Governor General’s Gold Medal

Purpose

The Office of the Governor General annually awards Gold Academic Medals to students who achieve the highest academic standing at the graduate level. The assessment of highest academic standing includes an examination of the following:

• Academic performance in degree courses (first class average);
• Evaluation of the thesis and the thesis defense; and
• Originality and significance of the research.

Three (3) gold medals are available at the University of Toronto.

One medal will be awarded to a candidate from Division I or II; one medal will be awarded to a candidate from Division III or IV; the third medal will be awarded to an outstanding candidate from any division.  The recipients will receive a Gold Academic Medal and personalized certificate signed by the Governor General of Canada

REMINDER: All nominees for the GG Gold Medals will automatically be assessed for eligibility by the Graduate Awards Office, with recipients/nominees also being selected by the SGS Awards Committee for the following awards:

• Chorafas Prize – two awards of $10,000 USD to graduating doctoral students, age 32 or under, whose research benefits humanity in the following areas: Life Sciences & Medicine, Physics, Chemistry (incl. nanotechnology), Mathematics, Informatics/Computer Science, and Engineering of Finance & Risk Management. The Chorafas Foundation confirms eligibility of the University’s selected nominees and issues the awards each year.
• CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Awards – two nominees to the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) for two $2,000 prizes for doctoral dissertations that represent original work and make an unusually significant contribution to the fields of biological sciences and/or life sciences (1 nominee), and humanities and/or fine arts (1 nominee). Fields of study awarded rotate every other year.
• NAGS Master’s Thesis and Doctoral Dissertation Awards – two nominees to Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools (NAGS) for $1,000 prize for outstanding master’s thesis (Physical Sciences, Mathematics, & Engineering field for Jan. 2026 submission to NAGS) and a doctoral dissertation (Agricultural, Biological & Health Sciences field for Jan. 2026 submission to NAGS). Fields of study awarded rotate every year, with any discipline category recurring every fifth year within its degree level.

---

Eligibility Note

Candidates must:

• Have achieved the highest academic standing at the graduate level
• Have graduated or will graduate at one of the following convocations:
  • November 2024
  • March 2025 (in absentia)
  • June 2025

Note: Students must submit their final thesis by April 11, 2025 to be eligible to graduate at the June Convocation.