Laidlaw Leadership and Research Program

“The purpose of the scholarships is to encourage and develop future leaders in any field of activity. Looking around the world’s business and political leaders I can’t recall a time when better leaders were more urgently needed.” – Lord Laidlaw

The Laidlaw Scholars Undergraduate Leadership and Research Programme, also known as the Laidlaw Scholars Programme, provides students with funding to pursue research in any area of interest at U of T, or anywhere in the world. It aims to develop a new generation of leaders who are skilled researchers and believe it is a moral imperative to lead with integrity. The program invests in talented and motivated undergraduate students, giving them the knowledge, skills, and experience to become active global citizens and future leaders. To date, more than one thousand passionate change-makers have completed the program all over the world. 

About the Program
Eligibility & Funding
Applications & Key Dates
Meet Our Scholars
FAQs
Contact Us

The Laidlaw Scholars Programme funds up to 25 academically strong and motivated undergraduate students per cycle and provides 16 months of programming that begins in the winter term of your first scholarship award year and ends in the fall term of your second scholarship award year.

During the first summer of the program, scholars will focus on an Independent Research project, and during the second summer, they will participate in a “Leadership-in-Action (LiA)” project that builds upon leadership skills they develop throughout the program. During the Leadership Development component of the program, scholars will receive bespoke leadership training during the semesters leading up to the second summer, as well as during the months of their summer research.

Please note that it is also expected that all students have one global/overseas experience for 5 weeks minimally at some stage during the program.

Selected scholars will conduct independent research for 6 weeks, whether they are self-proposed research projects or faculty-defined research projects. The research period should begin on June 16, 2025, and conclude on July 27, 2025. This research will be carried out in Canada or internationally (if approved) with a research supervisor to supervise scholars from U of T or any international institution.

If you choose to apply by self-proposing a research project, please refer to the following information regarding the research supervisor(s)’ eligibility:

All research projects that require REB protocol approval must be supervised by a U of T faculty member or a member outlined in the Guidelines Regarding Eligibility to be a Principal Investigator at the University of Toronto. We are not able to accommodate projects that require REB approval with a research supervisor who is not affiliated with U of T or does not meet the guidelines laid out in the guidelines listed.
If your research project does not require REB protocol approval, your research supervisor(s) may be from any accredited global institution and is not required to be from U of T.
The Laidlaw Scholars Programme is not able to accommodate research supervisor(s) switches once the research begins.
Teaching assistants and graduate students are not eligible research supervisors.

All scholars will be required to write a final research paper outlining the findings of their work. They will also present their research findings to faculty, staff, and students from across the university during the Laidlaw Scholars Research Symposium.

Scholars will receive bespoke leadership development training held throughout the year to develop their individual, team, and situational leadership skills through group retreats, guest speaker presentations, and coaching.

The Leadership Development component is developed around the Laidlaw Scholars Programme’s 3Cs: Change Maker Values, Capacities, and Character. The training program will focus on developing transferrable skills such as communication and influencing, collaborative mindset, diversity, equity, and inclusion, emotional intelligence, and global citizenship.

Please note that the Leadership Development component of the program extends through the entirety of the Fall and Winter terms. Therefore, scholars are required to be available for in-person programming in Toronto and so, cannot participate in an exchange program during this time.

The Leadership-in-Action (LiA) component is a 6-week immersive project that will take place in the second summer of the program. This, in a variety of different aspects, will be a key focus of the program and will encourage scholars to partake in an experience that is in a new and challenging environment, working with communities in need, and developing leadership skills. An international or global opportunity either through the LiA experience or at a different point in the program is highly encouraged. There are three ways in which a LiA summer can be planned, and the planning for this will be discussed with program administrators as well.

Participate in a LiA experience through a centrally offered partner project. You may refer to the Central LiA Projects offered in 2024 on the Laidlaw Scholars Network. More details for your cohort will be available after your first summer in the program (6 weeks long);
Work with a community-based organization or non-profit organization on a project that may have an impact on a community in need while applying your leadership skills. You must receive university approval for the project (6 weeks long); or
Implement your research findings (6 weeks long).

All scholars will be required to produce a report on the work that they carried out in the second summer of the program. After completing the global experience component, be it during the first or second summer, scholars are required to produce a reflection report on the learning and impact of their global experience.

