Scholarship in Food Insecurity

The Centre provides scholarships that recognize the contribution of David Emerson, Wallace McCain, Purdy Crawford, and W. Geoffrey Beattie as past Chairs of the Maple Leaf Foods’ Board of Directors. Four scholarships will be distributed for the 2023/24 academic year to support Master or PhD students who propose to advance a better understanding of food insecurity in Canada.

We encourage any scholarship applications that look to fill knowledge gaps on food insecurity in Canada, with particular (but not exclusive) interest in the following key areas:

• Predictors and risk factors
  • Who is most at risk for food insecurity in Canada and what is the experience of food insecurity for these groups?
  • What are the determinants of food insecurity and are there any mediating or moderating factors?
• Impacts and efficacy of potential interventions
  • How can we alleviate food insecurity in Canada?
  • What programs, policies and/or market instruments should be used?
  • Who needs to be involved?

Eligibility:

• A master’s or PhD student of any discipline, enrolled at a Canadian university
• In good academic standing with their academic institution
• Entering their second or third year of post-graduate study and/or are prepared to commence their thesis research in the 2023/2024 academic year
• Conducting thesis research that seeks to fill gaps in knowledge on food insecurity

Value:  $15,000 

Proposal requirements

• A curriculum vitae (CV)
• A letter of reference from a research supervisor (this letter can be sent by your supervisor directly to the Centre at info@feedopportunity.com, if preferred. The title of the email should include the name of the applicant)
• An overview of the following (this section should be no longer than 6 single-spaced pages, excluding references)
  • The research purpose, research question, target population, and objectives
  • A brief background and rationale
  • Proposed methodology
  • How the research fills knowledge gaps about food insecurity in Canada
  • Knowledge translation plans
  • Other sources of funding for the research
  • An explanation of how the research aligns with the Centre’s goal and the research focus areas

Candidates will be selected based on their academic preparedness, match of research to the Centre’s goal and the research focus areas, and quality of the submission including feasibility, methodological rigor, and potential contribution of the findings to the body of knowledge on food insecurity in Canada.

Instructions:

Full instructions are found on the Feed Opportunity website.  Applications are to be submitted via their fillable form located on their website and reference letters are emailed to them directly.