Alberta Innovates Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

• PhD at implementation
• Applicant must be an incoming postdoctoral appointee to the University of Calgary:
  • Those with an existing postdoctoral appointment at the University of Calgary  are not eligible to apply.
  • Applicants must not currently hold, or have held in the past, a postdoctoral position at the University of Calgary at the time of application.
  • Have received their PhD no more than 5 years prior to the date of application. Be less than five years into a postdoctoral appointment at the University of Calgary. 
    • Special circumstances including maternity/parental leave, child-rearing, illness, disability, cultural or community responsibilities, socio-economic context, health-related family responsibilities, trauma and loss will be considered. Please include any interruptions as a separate section in the career goals document included in the pdf attachment.
• Not have applied more than once before for a postdoctoral fellowship from Alberta Innovates

• Must start award within 6 months of postdoctoral appointment at the University of Calgary
• Proposed project must be performed while appointed as a Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Calgary

• Have completed a PhD at the time of award implementation;
• Have accepted or started a postdoctoral appointment at University of Calgary
• Have received their PhD no more than 5 years prior to the date of application. Be less than five years into a postdoctoral appointment at the University of Calgary. 
  • Special circumstances including maternity/parental leave, child-rearing, illness, disability, cultural or community responsibilities, socio-economic context, health-related family responsibilities, trauma and loss will be considered. Please include any interruptions as a separate section in the career goals document included in the pdf attachment.
• Have applied no more than once before for a Fellowship from Alberta Innovates (i.e. can apply two times in total to the University of Calgary’s competitions);
• The Adjudication Committee will determine if candidates will receive a PFHI or Enhancement Fellowship.
• Applications received from the Recruitment Fellowships competition will also be considered for the PFHI and EF streams within the same competition round

• Must start award within 6 months of receiving notification
• Proposed project must be performed while appointed as a Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Calgary

• Have completed a PhD at the time of award implementation;
• Have accepted or started a postdoctoral appointment at University of Calgary
• Have received their PhD no more than 4 years prior to the date of application
  • Special circumstances including maternity/parental leave, child-rearing, illness, disability, cultural or community responsibilities, socio-economic context, health-related family responsibilities, trauma and loss will be considered. Please include any interruptions as a separate section in the career goals document included in the pdf attachment.
• Have applied no more than once before for a Fellowship from Alberta Innovates (i.e. can apply two times in total to the University of Calgary’s competitions);
• The Adjudication Committee will determine if candidates will receive a PFHI or Enhancement Fellowship.
• Applications received from the Recruitment Fellowships competition will also be considered for the PFHI and EF streams within the same competition round.

• Must start award within 6 months of receiving notification
• Proposed project must be performed while appointed as a Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Calgary

Applications will be reviewed by an internal selection committee comprised of experts in the priority areas identified by Alberta Innovates.

Projects will be selected for funding based on the following criteria:

• Alignment with one of the four strategic priorities
• Strength of proposed project as reviewed by selection committee
• Capacity of applicant and project to contribute to the discovery or development of innovations that have high potential to improve the health of citizens while creating opportunity for economic diversification in Alberta
• Alignment with proposed supervisor’s research activities and available resources (i.e. capacity for mentorship, lab facilities, equipment, databases, or other resources)
• Strength of endorsement from purposed supervisor and external references

The minimum Stipend Incentive offered is $15,000 CAD per year for Recruitment Fellowship. The Stipend Incentive may be increased as necessary to ensure the combined value of the awards does not fall below $70,000 CAD per year for Recruitment, or $55,000 for PFHI and Enhancement streams

• Alberta Innovates Postdoctoral Fellowship online submission application
• Project Proposal including a statement of relevancy with at least 1 strategic priority area (2 pages max with 1 additional page for references)
• Summary of Career Goals (1-page max if applicable, include a section outlining any career interruptions for which you are requesting an extension to the eligibility window. 
  • Special circumstances including maternity/parental leave, child-rearing, illness, disability, cultural or community responsibilities, socio-economic context, health-related family responsibilities, trauma, and loss will be considered. Please include any interruptions as a separate section in the career goals document included in the pdf attachment.
• Applicant CV (Common CV or free form)
• Supervisor Statement of Support (1 page max)
• If applicable, copies of results letters from relevant competitions you have applied to in the past 2 years with the same project (e.g. CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC, Banting, etc.)
• 2 letters of reference (from referees external to UCalgary for Recruitment Fellowship), on institutional letterhead, sent directly to fellowships@ucalgary.ca *NOTE: The Faculty Supervisor named in the application cannot serve as referee.

• Annual progress reporting to UCalgary is required for successful applicants
• Up to 3 intakes per year