Alberta Innovates Postdoctoral Fellowship Program
Fall 2025 Competition is now open with a submission deadline on December 15, 2025 (12:00 PM)
Alberta is taking the lead in transforming postdoctoral supports and opportunities to reflect a changing research and innovation landscape.
Through the Alberta Innovates Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, UCalgary is pleased to offer applications for the Alberta Innovates Postdoctoral Fellowship Program.
Applicants must be pursuing research in alignment with one of the following priority areas:
- Lab to Market/Impact: advancing health research and technologies with high potential for commercial success and/or real-world impact.
- Clinical Research: engagement in clinical research activities, including study design, participant recruitment, data collection and analysis, or integrating research directly into care.
- Innovative Care Model Implementations: collaborating with healthcare providers to pilot and scale new care models that improve patient outcomes and system efficiency.
- Building Healthier Futures Through Cross Disciplinary Collaboration: leveraging cross-disciplinary frameworks—such as One Health—to advance more integrated and comprehensive solutions to health promotion.
- UCalgary Strategic Health Priorities, as outlined in the Research + Innovation Plan and the Ahead of Tomorrow Strategic Plan.
Priority Areas
To ensure the AI PDF Program builds capacity in areas of strategic importance to the province, the following areas are prioritized for investment and applicants must demonstrate which priority area their research program falls within.
Lab to Market/Impact: advancing health research and technologies with high potential for commercial success and/or real-world impact.
Key considerations (at least one should apply):
- Intellectual Property Development: Does the project foster the creation, refinement, or protection of key intellectual property—whether through patent filings, licensing plans, or other mechanisms—that could enhance the likelihood of successful commercialization?
- Proof of Concept & Prototype: Is there a well-defined plan for moving foundational insights beyond theory—through iterative experimentation or pilot-scale implementation—to lay the groundwork for a proof of concept or demonstrable prototype?
- Progress Along the Health Innovation Pathway: Does the project involve any activity in steps 2 through 8 on Alberta Innovates’ health innovation checklist?
- Accelerated Development Methods: Does the project use computational or other advanced methods (e.g., in silico drug screening, AI-driven design, simulation models) to reduce traditional development costs and timelines, speeding the path from discovery to application?
Clinical Research: engagement in clinical research activities, including study design, participant recruitment, data collection and analysis, or integrating research directly into care.
Key considerations (at least one should apply):
- Clinical Setting or Participants: Does the project directly involve human participants or patient-care settings—such as hospitals, clinics, or community health environments?
- Clinically Relevant Data or Samples: Does the project involve the use of clinically derived data, biospecimens, or registries (e.g., biobanks, patient databases) to advance more precise treatments, diagnostics, or care approaches?
- Safe & Compliant Conduct: Is there a plan to address the ethical and regulatory measures required for clinical studies involving direct patient interaction or sensitive health information?
- Capacity Building in Alberta: Does the project contribute to strengthening Alberta’s clinical research ecosystem (e.g., developing clinical trial expertise)?
Innovative Care Model Implementations: collaborating with healthcare providers to pilot and scale new care models that improve patient outcomes and system efficiency.
Key considerations (at least one should apply):
- Intervention Testing: Does the project involve testing an intervention or change in how care is delivered, aiming to enhance health outcomes or increase system efficiency?
- Addressing Priority Challenges: Does the proposed intervention directly tackle a recognized health system challenge or performance gap (e.g., major disease burden, resource bottlenecks, or service inefficiencies) identified by Alberta’s stakeholders (e.g., patients, care providers)?
- Monitoring & Evaluation: Is there a clear plan to track intervention fidelity and key performance indicators (e.g., adherence to protocols, timeline milestones) to assess how effectively the new model is being implemented?
- Collaboration & Knowledge Sharing: Are healthcare providers, decision-makers, and/or patients meaningfully involved in co-developing, evaluating, and refining the intervention?
Building Healthier Futures Through Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: leveraging cross-disciplinary frameworks to advance more integrated and comprehensive solutions to health promotion.
Key considerations (at least two should apply, including a mandatory human health component):
- Human Health Component (Mandatory): Is there a demonstrable plan to benefit human health—whether through preventing disease, enhancing care, or informing health policy? Example: Integrating knowledge from human medicine, veterinary science, and ecology to address complex challenges (e.g., antibiotic resistance or vector-borne disease), ensuring that any proposed solution includes safeguards for human health (not just animal and/or environmental).