In addition to the Independent Research, Leadership Development Training, and Leadership-in-Action components mentioned above, the Laidlaw Scholars Programme also include the following components:

Global Networking: Connect with a diverse network of scholars, faculty, and alumni worldwide from all Laidlaw-partnered institutions through the Laidlaw Scholars Network and other programs offered.
Global Experience: Establish a global mindset by spending a minimum of 5 weeks abroad through Independent Research or Leadership-in-Action summers to experience and learn from a global community.
Ethical Leadership Certificate: Work towards becoming an ethical and principled leader by participating in the Oxford Character Project and earning certification from the University of Oxford. Through the Oxford Character Project, scholars will get to develop their character (e.g. Purpose, Love, Wisdom, Growth, Self-realization) and master the art of ethical leadership while being joined virtually along with all other Laidlaw Scholars from other universities in the program.
Annual Conference: Take part in the Laidlaw Scholars Annual Conference to connect, exchange ideas, and build lifelong connections with fellow scholars from different partner institutions.

Benefits of Becoming a Laidlaw Scholar

Students who are selected to participate in the program will:

Conduct a research project of your choice under the supervision of a leading academic while receiving mentoring and developing your academic potential;
Receive bespoke leadership development training to become a next-generation leader;
Explore potential meaningful career options while developing transferrable skills, building confidence, and expanding breadth of knowledge;
Grow as a leader in a real-world setting with the Leadership-in-Action project while working with communities for shared progress and long-term impact;
Complete an international experience, be it through your research or the Leadership-in-Action experience;
Develop your character and master the arts of ethical leadership with a certification from Oxford University;
Connect with extraordinary peers from world-leading universities; and
Receive generous funding for all of the above!

The history

Lord Laidlaw of Rothiemay used his vision and commitment to create this program, which is now offered at 19 universities around the world. The long-term vision for the Laidlaw Scholarship is to create a wide-reaching and diverse international network of leaders who will reinvest their skills, knowledge, and experience to help students, peers and colleagues.

For more information about the history and vision of the program, please visit the Laidlaw Foundation website.

Eligibility

Applicants will be assessed for their passion, enthusiasm, plans, potential, and ambition for becoming a global future leader who is committed to ethical leadership, while also keeping in mind their academic background and achievements.

You are eligible if you are:

A first or second-year undergraduate student (working towards your first bachelor’s degree) at the University of Toronto;
Maintaining full-time status for the entire duration of your enrolment as a Laidlaw Scholar;
Studying at any of the three campuses; and
Enrolled in any field of study, from any background (i.e. all majors, specialties, and minors are eligible).

You are not eligible if you are:

You are a visiting student or an exchange student;
You are a graduate student; or
You have fewer than two summers left before graduation. Note that you must have at least two summer periods left at U of T before graduation to be eligible to participate in this program.

Funding

The Laidlaw Scholars Programme selects and funds up to 25 academically strong and motivated undergraduate students annually. If you are selected as a Laidlaw Scholar, here is what to expect:

Summer 1: up to $5000.
Summer 2: Funding will be determined based on the student’s opportunity during the Leadership-in-Action summer period, but no more than $5000.

This stipend will cover your accommodation and living costs while you complete the independent research or the Leadership-in-Action experiences for 6 weeks.

You are also eligible to apply extra funds for up to $2,500. This funding can be applied to travel expenses, which are dependent on global travel restrictions and all University of Toronto guidelines, as well as extra lab funding (up to $1000 out of the $2500 mentioned above) that cannot be covered by the main research amount. This extra fund covers the entirety of a scholar’s engagement in the program.

Application Options

You can choose one of the application streams to apply for the Laidlaw Scholars Programme:

Self-proposed research projects
Faculty-defined research projects – earlier deadlines

Please refer to the 2024 – 2025 Laidlaw Scholars Programme Application Guidelines for further information about each application option and how to prepare a complete application package.

How to Apply

Applications for the 2025 cohort will be available on Folio in October 2024. Log onto Folio and

To apply through the faculty-defined research project stream, enrol in the “2024-2025 Laidlaw Scholars Programme – Apply for Faculty-defined Projects” workflow.
To apply through the self-proposed research project stream, enrol in the “Laidlaw Scholars Programme – Cohort 2025” workflow.

Faculty-defined Projects

All the faculty-defined projects will be listed here after October 10, 2024, once available.

Important Dates

How to Register

The following events are open to prospective Laidlaw scholars from all three campuses.

UTSG students should register using the Folio event link below.
UTM and UTSC students can email laidlaw.scholars@utoronto.ca to be added to the registration list.

Laidlaw Scholars Research Symposium

Hear the current scholars’ research projects and outcomes and learn about joining this global community of changemakers.

Friday, October 18, 2024 – 4 PM to 7 PM ET

Laidlaw Scholars Programme Info Session

Learn more about the Laidlaw Scholars Programme and apply to be a Laidlaw Scholar Cohort 2025 by attending the following info sessions.

