Metsoc Doctoral Scholarship Award
THE CALL FOR APPLICATIONS IS OPEN for 2026. The deadline is February 10, 2026.
The purpose of the MetSoc Doctoral Student Scholarship is to encourage and support the attainment of educational goals by doctoral students who have demonstrated a high level of research achievement at a Canadian university.
2025 Recipient
Alireza Gholami
Queen’s University
Alireza is a Ph.D. candidate in the Robert M. Buchan Department of Mining at Queen’s University, where he also serves as the graduate student representative. With experience in gold processing, biotreatment, machine learning, and the modeling and simulation of metallurgical and mineral processing systems, he has contributed to numerous interdisciplinary projects, leading to multiple publications in esteemed journals that underscore his research excellence. He is dedicated to advancing sustainable practices and is a member of the GreeMVC Lab under the supervision of Dr. Qian Zhang. His research focuses on investigating climate-conscious hydrometallurgical methods for magnesium extraction from dolomite. By integrating process modeling, simulation, laboratory experimentation, and Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment, he aims to design and evaluate holistically sustainable extraction pathways. Alongside his academic research, Alireza actively engages in digital innovation and instructional design. Through his role with Queen’s Human Resources, he redesigned employee training materials into interactive digital modules to promote inclusive and accessible learning. His passion for electronics, robotics, and programming drives his development of tools such as FloPlus, a software for efficient evaluation of mineral flotation kinetics. In addition to the MetSoc 2025 Doctoral Scholarship Award, Alireza is the recipient of several honors, including the George C. Bateman Memorial Fellowship (2025), MetSoc Sustainability Scholarship Award (2024), Gordon Bell Fellowship in Transformative Mining (2023, 2024), and the Paul Semple Memorial Fellowship (2023).
Scholarship Terms
The value of the scholarship is a single payment of $4,000 CAD. The award recipient is also eligible for a $500 travel grant for the Annual Conference of Metallurgists to receive their award, so long as the distance is above 500KM. Only one award will be made to a given individual in the course of their Ph.D. program. No single individual should hold more than one scholarship award within MetSoc including its Technical sections in a given year. One Doctoral Student Scholarship shall be made each year. However, the Award Committee may decide not to make an award if a suitable recipient is not identified. The amount of the award is reviewed annually by the Board of Directors of MetSoc.
Eligibility
Full-time doctoral candidates in their second, third or fourth year of study who are pursuing degrees in metallurgy, materials engineering or related fields are eligible for a scholarship.
Recipient’s Obligation
The award shall be presented at the Conference of Metallurgists. At that time, the recipient may be requested to speak on a subject of major interest to him/her in the field of metallurgy.
Application packages must be submitted by the student using the online award system. Application packages are limited to the documents requested only. Additional documents will not be weighted into the score of the candidate.
Each application must include:
- One letter of recommendation from the faculty member addressing the selection criteria relative to the field of study in metallurgical or materials research. It should answer the question: “Why do you wish to single out this student for the award?” The letter should also indicate the expected completion date of the candidate’s degree program.
- A written letter by the student of why he/she meets the criteria of the award by describing the following:
- A brief Plan of Work including immediate research goals and career goals
- Their research and academic excellence and potential
- Their demonstrated impact and initiative
- Any community service and/or extra-curricular activities.
- A curriculum vitae for the student, listing publications and work experience, as well as the month and the year at which all university degrees were started or completed.
- A transcript
The adjudication of the award shall be made by the Awards Committee of The Metallurgy and Materials Society of CIM. In making its determination, the MetSoc Awards Committee will consider the research and academic excellence and/ or potential of the nominee and select based on demonstrated achievement and potential for significant contributions to the field. The Awards Committee will use a weighted numeric scale on these four criteria:
- Research excellence /potential
- Academic excellence
- Demonstrated impact and initiative
- Examples could include: organizing student events, serving on the executive of MetSoc student chapter, leading social media activities for department/team, member of the design team
- Community service/extra-curricular activities
The percentage of the scale will vary based on the type of scholarship with more emphasis on research for Doctoral.
Every year MetSoc honours three students in three different categories; Undergraduate, Master’s, and Doctoral. The students receive the award at the Annual Conference of Metallurgists (COM). In addition to the awards, MetSoc also supports the students to attend the conference.
- Conference registration is free for the award recipients.
- Accommodation during the conference duration is provided to the recipients by MetSoc at one of the conference hotels.
- Travel costs are subsidized by MetSoc based on the student travel distance. In general, students travelling East-West will receive approximately $800 and those travelling within central Canada (Ontario/Quebec) will receive approximately $500. No travel receipts will be required as the amount will be paid as a stipend, not a reimbursement. Therefore, the student recipients can allocate this fund to travel costs or meal costs, at their discretion. However, the amount may vary as it depends on the yearly student travel budget and is at the discretion of the executive manager/student service chair.
- The student recipients will also receive a complimentary ticket for the award banquet.