About Memorial University of Newfoundland

Memorial University was established in 1925 as a memorial to the Newfoundlanders who lost their lives during the First World War. Memorial is Newfoundland and Labrador’s only university and is one of the largest universities in Atlantic Canada.

Memorial University has over 3,400 international students from more than 110 countries enrolled in various programs of study. In addition to most affordable graduate tuition fees, Memorial offers competitive funding and scholarships for graduate students in eligible programs. According to the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies, Newfoundland and Labrador is home to the highest percentage of full-time international master’s and doctoral students in Canada.

Memorial University offers more than 170 graduate diplomas, master's, and doctoral degree programs across four campuses. The School of Graduate Studies (SGS) at Memorial University provides support services for graduate students from the admission and orientation stage onward to progress, completion, and beyond. SGS works to actively remove barriers for graduate students from all backgrounds, to ensure academic progress and success. The School aims to provide students a welcoming and supportive campus culture and be deliberate in its efforts to raise awareness about inclusive excellence in all programs. By making its processes, resources, and services more inclusive, the School continuously improves the recruitment, retention, experience, completion rates and outcomes of its graduate students.

Graduate outcomes

MUN postgraduate students are well placed for success, both on their course and in the careers that follow. In addition to superb academics, the university has a strong start-up and entrepreneurial culture, where students and staff are encouraged to embrace innovation, think outside the box, and find creative solutions to some of the most relevant current business challenges. MUN students have consistently performed well in national and international entrepreneurship competitions. In fact, the university has been crowned national champions for nine of the past 10 years in the annual Enactus competition, an international non-profit organization promoting student entrepreneurship.

The university is home to the following three entrepreneurial centres:

• The Centre for Social Enterprise
• The Genesis Centre
• The Entrepreneurship Training Program

MUN is also a great place for students looking to start a career in research. The university is one of the top 20 research universities in Canada and has more than 30 research centres, with a wealth of resources and networks with other academic institutions, local and regional organisations, and the global research community.

A postgraduate degree from MUN is a globally respected qualification from a research-intensive university, which can prove to be an asset in the search for competitive graduate employment.

What’s new

More than 40 percent of the university’s research is ocean related. The university is one of the top contributors to marine research in the North Atlantic, and has recently been generating a lot of positive attention at international and national education awards, particularly in areas such as creative outreach, community events, and educational installations.

One such installation is located on the fourth-floor mezzanine of the university’s Core Science Facility at the St. John’s campus. Entitled ‘A Whale’s Tale’, it includes a 75-foot blue whale skeleton, named Altum, hanging from the ceiling. It combines with the university’s annual Whale of a Day open house event to provide educational information about blue whales and promote awareness of the marine ecosystems, which are the subject of so much of the university’s research work.

Whale of a Day received a gold medal for Best Community Outreach Initiative at The Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education’s 2024 Prix d’Excellence Awards, in recognition of the positive impact and organisational success of the exhibition.