2025-2027 Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Fellowships

Eligibility

Applicants are eligible for Helen Hay Whitney postdoctoral fellowships if:

1. they have received a Ph.D. (or D.Phil. or equivalent) degree no more than two years before the application deadline, or an M.D. (or M.D.-Ph.D.) degree no more than four years before the deadline

AND

2. they have been employed in their postdoctoral laboratory for no more than one year before the application deadline.

An applicant’s “postdoctoral laboratory” is the laboratory in which they propose to be appointed as a HHW fellow. If an applicant has remained in their Ph.D. laboratory for some months to finish up work there, this time does not count against the one year of “postdoctoral time”. Thus, for example, if an applicant received their Ph.D. in January, then stayed in the Ph.D. laboratory until the end of September, and finally moved to their postdoctoral laboratory on October 1, the one year of “postdoctoral laboratory” time would begin on October 1. Applicants with a Ph.D. degree or equivalent who applied before arriving in their postdoctoral laboratory but did not receive an award are eligible to apply again in the following year. For applicants with M.D. (or M.D.-Ph.D.) degrees, the four-year post-degree interval should include only clinical training and no more than one year in the postdoctoral laboratory.

The Foundation does not ordinarily consider applicants who plan tenure of the fellowship in the laboratory in which they have already received extensive predoctoral or postdoctoral training. The aim of the fellowship is to broaden postdoctoral training and experience, and a change of laboratory is usually advisable.

The Foundation will not make more than one award per year for training with a given supervisor. Should we receive more than one application from a single laboratory, we will review only one, as chosen by the Chair of the SAC, and decline the other(s) administratively. We urge the heads of laboratories to make this choice for us. We also do not support more than two fellows per laboratory at the same time, so that if we make awards to applicants from a particular laboratory in two successive years, applicants from that laboratory are ineligible in the third year.

The Foundation expects that fellowship training will be obtained in an academic setting. The selection of a commercial or industrial laboratory for the training experience is not acceptable.

Applications from established scientists or advanced fellows will not be considered. The fellowships are for early postdoctoral training only. Clinical house-staff training does not count as “postdoctoral laboratory training.”

Fellowships may be awarded to US citizens planning to work in laboratories either in the US, Canada, or abroad and also to foreign citizens for research in laboratories in the US only. We expect that most applicants will reside in North America at the time of application. Foreign Students will need to obtain appropriate visa documentation, as required by US Immigration.

Summary

The Whitney Fellowship is for a period of three years, contingent on performance satisfactory to the Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Committee. One and two-year fellowships are not considered.

Activation of Fellowship: You may activate your fellowship anytime from April 1, through September 1, 2026.

The current stipend and expense allowance is:

Stipend: 1st Year - $73,000 | 2nd Year - $75,000 | 3rd Year - 77,000

Research Allowance: $1,500 for three years 

Applications: Applications are to be filled out and submitted online at www.hhwf.org. Applications must be received by The Helen Hay Whitney Foundation no later than 5:00pm EST, June 16, 2025. Late applications will not be considered.

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 fellowships@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.

Review Process: The research plan and the evidence, from publications and recommendations, of outstanding scientific promise are the principal criteria for awarding a fellowship, with consideration in some cases of having overcome major barriers to scientific success.

The number of Fellowships awarded varies slightly from year to year, depending on endowment income and other factors. Since 2020, we have been able to award between 23 and 25 fellowships each year, from an applicant pool of about 300. The Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) reviews applications in several stages, including interviews for finalists (in person or by Zoom) with a member of the SAC. Candidates are notified of their status (interview or decline) by early October. The SAC meets in early November and selects awardees from the group interviewed. The awardees, and any alternates (should one or more of the awardees decline — e.g., because they accept another fellowship), are notified within a few days of the SAC meeting. The Board of Trustees of the Foundation votes to approve the recommended awards, usually at a meeting in January.

Travel Expense: The Foundation provides funds for travel to the fellowship location at the time of activation of the fellowship for the Fellow and his or her family. No payment is made for the transportation of household goods. The Foundation also covers travel expenses incurred for the two-day Annual Fellows Meetings held in November. Travel expenses will be reimbursed directly to the Fellow, upon submission of expense receipts. These reimbursements are in addition to the annual stipend and research allowance.

Stipend and Expense Allowance Details: There is a research allowance of $1,500 remitted annually to the host institution. It is to be used at the discretion of the Fellow with no deductions for institutional overhead, registration fees, or taxes. This money is to be used for research expenses, such as lab supplies, computers, etc. If the Fellow wishes, this money may be used, in part or entirely, to help defray the cost of the Fellow’s health insurance premiums. The Fellow determines how this research allowance will be spent. Payment of the research allowance will be made on the fellowship activation date, and annually thereafter.

There is a Dependent Child Allowance of $1,500 per annum for each child. There is no allowance for a spouse. If a fellowship is awarded and the Fellow advises us that he or she is eligible for the Dependent Child Allowance, we will then request a copy of the birth or adoption certificate(s). Payment of the child allowance will be made on the fellowship activation date, and annually thereafter.

Depending on the activation date of the fellowship, stipend payments are made semi-annually by the Foundation to the administering institution. Fellows in training abroad will receive quarterly stipend payments directly.

Supplementation of the stipend is permitted. It is not acceptable, however, to hold concurrently a full fellowship from another source. Non-research activities, such as teaching, must not occupy more than 10% of the Fellow’s time.