2024 SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship

Eligibility

To apply to this funding opportunity, applicants must:

• be a citizen or permanent resident of Canada or a “protected person” under subsection 95(2) of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act by the application deadline;
• not hold a permanent faculty position or a faculty position leading to permanency;
• have finalized arrangements for affiliation with a recognized university or research institution;
• not have applied more than twice before to the SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowships funding opportunity;
• not have already received a postdoctoral award (including a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship) from SSHRC, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) or the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR); and
• not be applying in the 2024-25 academic year to the NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowships Program or the CIHR Fellowship funding opportunity.

Subject matter

Most SSHRC funding is awarded through open competitions. Proposals can involve any disciplines, thematic areas, approaches or subject areas eligible for SSHRC funding. See subject matter eligibility for more information.

Projects whose primary objective is adapting a doctoral thesis for publication in a book or manuscript, editing textbooks, translation, or acquiring a foreign language are not eligible for funding under this funding opportunity.

The research proposed in a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship application must be significantly different and distinct from, or add significantly to, that related to the applicant’s doctoral thesis.

Career interruptions and/or delays

SSHRC asks its merit review committees to take into consideration special circumstances that could have affected candidates’ research, professional career, record of academic or research achievement, or completion of degrees. Relevant circumstances might include administrative responsibilities, maternity/parental leave, child rearing, illness, disability, cultural or community responsibilities, socio-economic context, health-related family responsibilities, trauma and loss, or the COVID-19 pandemic.

To be eligible, applicants who completed their doctorate between September 2018 and September 2021 must describe the career interruptions and/or delays experienced since completion of their doctorate, in the Allowable inclusions section of their application.

Applicants who completed their doctorate after September 2021 can also describe relevant career interruptions or delays should they wish to do so.

Dates of delays and interruptions should be provided.

Foreign tenure

Applicants are eligible to apply to hold their award at a foreign university only if their PhD was earned at a Canadian university.

Applicants with a PhD from a foreign university are eligible to apply only if they wish to hold their award at a Canadian university.

Eligibility to hold a fellowship

To hold the award, applicants must:

• engage in full-time postdoctoral research for the period of the award;
• have completed all requirements for their doctoral degree before taking up the SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship;
• not hold a permanent faculty position or a faculty position leading to permanency; and
• if they are full-time Government of Canada employees, be on an approved leave of absence for the period of the award.

Applicants who do not complete all requirements for their doctoral degree by December 31, 2025, could have their offer of an award withdrawn. Note that withdrawn or declined awards will be included in the calculation for the three-application limit for this funding opportunity.

For other requirements, see the Tri-Agency Research Training Award Holder’s Guide.

Summary

Application process

Applicants must complete the application form in accordance with the accompanying instructions. Applications must be submitted electronically directly to SSHRC. Requests to submit late applications will not be accepted.

Before submitting their application, applicants must ensure that they meet the eligibility requirements. All referees and institutional nominators must use SSHRC’s online application system to submit their supporting letters before the deadline.

The applicant is responsible for ensuring all required application components (CV, two Letter of Appraisal forms, Research Appraisal form, Institutional Nomination and Commitment form, and all attachments) have been submitted ahead of the deadline.

Applicants needing help while preparing their application should communicate with SSHRC well in advance of the application deadline.

Indigenous talent measures

Among its measures intended to support research by and with Indigenous Peoples, SSHRC’s Indigenous Talent Measures are aimed at supporting graduate students and postdoctoral researchers applying to the Canada Graduate Scholarships—Doctoral Program, SSHRC Doctoral Fellowships or SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowships.

Black postdoctoral researchers

The Government of Canada has deployed additional funds to increase direct support for Black student researchers. SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowships applicants who self-identify as Black and provide consent in their application to be considered for funds designated to specific groups may be eligible to receive an award as part of this initiative. Consult the Frequently asked questions about the new Black scholars funding page for more information.

Merit review

Applications are reviewed, and available funds awarded, through a competitive merit review process. SSHRC bases funding decisions on the recommendations of the merit review committee and on the funds available.