Virtual Info Session

In-Person Info Session

St. George Campus – Wednesday, November 6, 2024 – 12 PM – 1 PM ET

Office Hours for Prospective Laidlaw Scholars

Attend virtual office hours to learn more about the program and start preparing the Laidlaw Scholars Programme application package. You will get to hear directly from the current Laidlaw Scholars on their application process and ask them questions.

Application and Selection Timeline

Thursday, October 10, 2024 – Faculty-defined project options available
Friday, November 1, 2024 – Faculty-defined project application opens for students
Wednesday, November 13, 2024 – Initial deadline for students applying through the faculty-defined project stream
Friday, December 6, 2024 (Approximately) – The top 3 candidates for the faculty-defined project stream will be notified of being shortlisted for the next round
Monday, February 3, 2025 – Final Application deadline for all students applying for the Laidlaw Scholars Programme, including both faculty-defined project stream (shortlisted candidates) and self-proposed research project stream.
March 3 to March 14, 2025 – Interview and selection period
March 17 to April 1, 2025 (Approximately) – Candidates notified of acceptance

Key Dates for Selected Laidlaw Scholars Cohort 2025

Wednesday, March 26, 2025 – Laidlaw Scholars Cohort 2025 Welcome Event
Saturday, March 29, 2025 – Leadership Session #1
April 1 to April 15, 2025 – Initial Research Proposal Check-in Meetings
June 16 to July 27, 2025 – Research Summer 1
September 2025 to April 2026 – Leadership Development Training Sessions. The finalized schedule will be shared in September 2025.
Summer 2026 – Leadership-in-Action (LiA) Summer

Laidlaw Scholars Bios

2024 Scholars

2023 Scholars

2022 Scholars

2021 Scholars

2020 Scholars

2019 Scholars

The work of current and former Laidlaw Scholars can be found on the Laidlaw Scholars Network. For more information, please visit: 

Laidlaw Scholarship – Laidlaw Scholars Network (https://laidlawscholars.network/)

Arts & Humanities (https://laidlawscholars.network/channels/2072-arts-humanities)

Medicine & Health (https://laidlawscholars.network/channels/2075-medicine-health)

Social Sciences (https://laidlawscholars.network/channels/2073-social-sciences)

STEM (https://laidlawscholars.network/channels/2076-stem)

Frequently Asked Questions

Applications

For the 2024-2025 Laidlaw Scholars Programme Application, we are piloting an option for students to apply for a research project proposed by the University of Toronto faculty members. Please make sure to refer to the 2024 – 2025 Laidlaw Scholars Programme Application Guidelines as the timeline and documents required for the application package are different than the self-proposed research project stream.

No. You can only apply for one faculty-defined project. If you apply for more than one project, your application will be disqualified.

You can email the research advisor directly. Their email address can be found on the listed faculty-defined projects. If you are selected as one of the top 3 candidates for the project, you will be given the opportunity to schedule a 20-minute meeting with the research advisor to review and strengthen your research proposals before submitting them for the second phase of the application by February 3, 2025.

If you are not selected for the top 3 candidates for the project, you can still apply for the Laidlaw Scholars Programme by self-proposing a research project and finding a faculty member to oversee your work.

In order to find an appropriate Research Supervisor, you first need to determine whether your research requires Research Ethics Board (REB) protocol approval. If you are not sure whether your research requires REB approval, please review the Research & Innovation website on “When do I need a human ethics protocol” and “When do I need an animal use protocol”. You may also contact the Human Research & Ethics Unit (HREU) at ethics.review@utoronto.ca or the Animal Ethics & Compliance Unit at acc.coordinator@utoronto.ca for more information.

If your research requires REB protocol approval, you must be supervised by a U of T faculty member or a member outlined in the Guidelines Regarding Eligibility to be a Principal Investigator at the University of Toronto. We are unable to accept projects that require REB approval with a research supervisor who is not affiliated with U of T.

If your research project does not require REB protocol approval, your research supervisor may be faculty from U of T or elsewhere.

Please note:

The Laidlaw Scholars Programme is not able to accommodate research supervisor(s) switches once the research starts.
Teaching assistants and U of T students (at any level; including doctoral and masters students) are not eligible to be research supervisors.

Laidlaw Scholars carry out research in a variety of academic disciplines. Past research examples can be found at the Laidlaw Scholars Network website. We also encourage you to attend the Laidlaw Scholars Research Symposium on Friday, October 18, 2024, from 4 PM to 7 PM ET and hear the current scholars’ research and learn about joining this global community of next-generation leaders.

We are unable to consider late submissions to ensure fairness for all applicants. This policy ensures equal opportunities for everyone who has adhered to the given timeline and allows us to maintain the integrity of our selection process. We encourage you to start preparing the application package early to avoid missing the deadline.

