2024-2025 Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships

Eligibility

Citizenship and location of host institution

Canadian citizens, permanent residents of Canada and foreign citizens are eligible to apply, provided they meet the following conditions:

• Applicants who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada may only hold their Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship at a Canadian institution.
• Applicants who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada and who obtained their PhD, PhD-equivalent or health professional degree from a foreign university may only hold their Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship at a Canadian institution.
• Applicants who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada and who obtained their PhD, PhD-equivalent or health professional degree from a Canadian university may hold their Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship at either a Canadian institution or an institution outside of Canada.

Eligibility window for degree completion

Applicants to the 2024-25 Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships program must fulfill or have fulfilled all degree requirements for a PhD, PhD-equivalent or health professional degree:

• between September 15, 2021 and September 30, 2025 (inclusively), and
• before the start date of their award.

Applicants who have not fulfilled all requirements for their degree at the time of application must submit proof no later than October 15, 2025.

For applicants who have completed more than one PhD, PhD-equivalent or health professional degree, the eligibility window applies to the most recent of these degrees.

Allowable extensions to eligibility window

The window of eligibility could be extended by a cumulative maximum of three years if the applicant had their career interrupted for extenuating circumstances, such as parental leave, illness, health-related family responsibilities, mandatory military service, disruptions due to war, civil conflicts and/or natural disasters in the country of residence, socio-economic reasons/lack of research opportunities, pandemic-related reasons, etc. It will only be extended by the duration of the eligible delay(s)/interruption(s).

"Career interruption" refers to a period of time when the applicant was not working (full-time or part-time) and when their research output was completely interrupted.

Additionally, for health professionals who have engaged in post-degree non-research-related clinical training (e.g., residency), the eligibility window can be extended by the duration of this training.

For other professions that require post-degree, non-research-related training to be certified by a professional body, please consult the Vanier-Banting Secretariat to confirm whether an extension to the eligibility window is allowable.

Interruptions used to extend the eligibility window for degree completion must have occurred after the fulfilment of your degree requirements and before the application submission deadline.

Justification must be provided in the Special circumstances attachment.

"Fulfilled all requirements of the degree" refers to the date that the applicant completed all the steps required for obtaining their degree. Although these requirements may vary by institution and degree type, they normally include thesis defense corrections and thesis deposition. Note that convocation is not considered a degree requirement.

Host institution eligibility

Institutions eligible to host a Banting postdoctoral researcher include Canadian and foreign universities, affiliated research hospitals, colleges and not-for-profit organizations with a strong research mandate and capacity.

Canadian governments (federal, provincial, municipal) and all for-profit organizations are not eligible to participate as host institutions.

Questions regarding institutional eligibility should be directed to the Vanier-Banting Secretariat well in advance of the submission deadline.

Other eligibility restrictions

• Applicants who currently hold or have held agency-specific (CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC) awards at the postdoctoral level are eligible to apply to the 2024-25 Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships program only if the term of that funding officially ends on or before September 30, 2025 and prior to the start of the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship. Early termination of the agency-specific postdoctoral award for the purpose of application to the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships program is not permitted.
• Applicants can apply for both the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships program and other agency-specific postdoctoral fellowships programs (whether to the same or a different federal granting agency) at the same time, provided that the research proposed in each application falls within the mandate of the federal granting agency to which the application is submitted. For more information, please refer to Identify area of research.
  *Applicants who are successful in both competitions will have to choose which award to accept.
• Applicants must not hold a tenure-track or tenured faculty position, nor can they be on leave from such a position. Generally, "tenure or tenure-track" refers to an open-ended academic position in which the holder can form a research group, apply for externally funded research as a principal investigator, and teach. (If unsure, please contact the Vanier-Banting Secretariat.)
• Only in rare circumstances will a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship be awarded to an applicant who is staying at the same institution or within the same research environment where they completed their PhD, PhD-equivalent or health professional degree. If an applicant chooses to apply in collaboration with the same institution (or its affiliated hospitals, research centres and other laboratories) or within the same research environment from which they obtained their PhD, PhD-equivalent or health professional degree, a solid justification must be provided in the Special circumstances attachment. Examples of valid justifications are scientific reasons (e.g., availability of specialized equipment/infrastructure or expertise), family reasons (e.g., family obligations), health reasons (e.g., proximity to health care facilities), applicants conducting research with Indigenous communities, and/or reasons related to community or cultural responsibilities.
• Applicants can submit only one application per competition year to the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships program.
• Without exception, Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships:
  • are tenable only at the institution that supported the original application for the program;
  • must be taken up no earlier than April 1st and no later than October 1st following the year of application;
  • are for two years;
  • cannot be held concurrently with another Tri-agency training award; and
  • can only be held once in a lifetime.

