NSTP

 

Northern Scientific Training Program Information Manual 2026-2027 

 

Application information: 

The UofT deadline for students to submit an application will be November 3, 2025.  

As of this date, students and faculty must complete and submit the forms. This is an internal UofT deadline so that we have time to review the applications before the hard deadline from NSTP, which will be a week later when the website locks and no further edits can be made. If any applications are incomplete, have insufficient details, or are submitted after the internal deadline, they will be removed from the overall UofT submission package. 

PLEASE start the online application and report process well in advance.  There may be technical hiccups, formatting issues, and other problems which need time to work through.

The online forms will be available at https://nstp-pfsn.smapply.io.

 

Application and Report Content:

Funding is awarded to our U of T package as a whole – so in order for individual students to receive significant funding, all applications and reports must be filled out fully and carefully to present a high-quality application/report package from UofT. In particular: 

  1. Applications need to be written by the student, and this should be evident from reading them.  There can be no cutting and pasting from one form to another, and no identical text from one year to the next, from one student to another, or from a report to an application.  
     
  2. Supervisor comments on the applications need to be substantial and specific, and include comments on the significance of the work to the STUDENT - how the student will benefit from going North to complete the project.  Again, these cannot be cut and pasted from form to form.  One or two sentences are not enough.
     
  3. Supervisors are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the application.  Applications with errors will not be included in the UofT submission package. Our internal deadline is designed to help minimize any issues with errors, ensuring that everyone's application is strong.  
     
  4. Shorter stays (anything less than 3 weeks) should be clearly justified. 
     
  5. The section on community engagement and permits must be filled in clearly and extensively.  This is very important. It is not enough to say “my supervisor is looking after permits and community feedback”.  There is a requirement that the community hear back from each student project – either in person or as a written report.  
     
  6. It must be clear that the NSTP funds are supplementary - NSTP cannot be the only funding source.
     
  7. All student fieldwork MUST be tied to their own thesis work (including undergraduate honours thesis).  Students can not apply for an NSTP to gain northern field experience, or to help someone else (including another student) with their research.  

 

Award Holder information:

  1. NSTP grants must be supplementary, meaning that they cannot be used to cover all costs for fieldwork. Research supervisors need to set up an MRA to receive the funds.
     
  2. NSTP grants can only be used to cover a limited set of expenses - mainly transport, meals, and accommodation - not for any equipment or supplies, or most other expenses.  See the guidelines for more details. Our usual practice at UofT is to aim to support as much of the travel costs to the primary destination as possible. 
     
  3. Formal NSTP reports are no longer necessary, but by accepting the NSTP, both the student and supervisor agree to submit a brief follow up report on the use of the NSTP funds to the Chair of the Arctic Working Group (currently Laura Brown) within 1 month of completing the field work (which will be included in the official UofT report that the Chair needs to submit) and to respond promptly to emails from the Chair of the Arctic Working Group.  
     
  4. The student is responsible for getting all permits, licenses, ethics permissions, etc., prior to the commencement of fieldwork.  Also, for many field situations, First Aid Training and/or a Firearms Safety Course is required.
     
  5. Before fieldwork begins, the student and supervisor should discuss strategies for community consultation, including the dissemination of knowledge resulting from fieldwork back to northern communities.  This is a critically important part of research in the North.
     
  6. If fieldwork is cancelled, please let the Chair (currently Laura Brown) know immediately, since we might be able to redistribute the funds.  
     

Please feel free to send along any photos or research updates (to Laura Brown) you'd like to share with the group. Best wishes for a successful fieldwork season!