Lambda Foundation raises money to enable universities to grant awards designed to promote national recognition of individuals or groups who, through their achievement, build bridges of understanding of gays and lesbians with other equality seeking groups, and the Canadian society.

Through fund raising, we arrange for and endow annual scholarships in gay and lesbian studies. Our goal is to establish a minimum of 20 scholarships at Canadian universities and colleges. Lambda Foundation manages each fund according to the specific agreements with each university and college.

By Lambda Foundation's negotiated agreement with the universities, each university selects appropriate candidates and their projects, based on academic merit and relevance to the GLBT community. There is no discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation or any other grounds regarding the candidates, consistent with the Canadian Charter of Human Rights. That means anyone who is doing a graduate thesis or doctorate in the area of gay and lesbian studies is eligible to apply. The deadline is set by the university committee concerned, usually under the guidance of graduate studies.

Lambda Foundation has deliberately allowed a broad scope for the scholarship series so that many graduate studies can qualify - arts, letters, social sciences and other sciences, and professional schools. The annual recipients are invited to a highly popular ceremony. There, the scholarship winners and their projects will be announced and the cheques will be given out. Their project supervisors are also invited. The intention is to recognize the value and importance of gay and lesbian studies - not only in the GLBT community, but across the country. The media to date have reported very favourably on the awards, both on and off campus.

You can apply for a scholarship award at any of our four currently participating universities. The annual scholarships are awarded without discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, sex gender, race, language, religion culture, disability, etc. They are open to any graduate student (to be expanded to college levels) or researcher in any field of studies, whose project relates to gay and lesbian people. Projects may include theses, publications, advanced studies, etc.

Awards are given each year by competition arranged by each participating university, on the basis of the academic dossier,relevance of the topic to the gay and lesbian community, and assessment by the university of the merit of the proposal. Potential for publication is considered an asset. The Lambda Foundation arranges opportunities for the public to recognize the recipients.