Summary

The Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships program provides funding to the very best postdoctoral applicants, both nationally and internationally, who will positively contribute to the country's economic, social and research‑based growth.

The objective of the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships program is to:

• attract and retain top-tier postdoctoral talent, both nationally and internationally
• develop their leadership potential
• position them for success as research leaders of tomorrow

The Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program differs from traditional programs in its emphasis on synergy between the applicant (their respective merits and potential to launch an international-level, research-intensive career), and the institution (its commitment to the research program/environment in which the candidate will operate, and how this will lead to a successful academic career).

The fellowship is tenable only at the institution which supported the original application.

LOI Submission Summary- See LOI Applicant Guidelines and attend the informational workshop on April 9th at 1:00 pm MDT

Stage 1 LOI submission deadline: May 1, 2023 4:00 PM MDT

• Review the Banting Eligibility Criteria Guide and assessment criteria.
• download and complete the Banting LOI Research Summary Form.pdf  to include as a cover page for your application package.
• combine all documents required for your application package into a single pdf. to submit at the end of the online application form.

For more information visit Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships or Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Application Guide

Faculty research administrators should review the Instructions for Faculties.

Contact vprawards@ucalgary.ca with any questions.

PLEASE NOTE: this information is being provided in advance of the official 2023-2024 Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship competition launch. The information provided here, including dates and eligibility criteria, is subject to change based on the Banting Secretariat funding call, expected in April 2024.

Internal Application Process- LOI Applicant Guidelines

Stage 1 - Letter of Intent

All prospective Banting applicants must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) for the internal review and selection. The LOI is a simplified version of the final application to Banting (see the Banting Application Guide for more information). LOIs will be evaluated on the synergy between the applicant and the research environment, the proposed research program, and the research leadership/excellence of the applicant. 

Submit LOI online application form by 4:00 p.m. MDT May 1, 2024

Stage 2 - Review of Letters of Intent and Selection of Applicants

Each faculty will review LOIs and then forward a limited number of LOIs to the Research Services Office for review and adjudication by the university’s Banting Selection Committee.

The strongest applicants will be invited to prepare and submit a full application to Banting, with support from the Banting Selection Committee and Research Services Office, and receive the institutional Letter of Endorsement.

Letters of Intent will be reviewed on the following selection criteria:

• Research excellence and leadership in the research domain (of both the applicant and supervisor)
• Quality of applicant’s proposed research program
• Institutional commitment and demonstrated synergy between applicant and institutional strategic priorities

Stage 3 - Application Reviews and Feedback

Successful applicants and their supervisors will be required to follow the internal deadlines set by the Research Services Office. Applicants and Supervisors invited to full proposal will be provided further information and a schedule of mandatory deadlines.

The Banting Selection Committee, in conjunction with Research Services, will provide mentorship and feedback to each applicant and supervisor. This development process will ensure applications meet the high standards of this competition.

Stage 4 – Submission of Application to Banting

Research Services will provide approved applicants and their supervisors with complete information on the requirements of the full application to Banting.

The  Postdoctoral Office will coordinate institutional requirements and letters of endorsement with the relevant offices at the University of Calgary.

Please visit the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships website for more information.

Pre-application deadlines

RSO internal deadline

Application deadlines

Program application deadline

You do not need to complete an RFAA for the LOI stage. If you are invited to full proposal, please submit a Research Funding Application Approvals form, along with a complete copy of your grant application, to vprawards@ucalgary.ca. The University of Calgary requires that the application be approved prior to submission via signatures of the Postdoctoral Fellow, Supervisor, Department Head, Associate Dean Research or Faculty Signatory, and Research Services (on behalf of the Vice-President Research), collected in that order on the internal approvals form.

Click here for the Meaning of Grant Signatures policy, to understand what your signature means. Please see the Agency guidelines for details of what signatures are required on the grant application. These may differ from internal requirements.

The Banting program encourages recruitment of new international candidates. If you are a university faculty member with a prospective international postdoctoral scholar and are unsure about the suitability of the candidate for this award, please contact Banting at Banting@cihr-irsc.gc.ca to review the candidate’s eligibility and credentials.