The School of Graduate Studies is pleased to provide you with information for the 2024 Governor General’s Graduate Academic Medals Competition.
The Governor General’s Academic Medals will be awarded to two graduate students who achieve the highest academic standing in their respective graduate doctoral or master’s degree program. Students who complete a graduate doctoral or master’s degree in time for either the Spring 2024 Convocation or the upcoming Fall 2024 Convocation are eligible to be nominated.
McMaster will be awarding 2 Governor General Gold Medals for the November 2024 Fall Convocation. Both doctoral and master’s students can be nominated. Overall academic excellence determines the selection of the two Gold Medal recipients, regardless of graduate degree level (master’s or doctoral).
School of Graduate Studies deadline: Noon, Wednesday, October 2, 2024
The School of Graduate Studies invites departments to submit their complete nomination package as one pdf to MacDrive.
Note: Each department can only submit one nomination for this competition. Nominees for the Governor General’s Academic Medal must be exceptional, and it is unlikely that each department and program offering a graduate degree will nominate a candidate every year.
Eligibility Requirements
Masters and Doctoral
• Canadian, Permanent Resident or International Student
• Minimum overall academic average of 11.5/12.0 in his/her graduate studies
• Must have been ranked Excellent in at least four of the five categories on the External Examiners Report
• Publications and awards will be considered as further evidence of Academic Excellence
• Must have met all their degree requirements by Friday, September 27, 2024.
o defended his/her degree thesis
o filed all revisions of the thesis with the School of Graduate Studies
Departmental Process
Each recommended nomination package must include the following documents:
1) A supporting letter from the Department Chair explaining why the individual should be considered for the academic medal. Maximum 2 pages.
As part of the letter:
• reference the nominee’s academic excellence
• include the nominee’s overall numeric academic average for all graduate degrees combined
2) A supporting letter from the nominee’s supervisor explaining why the individual should be considered for the academic medal. Maximum 2 pages.
As part of the letter:
• Impact of the research is made clear in the letter, i.e., the knowledge to action outcomes, does it have understandable impacts to end users i.e., industry users, practitioners, policy makers, etc.
• reference the significance and quality of the nominee’s dissertation work.
3) A copy of the External Examiner’s Report on the thesis. (Do not submit thesis)
4) An abstract of the thesis in non-technical language not exceeding 350 words, written, and signed by the candidate.
5) Official copies of all University Transcripts with legends.
6) Nominee’s current CV
7) In addition to the CV, the nominee must also provide a summary page that lists:
• all external/internal awards received
• number of peer reviewed publications as first author
• number of peer reviewed publications as co-author.
The School of Graduate Studies adjudication committee will select the two recipients following our review and ranking process. The applicants will be contacted with the results the week of October 28, 2024.