Merit review process

Step 1: In the application form, applicants will be asked to select the multidisciplinary merit review committees they consider most appropriate for the review of their proposal.

Step 2: Once applicants submit their completed application and supporting documents (see Application process), SSHRC staff review all applications and forward eligible applications to the multidisciplinary merit review committees.

Step 3: The multidisciplinary merit review committees review an entire cohort of applications and make recommendations about funding that are subject to SSHRC approval. The scores assigned to each application indicate the relative standing of an application within a given committee.

SSHRC’s Guidelines for the Merit Review of Indigenous Research are relevant for researchers (applicants and project directors) and students preparing SSHRC applications related to Indigenous research. SSHRC provides these guidelines to merit reviewers to help build understanding of Indigenous research and research-related activities, and to assist committee members in interpreting SSHRC’s specific evaluation criteria in the context of Indigenous research. SSHRC makes concerted efforts to include experts in Indigenous research in doctoral and postdoctoral merit review committees. The guidelines may also be of use to external assessors, postsecondary institutions and partner organizations that support Indigenous research.

Evaluation criteria and scoring

The following criteria and scoring scheme are used to evaluate the applications:

1. Challenge—The aim and importance of the endeavour (20%):
   • originality and potential significance of the proposed program of work.
2. Feasibility—The plan to achieve excellence (30%):
   • feasibility of the proposed program of work;
   • appropriateness of the intended place of tenure; and
   • effectiveness of the overall support provided by the host institution according to the Guidelines for Effective Research Training.
3. Capability—The expertise to succeed (50%):
   • fellowships, scholarships or other awards obtained;
   • previous research experience and/or publications; and
   • timely completion of doctoral studies, taking into account the nature of the program and any related personal circumstances that may have delayed the applicant’s academic career.

Application deadlines

RSO detailed review deadline

RSO final internal review deadline

Program application deadline

NOTE: Consult your Faculty Associate Dean (Research) (ADR) regarding Faculty-specific deadlines and submission processes.

Principal Investigators: Complete a Research Management System (RMS) record, including a copy of your complete application, and submit this for approvals in RMS.

Postdocs, students, and trainees: For fellowships and externally-sponsored research training awards or opportunities, you must complete the Research Funding Application Approval (RFAA) Trainee PDF form, and submit it, along with a complete copy of the application, to Research Services at rsotrainee@ucalgary.ca. Trainees should not use RMS at this time.

Approvals: The University of Calgary requires that all funding applications be approved prior to submission. Approval requires signatures via either RMS or the RFAA Trainee form, in the following order:

• Principal Investigator
• Department Head
• Faculty ADR/Dean
• Research Services (on behalf of the Vice-President Research)

Read the Meaning of Grant Signatures policy to understand what your approval means. Please see the agency guidelines for details about which signatures are required on your application, as it may differ from internal requirements.

Late submissions: Late submissions will only be accepted in cases of medical or family emergencies, or other exceptional circumstances. If you submit your RMS record to Research Services after the internal deadline has passed, you must secure additional approvals. Please read: Late Applications Process.

San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment

In 2019, CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC, along with other national research funders, signed the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA). As such, the agencies are committed to excellence in research funding and to ensuring that a wide range of research results and outcomes are considered and valued as part of the assessment process.

Guidelines and related support material

All applicants for SSHRC funding should consult the following guidelines while preparing their application:

• SSHRC’s Definitions of Terms for terms used in the application process;
• the Guidelines for Effective Research Training, which can also be useful to reviewers and postsecondary institutions;
• SSHRC’s Indigenous Research Statement of Principles and Guidelines for the Merit Review of Indigenous Research for applications involving Indigenous research; and
• SSHRC’s definition of knowledge mobilization and its Guidelines for Effective Knowledge Mobilization for guidance on connecting with research users to create impact; and
• SSHRC’s definition of research-creation and its Guidelines for Research-Creation Support Materials for information about how members evaluate samples of research-creation provided in website links.