Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships

Important Dates:

Monday, July 4, 2022: Deadline for submitting a Notice of Intent (here)
Friday, July 29, 2022: Deadline for submitting an application for UTM internal competition

** For further information about Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program at the U of T, please visit School of Graduate Studies' website (https://www.sgs.utoronto.ca/awards/banting-postdoctoral-fellowships-program/). **

Purpose:

The Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program is intended to attract and retain top-tier postdoctoral talent, both nationally and internationally; develop their leadership potential; and 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.

Seventy fellowships are awarded annually, divided evenly between Canada’s three federal granting agencies (CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC). There are a total of 140 awards active at any one time.

The Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships program is unique in its emphasis on the synergy of research goals and projects between the following:

applicant—individual merit and potential to launch a successful research-intensive career
host institution—commitment to the research program and alignment with the institution’s strategic priorities

Value and Duration:

$70,000 per year for two years

Eligibility:

Applicants and the proposed host institution must meet specific eligibility criteria within several categories. Applications that do not meet all of the eligibility criteria will not be accepted. View complete requirements on the Banting website.

Applicant eligibility:
- Citizenship and location of host institution
- Eligibility window for degree completion - Applicants to the 2022-23 Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships program must fulfill or have fulfilled all degree requirements for a PhD, PhD-equivalent or health professional degree between September 15, 2019 and September 30, 2023 (inclusively), and before the start date of their award.
Host institution eligibility
Other eligibility restrictions

New: French Applications: Research Proposal Page Limit New

To ensure an equitable amount of space for research proposals written in either official language, Research Proposal attachments for applications submitted in French are now permitted to be a maximum of 5 pages. This is due to evidence demonstrating that documents written in French require approximately 20% more space than similar documents in English.

Reminder (updated): Research respectfully involving Indigenous communities:

The proposed research must be in accordance with the policies and principles outlined in the following documents:

Proposed supervisors must describe how collaborations are developed and provide details corroborating information included in the research proposal.

In order to be funded, research involving and engaging with Indigenous communities must fulfill the pillars for respectful research engaging with Indigenous peoples.

Reminder: Sex- and Gender-based Analysis Plus (SGBA+):

In order to ensure the research we fund is impactful and relevant to the diversity of the population we now require applicants to systematically examine how differences in identity factors, such as sex, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, age and mental or physical disability, affect the outcomes of research and the impacts of research findings. Applicants are now encouraged to take SGBA+ principles into account in their proposed research (see Application guide - Task 10 – Research Proposal)

*To review all new program items and important reminders, please see the 2022-23 Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship competition launch memo.

Selection Criteria:

Applications received by Banting will be evaluated based on the following selection criteria. Applicants, supervisors, departments, and faculties are encouraged to consider these criteria when developing their applications and when selecting nominees to be forwarded:

Research excellence and leadership in the research domain – demonstrated capacity for research excellence based on track record as defined by quality of applicant’s research contributions, 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 (taking into consideration feasibility, timelines and novelty of research), 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 institution to support the 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 its engagement with the applicant (alignment with institution’s strategic priorities)

See the Banting Postdoctoral Fellows selection committee guide for further information.

Application Process:

Applicants who intend to hold their fellowships at UTM, must submit their applications through UTM. The School of Graduate Studies determines how many applications the UTM Office of the Vice-Principal can put forward for submission to the Banting Competition. In 2022, UTM is allowed to forward 3 submissions.

Notice of Intent:

In order to facilitate the review process, UTM faculty members are required to fill out an online Notice of Intent (here) by Monday, July 4, 2022. If applicant is no longer interested in submitting a full application, please notify the OVPR office via email to rong.wu@utoronto.ca.

UTM Internal Deadline:

By UTM internal deadline (Friday, July 29, 2022), applicants are required to submit a copy of the following documents for the internal competition in one single .PDF document in the following order to rong.wu@utoronto.ca:

1. Application form (applicant's general profile), which must be initiated through the ResearchNet Application System (https://www.researchnet-recherchenet.ca/rnr16/LoginServlet?language=E) .
2. Candidate’s Canadian Common CV created using the Common CV system
(https://ccv-cvc.ca/indexresearcher-eng.frm).
3. Research proposal (include choice of institution).
4. Significance of research contribution.
5. Significance of leadership contribution.
6. Supervisor’s statement.

Please note:
1. At this point, reference letters are not required for this stage of the application. If an application is selected to be advanced to the School of Graduate Studies for the Banting competition, then reference letters will be required.
2. All applicants should clearly justify their choice of host institution and supervisor, and they should highlight the anticipated benefits with respect to fulfilling their career aspirations. If they have already been at the proposed host institution for more than 6 months, they must justify their decision to remain at the same location. There should be a direct correlation between the strength of the justification and the amount of time already spent at that institution.
3. Please save a .PDF copy of the above sections in the preview in ResearchNet. Your application is not completed by the time of UTM internal competition. Therefore, do not submit your application in ReserchNet at that time.

Adjudication Process:

The OVPR will establish an internal adjudication process to review and adjudicate the Banting applications, and will notify the results of UTM internal competition to faculty supervisors by August 29, 2022 (approximately).

Successful applicants from UTM internal competition can continue working on their Banting applications, and will receive letter of endorsement from the School of Graduate Studies in September. They should submit their completed applications via ReserchNet by the deadline from Banting. Results of their Banting applications will be sent to applicants around mid-February 2023 directly from Banting.