All postgraduate medical research awards at U of T will likely be cancelled, the school’s Postgraduate Medical Education Office told The Varsity. PMEO’s awards officer Gerard Nagalingam made the announcement last week, citing a major drop in the university’s endowment fund due to the global economic situation.
Nagalingam added that the cancellation must be approved by the faculty dean before it comes into effect.
“We are waiting for a confirmation from the dean before a memo is approved,” he said. “The awards come from endowments and there have been no payments. External awards are still available.”
According to Nagalingam, the faculty generally pays out between $250,000-$300,000 in such awards annually. Students in the program rely on these awards to help pay back debt accumulated over the course of their research.
These awards are the first to be cancelled in what may be a string of financial aid cutbacks, the university’s top financial executive has confirmed.
“Division by division, we’re going through to see how we can make choices with presumably the lowest impact. We have no choice but to cut back,” said Cheryl Misak, the university’s interim vice-president and provost.
Endowments are funds created by the university for scholarships, bursaries, and research projects. They rely on donations, government funding and the success of U of T’s investments. All of those have taken a hit in recent months.
With less award money and an increasingly competitive job market, some students are concerned about funding their education and finding employment.
In a Jan. 17 article, The Globe and Mail reported a study conducted by economists with Statistics Canada, UBC, and Columbia University. The study found that it takes postsecondary graduates eight to 10 years to return to their normal earnings after a recession.
For its part, the university is trying to offer students some assurance that funding is not about to dry up any time soon.
“This is an extraordinarily difficult time and we’re trying to make the best decisions,” said Misak. “But we’re definitely committed to keeping with our contractual agreements and financial aid for students.”
