Governor General's Gold Medal
The Governor General's Gold Medal, one of Canada's Governor General's Academic Medals, is awarded for outstanding academic excellence at the graduate level and is the most prestigious award that students in Canadian schools can receive. At the University of Alberta, the award recognizes the doctoral graduate who achieves the highest academic standing.
Each recipient is awarded a Gold Medal and a personalized certificate signed by the Governor General of Canada. Presented on behalf of the Governor General of Canada, one medal is presented at Spring Convocation and two medals are presented at Fall Convocation.
Doctoral students must be eligible for the Fall 2024 convocation by having successfully defended and submitted their dissertation. While the selection of the winner is primarily based on academic excellence, attention to the dissertation and cumulative scholarly achievement during the doctoral program will also be considered.
There is no application form; eligible students will be considered automatically by their home department and nominated to Faculty of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies (GPS) for final selection.
Departments should refer to the Fall 2024 Governor General's Gold Medal Department Memo for complete details and instructions.
The GPS Graduate Scholarship Committee adjudicates the competition; GPS will notify the winner(s) directly.
The deadline for Departments to submit one nomination via the GSMS Awards Portal for 2024 Fall Convocation was Friday, October 11, 2024.