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Royal Society of Canada College of New Scholars
The College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists, a branch of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC), is Canada's first national system of multidisciplinary recognition for the emerging generation of Canadian intellectual leadership. It gathers scholars, artists, and scientists who have demonstrated a high level of achievement in an early and highly productive stage of their careers into a collegium of their diverse intellectual, cultural, and social perspectives. The membership of the College is made to be representative of the current state of academia in terms of research methods and domains, age, gender, and diversity. Membership terms are seven years.
RSC College of New Scholars Information Page
Dates & Deadlines
The following timelines must be met to guarantee institutional coordination and support. Details of the support provided by Western Research can be found below.
| Date & Time | Events & Required Steps |
|---|---|
| September 15, 2025 | Nominee or Primary Nominator notifies Western Research of intent to nominate (send your name or the name of your candidate by email to rwprizes@uwo.ca). |
| September 29 | Current CV and list of all potential Nominators and Referees submitted to Western Research |
| November 3 |
|
| November 27 | Complete dossiers submitted to Western Research |
| December 1 | Final submission by Western Research of complete dossiers to the Royal Society of Canada |
Nomination Process
Nominators must be Members of the College or Fellows of the RSC. Nominees must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents within 15 years of the conferral of their PhD (January 1, 2009) or equivalent.
The RSC will consider an exemption period of up to three years for those who have had a career interruption for the purpose of maternity, childrearing, illness, or health-related family responsibilities.
A complete nomination package includes:
- A completed nomination form
- A cover letter from the nominator
- Introduces the nomination
- Details the highlights of the candidate’s career and illustrates how they meets the nomination criteria
- Lists the name of the referee and indicates why they has been selected
- This is not an additional letter of reference
- A letter of reference from two persons of authority on the candidate and their field (max 750 words each)
- Indicates referee’s direct knowledge of the candidate and their work
- Highlights originality, significance, and impact of the candidate’s career
- Should be "fact heavy" (i.e., assertions about the quality of work should be backed-up by confirmatory facts - for example, awards won for specified work).
- Append a biography of the referee (max. 250 words) to the last page of the letter. If the referee has a website, please provide a link.
- A 1200-word summary of the nominee’s record
- Presents a narrative of the candidate’s career
- Only as technical as is necessary; it will be reviewed by both specialists and non-specialists
- Notes how and why the candidate's work is original and significant
- Highlights awards and prizes for scholarship
- Discusses the national and international impact and reputation of the candidate’s career
- A 500-word statement from the candidate reflecting on how her or his work would contribute to the College during the seven-year term
- A 70-word citation
- Includes nominee’s name, institution, and discipline/artistic field
- Nominee's CV (max 10 pages)
- covers the candidate’s entire career
- structured based on the candidate’s discipline and in a format acceptable to any of the tri-councils
RSC Resources
Institutional Coordination and Support
- Assistance with identifying suitable nominators and referees
- Outreach to nominators and referees to secure support, providing them with required materials and guidelines, assisting with developing letter content, performing quality checks for formatting and regulation adherence, identifying the strongest letters for submission
- Developing letters of nomination and obtaining approvals and signatures
- Support for drafting all written materials, and providing feedback and review
- Assistance with finding additional reviewers among RSC Fellows or College Members (internal to Western or external as needed)
- Completing online portal registration and creating nomination forms
- Document management: collecting and compiling all letters, forms, and written documents to create a dossier submissions according to Western Research guidelines
- Uploading of final dossier submissions to the online portal by the Western Research deadline
EDID Supports
Western Research offers support and resources for knowledge mobilization, Indigenous Research, and Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Decolonization. You can complete a request for support form to receive more information or request additional support. If you are unsure if your project involves Indigenous research, it is recommended that you contact Western Research early for determination and support.
Contact Us
Interested parties are encouraged to contact rwprizes@uwo.ca regarding this award and the nomination process.