University Of Toronto Announces $100M Scholarship Programme For PhD Scholars

A new PhD scholarship programme at the University of Toronto is putting an unusually large amount of funding behind a small group of doctoral researchers. The university has launched the Presidents’ Impact Scholarship Program, which will bring together PhD scholars to work on major challenges facing society while receiving substantial financial support throughout their studies.

The programme is backed by a $100 million investment, and selected scholars will receive $80,000 per year for four years. The university says the funding package is designed to attract top PhD applicants from Canada and around the world. The first cohort is expected to begin in September 2027.

What sets the programme apart is how the scholarships will be tied to a shared research focus. Each year, the university will choose a major societal challenge and build a cohort of researchers around it. Potential themes include AI and Health and Sovereignty and the Arctic, bringing different areas of research together around problems that cannot be addressed easily within one discipline.

The inaugural cohort will include 12 or more PhD scholars, with around 12 to 13 expected to join each year. Each scholar will work with two faculty supervisors from different disciplines, giving researchers the chance to develop expertise across academic fields while working on a common challenge. The programme is eventually expected to support about 50 scholars at a time.

The scholarship will also take students outside the usual university setting. Scholars will have an external engagement component that could involve a government partnership, international placement or industry internship. These experiences are intended to connect doctoral research with practical problems and give scholars opportunities to work with organisations beyond academia.

The selection process will look beyond academic performance. The university says candidates will be assessed for academic excellence, innovation and real-world problem-solving, with the programme seeking both researchers capable of advancing knowledge and innovators who can turn ideas into meaningful public or commercial impact.

The $100 million investment comes from a $50 million commitment by an anonymous Canadian family foundation, matched by funding from the University of Toronto. The university says the gift is among the largest contributions to doctoral education in Canadian history.

Applications for the Presidents’ Impact Scholarship Program are expected to open in late fall 2026. With the first scholars due to start in September 2027, prospective PhD applicants now have a new funding programme to watch as they consider doctoral study at one of Canada’s major research universities.
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University Of Toronto Announces $100M Scholarship Programme For PhD Scholars