Eligibility & Funding

No. The Laidlaw Scholars Programme Research Funding is a standalone funding opportunity for summer research and cannot be combined with any other scholarships or funding during the program. If you receive more than one scholarship, you will need to choose which one to accept.

No. The program is designed to encourage students in their first and second years at U of T to explore their interest in independent research. While some selected scholars may have some prior experience with research, within our program, most of our scholars are first-time researchers. Additionally, we are looking for scholars who are enthusiastic and have the potential and ambition to become a global future leader who is committed to ethical leadership.

How the Programme Works

Your academic studies are still the priority. Thus, the majority of the time commitment is during the summer terms, and it should not interfere with your academic programs. Selected scholars are expected to fully commit to spending six weeks per summer term (approximately 30-40 hours per week) to conduct the research and LiA projects.

During the academic year, the leadership development sessions will be held approximately once per month during weekends (approximately 7 days with each lasting roughly 6 hours) to avoid conflict in schedules and to allow tri-campus students to fully engage in the program. Additionally, the time commitment for the Oxford Character Project is about 12 hours in total, including the estimated hour for you to reflect before the sessions and another hour to engage with other scholars during the session. The schedule for the leadership development component will be communicated before the start of the academic year.

Attendance for the research project, LiA experience, leadership development sessions, and the Oxford Character Project are mandatory. The Programme Office may withhold your funding for non-attendance. If a student withdraws from the Laidlaw Scholars Programme before program completion or is unable to complete the program successfully, they may be required to return or all part of the spent funds (excluding exceptional circumstances). All withdrawal cases will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

It is possible to participate in PEY or another co-op at the same time as being a Laidlaw Scholar. However, one of the most important considerations is time over the summer. The Laidlaw Scholars Programme requires that you reserve 6 weeks of the summer to conduct full- time research (approximately 30-40 hours per week). All scholars are required to carry out research from June 16 to July 27, 2025. If your co-op/PEY can work around this timeline, it is possible for you to do both.

Due to the nature of the leadership program, it is not possible for selected scholars to engage in international exchange/learning abroad opportunities while participating in the Laidlaw Scholars Programme.

Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate projects that fall outside of this research period. During the summer research period, scholars will participate in the Deep Dive: A Conversation Series to allow scholars to interact with each other while at similar stages of their research and to build communities among students and faculty at U of T and the other Laidlaw partner universities globally. In order to facilitate your engagement in this program, it is important for the research period for all scholars at U of T to be standardized.

For any questions about the scholarship or to discuss any specifics of your research idea, please contact us at laidlaw.scholars@utoronto.ca. You can also book 1-1 advising appointments with the International Scholarships Advisors through Folio.

UTM and UTSC students can email laidlaw.scholars@utoronto.ca to be added to the event registration or to book an appointment.

Laidlaw Leadership and Research Program

Benefits of Becoming a Laidlaw Scholar

The history

Eligibility

Funding

Application Options

How to Apply

Faculty-defined Projects

Important Dates

How to Register

Laidlaw Scholars Research Symposium

Laidlaw Scholars Programme Info Session

Office Hours for Prospective Laidlaw Scholars

Application and Selection Timeline

Key Dates for Selected Laidlaw Scholars Cohort 2025

Laidlaw Scholars Bios

2024 Scholars

Aisha Mir

Alanna Jane Sethi

Amelia Hui

Candace Sara Ciju

Caroline Ho

Cecilia Padilla Vizueta

Chiara Puglielli

Christina Mai

Elliot Savin

Felipe Sarmiento Gómez

Giorgi Kaikatsishvili

Gurra Efendija

Hazel Antiporta

Jacob Freedman

Kira Jensen

Lia Iannarilli

Lilah Williamson

Liren Abeyratne

Nathan Li

Neha Gupta

Petrina van Nieuwstadt

Sahana Prabhu

Sindhu Sivasankar

Theo O’Connell

Tyler Dela Cruz Carriaga

2023 Scholars

Alazne Qaisar

Alice Ferguson-O’brien

Andy liao

Augustine wong

Bavan Pushpalingam

Benji jacob

Bhavana akilan

boluwatito mafikuyomi

cooper price

Emma Hwang

Fatima Qureshi

Gabrielle Dumé

George eilender

Hannah katherine

jake barton

Jackie ko

kalaishiga kalaichelvan

mathula muhundan

mridula sathyanarayanan

pritika vij

rebeca alarcon delgado

valentina bravo

vishweswar eswaran

youness robert tahiri

Zoë Reichert

2022 Scholars

Amy Mann

Jolie Gan

Je Ho Cho

Daniel Corredor Llorente

Isha Dinesh Sharma

Ajantha Nadesalingam

Emma Hopkins

Ruhani Walia

Anuj (AJ) Manchanda

Serena Honekin

Shiri Yeung