Global Affairs Canada Call for Proposals- The Indo-Pacific Scholarships and Fellowships for Canadians

The Office of International Affairs (OIA) will coordinate the McMaster submissions in collaboration with the International Strategic Advisory Committee (ISAC). Interested McMaster faculty members are encouraged to follow the steps below. Joint applications from multiple McMaster Faculties are encouraged. 

• Concept note submission deadline: June 30, 2025, to Adelina Sylaj (sylaja@mcmaster.ca) (Concept Note Template) 
• Adjudication and selection of one application: OIA, in collaboration with the International Strategic Advisory Committee (ISAC) will adjudicate concept notes. OIA will communicate results with applicants on July 4, 2025. 
• Internal application submission deadline: August 4, 2025, to Adelina Sylaj (sylaja@mcmaster.ca). Please access Proposal instructions in detail, IPSFC Application Form and IPSFC Budget Template.
• External submission deadline: August 6, 2025, at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The application will be submitted by the OIA in collaboration with the main applicant. 

Global Affairs Canada has announced The Indo-Pacific Scholarships and Fellowships for Canadians, IPSFC, call for proposals to support eligible Canadian post-secondary academic institutions, university consortia and research organizations to award scholarships and research fellowships to graduate students, academics and researchers at their institutions to study or undertake research in the Indo-Pacific Region. The total funding available under this call for proposals is up to $10 million over three years, and individual projects may receive up to $520,000 in funding.

The IPSFC program will: 

• Enhance the study and research capacity of Canadians in areas related to the Indo-Pacific Strategy 

• Increase connectivity between Canadian and Indo-Pacific institutions dedicated to research and education 

• Support new research streams and academic pursuits in Canada on the Indo-Pacific region. 

Study or research must be in line with Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, including topics such as: 

• Regional diplomacy 

• Regional political change 

• National and regional security 

• Trade and economic cooperation 

• Technological innovation 

• Sustainable development 

• Climate change 

• Natural (including marine) resources management. 

• Applied scientific cooperation. 

Indo-Pacific region 

Host universities or research institutions must be based in one of the eligible countries and economies in the Indo-Pacific region, as defined by the Indo-Pacific Strategy: 

• Southeast Asia: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste, and Vietnam. 

• South Asia: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka. 

• Northeast Asia: Japan, Mongolia, Republic of Korea, Taiwan. 

• Oceania: Australia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu. 

McMaster University currently has existing agreements with Higher Education Institutions in the Indo-Pacific Region accessible here. If required, the OIA will support the establishment of new partnerships that are not already included in the list, identified by the applicants.  

Note: Please consult the Government of Canada Travel advice and advisories (TAA) before applying as the list of eligible countries and economies may change as this program won’t fund proposals in countries or economies (or in regions of a country) where TAA advises to avoid all travel (red category) or non-essential travel in the country (orange category). For example, while included in the Indo-Pacific Strategy, this program will not fund travel to Myanmar or Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) due to current Government of Canada travel advisories. 

Please note that the IPSFC will not fund scholarships or fellowships to the People’s Republic of China. For information on scholarship programs that include China, review the Canada-China Scholars Exchange Program. 

Project parameters 

You must be able to answer “yes” to all of the following statements to consider your application: 

• Your proposed project starts after November 1, 2025, and ends before March 31, 2028. 

• Your project funding request does not exceed $520,000 CAD. 

• Your proposed project outlines how your organization will deliver a scholarship or fellowship project to graduate students, academics and researchers, which we define as: 

• Canadian (holders of Canadian citizenship or permanent resident status) graduate level students (including students at master’s, doctoral and post-doctoral levels) 

• Canadian researchers (including post-doctoral, academic and professional researchers associated with a research institution or think tank), and 

• Canadian academia (tenured or non-tenured academics) 

• Your application includes at least one letter of support from an Indo-Pacific host institution for awardees of Scholarships or Fellowships. 

• Scholarship and Fellowship recipients will travel to the Indo-Pacific (as defined by the Indo-Pacific Strategy) 

• Administrative expenditures in your project budget do not exceed 15% of the total funding requested 

• Your application package documents are complete and presented in either English or French

More information about the project is available here. Kindly reach out to Adelina Sylaj in the Office of International Affairs (sylaja@mcmaster.ca) for any further assistance.