Governor General's Gold Medal

View All Awards
Deadline
Likely in March 2026
Annual Value
n/a
Citizenship
Canadian
Permanent Resident
International
Degree Level
Masters
Doctoral

 

One gold medal is awarded to the student who has achieved the most outstanding academic record as a doctoral student. A second gold medal is awarded to the graduate student who has achieved most outstanding academic record as a Master’s student completing a thesis. This is an opportunity to honour the best in the graduating class within the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, as there is only one award for more than 2,000 Master’s graduates and one award for more than 500 doctoral graduates. Medals are presented on behalf of the Governor General of Canada by participating educational institutions, along with a personalized certificate signed by the Governor General. There is no monetary award associated with the medals.

 

Eligibility

Students must have submitted the final copy of their thesis to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024.

Evaluation Criteria

• One gold medal is awarded to the student who has achieved the most outstanding academic record as a doctoral student. A second gold medal is awarded to the graduate student who has achieved most outstanding academic record as a Master’s student completing a thesis.
• Outstanding academic record is assessed through the applicant’s submitted materials: Transcripts (ie. GPA), External Examiner’s report on doctoral dissertation (PhD nominees only), letter of support from thesis supervisor, letter of support from Department Head.

Nomination Procedures
Graduate Programs

Graduate programs must check with their respective Dean’s Office for their Faculty’s internal nomination deadline. Internal nomination deadlines are normally several weeks before the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies deadline. Each graduate program nomination must include the following:

• Application form filled out by the student

• All undergraduate and graduate transcripts

  • UBC transcript: The ”Academic History” document requested from your graduate program.  Official transcripts ordered from Enrollment Services are also acceptable.  SSC grade summary page is not acceptable.

  • Other transcripts: Official transcripts are required for any undergraduate and/or graduate study from institutions other than UBC.

  • Transcripts must be complete and up to date – issued in Fall 2024 if currently registered, or after the last term completed if not currently registered.

• Copy of External Examiner’s report on doctoral dissertation (for PhD applicants only – Master’s applicants do not need to provide an equivalent document)
• Letter of support from thesis supervisor
• Letter of support from Department Head

Faculty Dean’s Offices

Deans review nominations submitted by their graduate programs and nominate up to two students to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, one for the Master’s medal and one for the doctoral medal. Each Faculty nomination must include the following:

• Cover memo with the names of the recommended students and a brief description of the Faculty’s internal review process and the rationale for ranking candidates (maximum 1 page)
• Nomination package for each student as submitted by graduate program (see section above)

Nomination materials must be submitted electronically. When you're ready to submit your nomination materials, please contact joanne.tsui@ubc.ca . We will create a shared folder in Sharepoint and provide instructions for uploading files.

The deadline for disciplinary Faculties to submit their nominations to G+PS is 4:00 pm on Friday, March 14, 2025.

Adjudication Procedures

The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies will form a committee to review the recommendations from all Faculties and select the two winners.

Winners are typically presented with a medal and certificate at the Spring convocation ceremony.

Previous Award Winners
Doctoral Students

• 2024: Christopher Waddell, Physics
• 2023: MengXing Na, Physics
• 2022: Mohammad H. Jafari, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• 2021: Madeleine Ransom, Philosophy
• 2020: Rebecca Sherbo, Chemistry
• 2019: Shekoofeh Azizi, Electrical Engineering
• 2018: Thomas Hutchcroft, Mathematics
• 2017: Stilianos Louca, Mathematics
• 2016: Dustin Thomas King, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
• 2015: Adam Thomas Ford, Zoology
• 2014: Jan Janouskovec, Botany
• 2013: Asato Ikeda, Art History & Visual Arts
• 2012: Peter Dominic Maxwell Eirew, Genetics
• 2011: Rowan D.H. Barrett, Zoology
• 2010: Jeremy Goldbogen, Zoology
• 2009: Mirela Andronescu, Computer Science
• 2007: Gordon Patrick McTaggart-Cowan, Mechanical Engineering
• 2006: Jeremy Michael Van Raamsdonk, Medical Genetics

Master's Students

• 2024: Jorge Holguin Cruz, Bioinformatics
• 2023: Olivia Ferguson, Rehabilitation Sciences
• 2022: Nicole Wang, Microbiology and Immunology
• 2021: Nevena Rebić, Pharmaceutical Sciences
• 2020: Ellen Jopling, Psychology
• 2019: Mohit Sodhi, Experimental Medicine
• 2018: Xue Bin Peng, Computer Science
• 2017: Matthew Gordineer Warner, English
• 2016: Sameer Hemant Shah, Resource Management & Environmental Studies
• 2015: Niki Myrto Mavraki, Mathematics
• 2014: Carling Dawn Gerlinsky, Zoology
• 2013: Chipman Taylor Drury, Experimental Medicine
• 2012: Jennifer Mary Burt, Forestry
• 2011: Arpeeta Sharma, Pharmacology
• 2010: Clarice Hei Lok Fu, Zoology
• 2009: Milica Mandic, Zoology
• 2007: Jordan Ali Guenette, Human Kinetics
• 2006: Maxim Metlitski, Physics

Further Information

Questions about Governor General's Gold Medal should be directed to Joanne Tsui at joanne.tsui@ubc.ca .

Genral information about the Governor General's Academic Medals can be found on the website for the Governor General of Canada .