Canada: Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program 2010

Introduction: The Government of Canada allocated $45 million over five years in Budget 2010 to establish a high-profile, prestigious Postdoctoral Fellowships Program. The fellowships will be known as the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships, in memory of Sir Frederick Banting, the Canadian physician, researcher, Nobel laureate and war hero who, together with his assistant Dr. Charles Best, is credited with the discovery of insulin.

The program is jointly administered by Canada’s three federal granting agencies: the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). CIHR has been designated as the operational lead for the implementation of the program.

Program Objective
The objective of the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program is to attract and retain top-tier postdoctoral talent, both nationally and internationally, to develop their leadership potential and to position them for success as research leaders of tomorrow, positively contributing to Canada’s economic, social and research-based growth through a research-intensive career.

Unique Application Requirements
The Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program will be distinguished from existing postdoctoral fellowships programs by its emphasis on the synergy between an applicant’s individual merit and potential to launch a successful research-intensive career and the host institution’s commitment to the research program and environment with which the applicant is to be affiliated. As such, an applicant’s application to the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program must be completed in full collaboration with the proposed host institution.

Program Scope
The program will fund 70 new awards annually with a total of 140 awards active at any one time at full program implementation (at program maturity). The fellowships will be distributed equally across the three federal granting agencies.

Value and Duration of Fellowships
The Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships will be valued at $70 000 per year (taxable) for two years.

Eligibility

Citizenship
Canadian citizens, permanent residents of Canada and foreign citizens are eligible to apply to the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program.

Eligibility Window for Degree Completion
All applicants for the 2010 Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program must fulfill or have fulfilled all degree requirements for a PhD, PhD-equivalent or Health Professional Degree  on a date within the eligibility window of November 3rd, 2007 through December 31, 2010. Applicants who have not fulfilled all requirements for their degree at the time of application must do so not later than December 31, 2010 and submit related proof to the Banting program accordingly not later than January 15, 2011. Applicants who do not submit such proof will be automatically withdrawn from the competition.

Eligibility Requirements Related to Host Institution
Institutions eligible to host a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship award holder include universities, affiliated research hospitals, colleges and not-for-profit organizations with a research mandate, both nationally and internationally.

Applicants who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents may only hold their Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship at a Canadian institution.

Applicants who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents and who obtained their PhD, PhD-equivalent or Health Professional Degree from a foreign university may only hold their Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship at a Canadian institution.

Applicants who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents and who obtained their PhD, PhD-equivalent or Health Professional Degree from a Canadian university may hold their award at either a Canadian institution or an institution outside of Canada. Note that the number of Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships that may be awarded annually to those who apply in collaboration with a foreign institution is capped at 5 per federal granting agency (15 in total of the 70 annual awards).

If an applicant decides to apply for their Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship in collaboration with the same institution at which they obtained their PhD, PhD-equivalent or Health Professional Degree, a solid justification – related for example to availability of highly unique equipment  – will be an absolute requirement. Such special circumstances are expected to be exceptionally rare in the context of the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program.

Eligibility Restrictions Related to Prior Funding through NSERC, SSHRC or CIHR Postdoctoral-level Programs
All applicants must meet the Eligibility Window for Degree Completion described above. Applicants who meet this requirement and who currently hold or have held agency-specific awards at the postdoctoral level are eligible to apply to the 2010-11 Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program ONLY if the original term of that funding officially ends on or before March 31, 2011. Early termination of the agency specific postdoctoral award for the purposes of application for Banting postdoctoral funding is not permitted.

Note that applicants to the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program remain  eligible to apply to agency-specific Postdoctoral-level Fellowship Program competitions.

Location and Timing of Award Tenure
Without exception, the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships are tenable ONLY at the institution which supported the original application for the program.

Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships 2010-2011 must be taken up as early as April 1, 2011 and no later than October 1, 2011. All awards are for two years from the date of up-take.

Selection Criteria
Successful applicants for the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program will be selected on the basis of the following selection criteria.

Research excellence and leadership in the research domain – demonstrated capacity for research excellence based on track-record to date as defined by quality of the applicant’s research contribution, and demonstrated capacity for leadership in the research domain defined by the sphere of influence achieved to date by the applicant.

Quality of the applicant’s proposed research program – examined in terms of the potential of the proposed research program, executed in the proposed institutional environment, to position the applicant for significant impact through a research-intensive career (potential for significant impact).

Institutional commitment and demonstrated synergy between applicant  and institutional strategic priorities – examined in terms of:
• Demonstrated commitment of the institution to support development of the applicant’s research and leadership capacity through institutional support (funding, facilities, equipment, etc.) and professional development; and
• Demonstrated alignment and synergy between the applicant’s research ambitions and the Institution’s potential to benefit strategically from engagement with the applicant (alignment with institution’s strategic priorities).

Application Process and Deadlines
Without exception, all applicants, in collaboration with their proposed host institutions, will be required to submit a complete electronic application, including referee assessments, via ResearchNet on or before November 3 2010.Late or incomplete submissions will not be considered. Note that the application includes an applicant CV which must be completed on the Canadian Common CV platform.

Complete details of the application requirements and access to the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships e-submission platform on ResearchNet to complete an application will be available in mid-August.

Review and Decision Process – Roles

Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program – Agency Peer Review Committees
All applications will undergo a peer review evaluation by an agency-specific interdisciplinary peer review committee. Applications will be reviewed in relation to the stated selection criteria and each agency committee will recommend to the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship Program Selection Board an un-ranked short list of the 35 most meritorious applicants based on those criteria.

Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program – Selection Board
The Selection Board will make final recommendations to the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program Steering Committee. In making their recommendation to the Steering Committee, the Selection Board will be asked to specifically assess Institutional commitment and alignment of the applicant’s research ambitions with the Institution’s strategic priorities.

Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program – Steering Committee Decision
The Steering Committee is responsible for approving the final slate of 70 awardees annually and will base its decision on the recommendation of the Selection Board.

Notification of Decision
The federal granting agencies will notify successful applicants of the competition results in late March, 2011.

The names of recipients of the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships and other basic award information will be published on the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program website. For more on the posting of and access to information, please refer to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act.

Performance Measurement
CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC are committed to demonstrating results to Canadians for the money invested through the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program. Therefore, processes for monitoring progress and appropriate use of funds, as well as for performance measurement and program evaluation are in place. Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship recipients will be expected to contribute to the review and evaluation of the program and associated policies and processes by participating in evaluation studies, surveys, workshops, audits and providing data or reports as required for the purpose of collecting information to assess progress and results.