Canada Postdoctoral Research Award (CPRA) - NSERC

Eligibility

To be eligible, you must:

• Hold (or expect to hold) a doctorate or health professional degree before the award start date.
  • Please note that as per CIHR applicant instructions, "Health Professionals only include medical doctors (MD), doctors of veterinary medicine (DVM) and doctors of dental science (DDS). Allied Health Professionals include all other CIHR-Eligible health professions" and a list of these professions is available on this CIHR webpage.
• Not hold or be on leave from a tenure-track or tenured faculty position.
• Have completed all degree requirements no more than three years before September 1, 2025.
  • Extensions up to 36 additional months may be granted for career interruptions due to caregiving, illness, conflict, socioeconomic barriers, clinical training, or relevant non-academic work.).
• If you are an international applicant, you must either:
  • Be enrolled in or have completed your doctoral/health professional degree at a Canadian institution, or
• Be currently conducting postdoctoral research at a Canadian institution. We anticipate that an active postdoc appointment at UCalgary by the agency application deadline date will satisfy this.

If you are applying to NSERC, see the Addendum to the guidelines for the eligibility of applications related to health, which has additional information and specific examples relating to subject matter.

Summary

To complete the application process, see the appropriate agency’s website and instructions:

• NSERC: Online system and instructions

Your application must be complete to be considered in the competition.

You must submit your application electronically through the relevant agency’s platform. All referees/references, institutional nominators, etc., must use the appropriate online application system to submit their supporting letters before the deadline.

If you need help while preparing your application, write to the appropriate program contact well before the application deadline.

Application deadlines

RSO detailed review deadline

RSO final internal review deadline

Program application deadline

Detailed Review
To participate in the UCalgary detailed review process, where you will receive in-depth feedback on all elements of the application, please submit a complete draft of your application including all modules except the referee letters, by the posted Detailed Review Deadline. Submit your draft to Postdoctoral Fellowships fellowships@ucalgary.ca by noon on the posted date.
 

Basic Review
To participate in the UCalgary basic/administrative review process ONLY, where we only review for eligibility and mandatory application requirements, please submit the following by the posted deadline for UCalgary Institutional Approvals to fellowships@ucalgary.ca:

• PDF preview of the complete application
• Completed RFAA Form, signed by:

- Applicant (Postdoc)
- Supervisor
- Department Head (if applicable)
- Dean/Associate Dean (Research)
 *CSM applicants: Send the form to medgrant@ucalgary.ca for CSM ADR approval.

For SSHRC and NSERC applicants: Applications can be submitted directly to the funding agency through the appropriate online portal. However, it is strongly encouraged to send the application for internal review in advance to receive feedback and ensure compliance with agency guidelines.

Please visit Canada Postdoctoral Research Award (CPRA) | Research at UCalgary | University of Calgary for more general information.