CALL FOR APPLICATIONS FOR THE 2026 IEEE CANADIAN FOUNDATION NICK CERCONE GRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP IN COMPUTER SCIENCE
Nick Cercone was a leading figure in Canada in Computer Science in a number of areas of computer science. He held leadership positions in several Canadian universities between 1980 and his death in 2015, and he developed numerous innovative research programs that involved faculty colleagues and graduate students. This Scholarship honours his memory and his many research contributions.
The Scholarship is awarded annually to a student enrolled in a Ph.D. program in Computer Science at a Canadian university and whose Ph.D. thesis proposal has been formally approved.
The successful candidate should be working in one or more of these fields: artificial intelligence, data mining, knowledge representation, or computational linguistics. Significant importance will be attached to the practical impact that the student’s research has had, or is likely to have, in real-world applications outside Computer Science. Weight will also be attached to the student’s academic excellence and to their involvement in helping others (e.g. tutoring, service on a student council, organizing student activities, and volunteer work outside the university).
An application package should contain a cover letter from the applicant that explains how the applicant meets the above criteria, and should also include a copy of the applicant’s curriculum vitae and an up-to-date transcript; it must also be accompanied by supporting letters from the applicant’s current supervisor and a second faculty member.
The value of the 2026 Award will be $7,500. A student can receive the award only once. For more information about the Scholarship, Nick Cercone’s legacy, and past winners of the award please go to htpps://nickcerconescholarship.ca/
The following committee will assess the applications: Dr. Aijun An (York University); Dr. Jimmy Huang (co-chair, York University); Dr. Kelly Lyons (University of Toronto); Dr. Gord McCalla (co-chair, University of Saskatchewan); Dr. Bob Mercer (University of Western Ontario); Dr. Vlado Keselj (Dalhousie University).
The deadline for applications for the 2026 Scholarship is April 15, 2026. Applications should be sent to Dr. Jimmy Huang at cerconescholarship@gmail.com with a subject of “Nick Cercone Scholarship Application”.