Alberta Innovates Postdoctoral Recruitment Fellowships

• $70,000 CAD per year for up to two years. Incoming postdoctoral fellow’s appointment must start within 6 months of receiving a fellowship offer by the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (GPS). Refer to Deadlines and Timelines for dates of expected results for each intake.
• Top-Up: $15,000 - For Trainees in receipt of any other major comparable award (i.e. Killam, Notley, Tri-Council fellowships, etc.). 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.
• The annual stipend does not cover the cost of supplemental benefits (includes health and dental coverage, WCB, CPP and EI) for postdoctoral fellows; the supervisor or department will be responsible for covering the cost of supplemental benefits for the postdoctoral researcher. 

The intent of the AI RF program is to bring outstanding candidates from outside the University of Alberta. There are no citizenship restrictions on this award. All Trainees must:

• Have completed a PhD at the time of award implementation;
  • Fulfillment of all degree requirements refers to the date that the applicant completed all the steps required for obtaining their degree. Although these requirements may vary by institution and degree type, they normally include thesis defense corrections and thesis deposition. It is not the convocation date.
• Be an incoming postdoctoral appointee to the University of Alberta. In the context of this competition, "incoming" means having an appointment start date no sooner than the AI RF commencement date in which they were offered the award (refer to Deadlines and Timelines for dates of expected results for each intake);
  • Applicants must not already hold, or have held, a postdoctoral position at the University of Alberta or be employed at the University of Alberta.
  • Current University of Alberta postdoctoral fellows who plan to start another appointment at the University of Alberta are not eligible to apply.
  • appointments must start within 6 months of receiving the fellowship offer from GPS. 
• Not have applied more than once before for a postdoctoral fellowship from Alberta Innovates;
• Proposed projects must:
  • Involve health-related R&I activities that are strongly aligned to at least one strategic priority;
  • Be performed at the University of Alberta; and
  • Be approved for funding by Alberta Innovates.
• Proposed supervisors must commit to cover the cost of supplemental benefits (includes health and dental coverage, WCB, CPP and EI). Applicants and their proposed supervisors should discuss the details of the fellowship appointment prior to submitting an application. Refer to the university’s PDF Collective Agreement and Benefits website for information on postdoctoral fellow appointments. Visit Human Resource Services Compensation Calculator for an estimate of annual benefit costs.
  • A speed code benefits can be charged to will be required to be provided to GPS if the applicant is offered a fellowship.

Prospective postdoctoral fellows should first contact a Faculty member in the Department to which they wish to apply, who is willing to act as a potential supervisor for the Fellowship. Once a supervisor has been confirmed, applicants must complete the AI RF Application Form & Instructions.

Potential postdoctoral fellows must submit their complete application (points 1-7 noted below) as one PDF via email to grad.awards@ualberta.ca by Tuesday, December 10, 2024 (1st intake; refer to Deadlines and Timelines) Three letters of reference (point 8 noted below) are also to be sent directly to GPS by applicants referees by December 10th. To avoid lost or emails sent to spam, applicants are to request Award Services to confirm receipt of their application upon email submission. Applicants who do not receive an email reply from grad.awards@ualberta.ca confirming receipt of their application within 2-3 business days are responsible for following up with GPS.

A complete application includes (refer to the Application form for detailed instructions):

1.      AI RF Application Form
2.      Project proposal with statement on relevancy to AI priority areas (1 page maximum). References may be on additional pages(s).
3.      Summary of career goals (1 page maximum)
4.      Applicant CV
5.      Supervisor statement of support (on institution letterhead and signed by the supervisor; can be included in the application by the applicant). One letter maximum; for co-supervision, either the supervisor or the co-supervisor may provide one letter but not both.
6.      If applicable, copy of fellowship competition results from any competitions that the applicant has applied to previously for the same project (e.g., CIHR competition results)
7.     Copy of doctoral degree certificate. If the degree certificate is not yet available, written confirmation from the Graduate School or Registrar of the university that all the degree requirements have been met and that the doctoral degree is forthcoming. 

- If the degree requirements have not yet been met, but applicants are expected to do so within 6 months of the application submission deadline, written confirmation from the supervisor/department of the expected date all degree requirements will be fulfilled.

8. Three Letters of Reference. As these letters are confidential, they must be submitted directly by the referees via email to grad.awards@ualberta.ca. Letters submitted by the applicant will not be accepted:

Intake 1 - Deadline March 20, 2024.

Intake 2 - Deadline December 10, 2024.

• Applicants must submit their complete application (points 1-7 noted above) as one PDF via email to grad.awards@ualberta.ca.
• The three letters of reference are also due at GPS by applicants referees by December 10.
• To avoid lost/spammed emails, applicants are to request Award Services to confirm receipt of their application upon email submission. Applicants who do not receive an email reply from grad.awards@ualberta.ca confirming receipt of their application within 2-3 business days are responsible for following up with GPS.

Results expected to be announced by March 2025.

Acceptance/Decline
Successful applicants should review the Postdoctoral Fellows Policies and Procedures prior to accepting the Fellowship. Successful applicants are to complete the AI PDF Acceptance/Decline Form and submit it to GPS Award Services (grad.awards@ualberta.ca).

• Once the recipient has accepted the Fellowship, GPS Award Services will initiate the hire/payment process to proceed with a Letter of Offer.
  • A speed code benefits can be charged to will be required to be provided to GPS.  
• The regulations of the Fellowship prohibit recipients from holding any other major comparable award during the tenure of the Fellowship. Fellows who are offered a major fellowship from another granting agency are required to accept it. In this case, fellows would be eligible for a Stipend Incentive valued at $15,000 CAD per year. 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.
• All degree requirements must be met before the start date of the Fellowship. Fulfillment of degree requirements may vary by institution and degree type, but they normally include thesis defense corrections and thesis deposition. 
• Recipients are to refer to the Fellowship Offer Letter for complete details of all acceptance contingencies.