- Potential for Greater Impact: Is there evidence that combining these disciplines can yield outcomes or insights that are more innovative, robust, or wide-reaching than single-discipline approaches?
- Relevance and Justification of Disciplines: Does the proposal offer a clear and convincing explanation of why the specific disciplines selected are essential?
- Demonstration of Cross-disciplinary Collaboration (through any of the following):
- Supervisory/Team Support: Supervisors or collaborators from different fields that will jointly guide the fellow’s project, expanding its relevance beyond a single discipline.
- Fellow’s Own Trajectory: Transitioning from one field to another (e.g., a PhD in engineering to postdoc in epidemiology), enabling integration of knowledge that is typically siloed.
- Ecosystem Engagement: Meaningful collaboration or knowledge exchange with multiple stakeholders (e.g., industry, policy, community), indicating a broader, cross-sector influence on the project.
UCalgary strategic health priorities as outlined in the Research + Innovation Plan and the Ahead of Tomorrow Strategic Plan.
Recruitment Fellowship
2 years, $70,000 CAD/year
The AI PDF Recruitment Fellowship is intended for postdocs who will be new to UCalgary at the time of receiving the Fellowship. It is designed to increase institutional research capacity, and attract and develop new talent in areas of strategic importance.
- 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.
- 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
AI Postdoctoral Fellowships in Health Innovation & Enhancement
2 years, $55,000 CAD/year
- 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 whether candidates will receive a PFHI or be invited to hold a one-year Enhancement Fellowship.
- 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
Additional information
Applications will be evaluated by internal selection committee composed of experts in the strategic priority areas.
Funding decisions will be based on two equally weighted criteria:
1. Research Potential and Experience (50%)
a. Academic, Research, and Relevant Work Experience
b. Research Potential and Professional Goals
2. Quality of Proposed Research Program (50%)
a. Significance, Innovativeness, Feasibility, Clarity, and Merit of the Research Proposal
b. Research Training Environment
c. Alignment with Alberta Innovates Priority Areas and/ or UCalgary strategic health priorities
For more information, please refer to the Selection criteria.
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
1. Alberta Innovates Postdoctoral Fellowship online submission application.
2. Project Proposal (2 pages maximum with 1 additional page for references) including a statement of relevancy with at least 1 AI and/or UCalgary strategic health priorities.
Write your proposal in clear, plain language and avoid jargon. Your application will be evaluated by a review committee covering a broad discipline category. Applicants must submit a well-structured proposal that includes:
- Background and rationale: Provide relevant background information, explain the significance of the issue, and describe how your project addresses a gap or challenge.
- Clearly states the research objectives and hypothesis that guide the study.
- Objectives and methods: Outline key research goals, questions, and the approach or methodology you will use.
- Expected outcomes and impact: Describe anticipated results and their potential contribution or application within the field and beyond.
- Statement of relevancy: Demonstrate how your project aligns with at least one Alberta Innovates priority area and/or UCalgary’s strategic health priorities, as outlined in the Research + Innovation Plan and the Ahead of Tomorrow Strategic Plan.
3. Summary of Career Goals (1-page maximum)
4. (If applicable) Special circumstances (1-page maximum)
If you are requesting an extension to the eligibility window or wish to explain any career interruptions, please include details and a clear timeline.
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.
5. Applicant CV (Common CV or free form).
Includes a list of publications, awards, grants, scholarships, and other relevant research outputs. The adjudication committee will evaluate applications according to Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) recommendations, which recognizes a wide and diverse range of scholarly outputs beyond the Journal Impact Factor.
6. Supervisor Statement of Support (1 page maximum)
The statement should outline the supervisor’s commitment to providing a high-quality research training environment (including facilities, funding, and collaborations) and how it supports the proposed project, as well as their plan to mentor the trainee in research, technical, and professional skill development (including opportunities to build networks and advance their career).
7. Two (2) letters of reference
The letters must be written on official institutional letterhead and sent directly by the referees to fellowships@ucalgary.ca by the application deadline. Please note that the Proposed Faculty Supervisor named in the application cannot serve as a referee. For the Recruitment Fellowship, both referees must be external to the University of Calgary.
- Annual progress reporting to UCalgary is required for successful applicants
- Two intakes per year