2026 Liber Ero Fellowship Program

Eligibility

Eligible scholars will be natural or social science researchers, who have received their PhD prior to the start of the fellowship. Applicants should propose to be based at a Canadian conservation or academic institution and conduct their research primarily in Canada. However, Canadian citizenship is not required ¿ researchers from any country are eligible to apply. 

Applicants will identify a mentorship team of at least one academic and at least one conservation practitioner mentor. Applicants are encouraged to identify the mentor team early in their proposal to foster a meaningful collaboration.

Summary

This post-doctoral fellowship seeks to support early-career scientists to conduct and communicate world-class research that informs conservation and management issues relevant to Canada. For instance, post-doctoral scholars are encouraged to confront emerging management challenges that are time sensitive or tackle `wicked¿ conservation problems with novel analyses, perspectives, and collaborations. Conservation science includes natural, social, and interdisciplinary research pursuits.

The Liber Ero Fellowship program aims to:

1. Facilitate applied conservation research collaborations that links institutions, researchers, and conservation practitioners.
2. Provide support and unique training opportunities for emerging conservation leaders at a critical stage in their careers.
3. Increase the capacity of the Canadian scientific community to address pressing conservation and management issues.

Overhead

Pre-application deadlines

RSO internal deadline

Application deadlines

RSO final internal review deadline

Program application deadline

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.

Fellows will be selected based on evidence of their success and emergence as leaders in a conservation-relevant research field, as well as on the merit of their proposed research and mentorship team. Research proposals must demonstrate a candidate's capacity to identify a key conservation challenge facing the natural world and must describe how the proposed work will contribute to solving the challenge. Research projects may draw on natural, social, or multidisciplinary theories and methods to solve the conservation problems under study. The quality and appropriateness of the mentoring team* will also be a key consideration, and the proposal should highlight how the team will collaborate to address the conservation problem.

To register the application follow the Application process link

For questions about the application process, please contact info@liberero.ca