) award as specified below; and
- be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada.
Government of Canada employees and Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members, with the exception of CAF Class A Reservists, cannot hold a MINDS research training award or supplement.
The eligibility requirements listed below for each stream also apply.
For the MINDS Master’s Scholarships for Indigenous Students, applicants must:
- be eligible to apply to the CGRS M competition, under the “social sciences and/or humanities field of research” stream;
- self-identify as Indigenous at the time of application for the purposes of this initiative; and
- adhere to the Tri-Agency Policy on Indigenous Citizenship and Membership Affirmation and associated directive, if selected for an award.
For the MINDS Initiative Doctoral Awards, applicants must:
- be eligible to apply to the CGRS D competition.
For the MINDS Initiative Postdoctoral Fellowships, applicants must:
- be eligible to apply to the CPRA competition.
For the MINDS Scholarship Initiative Supplements, applicants must:
- be eligible to apply to one of the following funding opportunities:
- CGRS M competition (under the “social sciences and/or humanities field of research” stream);
- CGRS D competition; or
- CPRA competition.
Application process
MINDS Master’s Scholarships for Indigenous Students
Applicants who meet the eligibility requirements for this funding stream must apply through the CGRS M competition.
Applicants select “MINDS Master’s Scholarships for Indigenous Students” in the drop-down menu in the “Supplements/Joint Initiatives” section of the application form, under the “social sciences and/or humanities” field of research.
Applicants must also submit a statement of thematic relevance. In this statement, applicants must describe how their proposed research project is related to one or more of the MINDS Policy Challenges.
Applicants will be asked at the time of application to self-identify as Indigenous. They will also be asked to consent to SSHRC using this information and sharing it with DND as part of their application for a MINDS Master’s Scholarship for Indigenous Students. SSHRC will not share self-identification information with institutional selection committees.
The agencies have adopted the Tri-agency Policy on Indigenous Citizenship and Membership Affirmation and associated directive. Should you be successful in this competition, you will be asked to provide documentation to support your affirmation of Indigenous citizenship or membership before receiving your award.
MINDS Initiative Doctoral Awards
Applicants who meet the eligibility requirements for this funding stream must apply through the CGRS D program. They must select “MINDS Scholarship Initiative” from the drop-down menu in the application form. They must also provide a one-page justification explaining how their proposed research project is related to one or more of the MINDS Policy Challenges.
MINDS Initiative Postdoctoral Fellowships
Applicants who meet the eligibility requirements for this funding stream must apply through the CPRA program. They must select “MINDS Scholarship Initiative” from the drop-down menu in the application form.
They must also provide a one-page justification explaining how their proposed research project is related to one or more of the MINDS Policy Challenges.
MINDS Scholarship Initiative Supplements
Applicants for the CGRS M competition who meet the eligibility requirements for this funding stream must apply by selecting “MINDS Scholarship Initiative Supplements” in the drop-down menu in the “Supplements/Joint Initiatives” section of the application form, under the “social sciences and/or humanities” field of research.
Applicants for the CGRS M competition who are eligible for the MINDS Scholarship Initiative Supplements and the MINDS Master’s Scholarships for Indigenous Students can apply to both streams of funding; however, if applicants are selected to receive funding, they will be offered either the supplement or the scholarship, not both.
Recipients of a CGRS D or CPRA who applied for a MINDS Initiative Doctoral Award or Postdoctoral Fellowship will be considered for the MINDS Scholarship Initiative Supplements, to the limit of available funding. These applicants have no separate application process for the MINDS Scholarship Initiative Supplements.
Merit review
Applications to the CGRS M competition are first reviewed by institutional merit review committees, as outlined in the selection process for the CGRS M competition.
Applications submitted to the CGRS D and CPRA are reviewed first by the relevant SSHRC merit review committee.
Merit review committees do not review the documents (statements, justifications) submitted as part of the MINDS Scholarship Initiative application.
After this merit review phase, the review processes outlined below are followed for each funding stream.
MINDS Master’s Scholarships for Indigenous Students
Applicants must first be successful in the CGRS M competition.
SSHRC staff will review statements of thematic relevance to ensure applicants have provided the requested information, in line with the application process instructions.
MINDS Initiative Doctoral Awards and Postdoctoral Fellowships
To ensure applicants have provided the requested information, in line with the application process instructions, SSHRC staff will review the one-page justifications of applications that were judged meritorious through SSHRC’s merit review process.
MINDS Scholarship Initiative Supplements
Applicants must first be successful in the CGRS M, CGRS D or CPRA competition.
SSHRC staff will review statements of thematic relevance or justifications to ensure applicants have provided the requested information, in line with the application process instructions.
Review by DND
After validating applicants’ statements align with the instructions, SSHRC will forward eligible applications for a relevance review and ranking to DND.
MINDS Scholarship Initiative awards and supplements will be offered to eligible applicants whose proposals DND deems to be the most relevant to its research areas. The awards and supplements will be offered to the limit of available funding.
Conditions of funding
All MINDS Scholarship Initiative award and supplement holders must accept the terms and conditions of their MINDS award or supplement, as set out in the notice of award (including attachments). They must also adhere to all the terms and conditions attached to their CRTAS award.
Individuals employed by the Government of Canada and its agencies, including the CAF, are not eligible to receive funding from the MINDS program, with the exception of CAF Class A Reservists.
To maintain eligibility for MINDS Scholarship Initiative funding, award and supplement holders’ research must remain within the priority areas of the MINDS Policy Challenges.
Reporting requirements for each funding stream will be outlined in the notice of award and letter of offer.
MINDS Master’s Scholarships for Indigenous Students
Recipients must hold an active SSHRC-funded CGRS M award. The MINDS Master’s Scholarship for Indigenous Students does not replace the CGRS M award.
MINDS Initiative Doctoral Awards and Postdoctoral Fellowships
A MINDS Initiative Doctoral Award or Postdoctoral Fellowship cannot be held simultaneously with a CRTAS award. If a CRTAS award holder accepts a MINDS Initiative Doctoral Award or Postdoctoral Fellowship, this award will replace their CRTAS award.
MINDS Scholarship Initiative Supplements
Recipients must hold an active SSHRC-funded CRTAS award.
Regulations, policies and related information
SSHRC reserves the right to determine the eligibility of applications, based on the information included. SSHRC also reserves the right to interpret the regulations and policies governing its funding opportunities.
For descriptions of SSHRC terms, see Definitions of terms.
All fellowship and scholarship applicants and holders must follow the applicable policies, regulations and guidelines governing fellowship and scholarship applications, as well as the regulations set out in the Tri-agency research training award holder’s guide.
Contact information
For more information, contact:
Email: fellowships@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca
Toll-free: 1-855-275-2861