NSERC CGS-D/PGS-D Teaching Assistantship Restrictions

[MathOnly]

Does anyone know if students on NSERC's doctoral grants have teaching assistant restrictions? I am in a strange position here: As I am in the USA, I was only eligible to accept the PGS-D. My department requires all students to receive a minimum of just over 47k USD per year. Although some students are on AR grants from their advisors, most support themselves through Teaching Assistant (TA) appointments each semester which cover exactly the minimum funding amount (tuition is just waived for PhD students). If one has external funding, it is also possible to be appointed as a half TA. Because the NSERC PGS-D grant covers less than half of a TA appointment at my school, I will need to be a full TA next year which on paper is 20 hours of work per week but in practice is much less. Does NSERC place limitations on how much teaching one can take on while receiving funding? The try-agency guide stipulates that one must be devoted full time to research and that the precise definition of that depends on the institution where one is enrolled, thus I suspect I will not be violating this requirement given that a full TA of 20 hours is common place amongst full time PhD students at my school. Has anyone ever have any insight to share about this?

[Alicia17]

On 5/3/2024 at 11:13 PM, MathOnly said:

Does anyone know if students on NSERC's doctoral grants have teaching assistant restrictions? I am in a strange position here: As I am in the USA, I was only eligible to accept the PGS-D. My department requires all students to receive a minimum of just over 47k USD per year. Although some students are on AR grants from their advisors, most support themselves through Teaching Assistant (TA) appointments each semester which cover exactly the minimum funding amount (tuition is just waived for PhD students). If one has external funding, it is also possible to be appointed as a half TA. Because the NSERC PGS-D grant covers less than half of a TA appointment at my school, I will need to be a full TA next year which on paper is 20 hours of work per week but in practice is much less. Does NSERC place limitations on how much teaching one can take on while receiving funding? The try-agency guide stipulates that one must be devoted full time to research and that the precise definition of that depends on the institution where one is enrolled, thus I suspect I will not be violating this requirement given that a full TA of 20 hours is common place amongst full time PhD students at my school. Has anyone ever have any insight to share about this?

My department requires students to TA regardless of scholarships or research assistantships. This has not posed a challenge for CGS-D or PGS-D award holders. But I recommend that you reach out NSERC and your institution to confirm.