Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Purpose

The University of Toronto Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship program provides funding to Graduate Faculties to increase opportunities for hiring postdoctoral fellows from underrepresented groups, specifically Indigenous and Black researchers. These fellowships will enable postdoctoral researchers to grow their scholarly profiles, undertake academic work at the University of Toronto, and strengthen the research environment at the University with diverse perspectives. Read about the Spring 2019, Fall 2019, and Fall 2020 recipients of the Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellows on the SGS PPFP webpage.

This funding is designed to help the University compete with peer institutions for top-tier candidates, and to support the University in meeting its institutional goal of fostering increased diversity and representation at all levels of teaching, learning and research. Nominees must be nominated by their prospective Faculties/divisions following the timeline and processes outlined below. While the nomination/application process will normally begin with faculty advisors/mentors, funding for the successful nominees will be provided to their respective Faculty Research Office for administration.

UTSC nominees for the 2021 Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship program will automatically also be considered for the University of Toronto Scarborough’s UTSC Inclusive Excellence Postdoctoral Fellowship, which provides funding to UTSC departments to increase opportunities for hiring postdoctoral fellows from underrepresented groups, specifically Indigenous and Black researchers.

Value and Duration

Funding will be available to engage seven postdoctoral fellows per year for up to twenty-one postdoctoral fellows over the three year program.

Each award will provide $70,000 per year to Faculties to support up to two years of postdoctoral salary and benefits. This level of funding exceeds the median postdoctoral salary at the University of Toronto, and is in keeping with Canada’s most prestigious postdoctoral awards. The Fellowship is used to fund both the postdoctoral fellow’s gross salary (approximately $62,000) and employer costs (10% Standard Benefit Rate, and $50/month postdoctoral levy). Successful postdoctoral fellows will also receive a start-up (salary) fund of $5,000 per year, funded through the Office of the Vice-Principal Academic & Dean.

Eligibility to Apply

The award is open to both domestic and international post-graduates.

Nominees must:

• Demonstrate academic excellence and high potential for success in their chosen fields;
• Identify as Indigenous and/or Black;
• Have obtained a doctoral degree, at the time the fellowship commences and normally within the last five years from the start of the fellowship; and
• Not have held a Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship previously.

Recipients must:

• Begin the fellowship by December 31, 2021;
• Be a postdoctoral employee of the University of Toronto;
• Be associated with a supervisor appointed to a graduate unit;
• Register and remain registered with the Postdoctoral Office at SGS;
• Not hold concurrently another major fellowship;
• Not hold a faculty position or be on leave from such a position;
• Establish an IDP (Independent Development Plan), and submit to SGS within the first three months of the fellowship. The IDP should be reviewed annually and the revised copy sent to the Postdoctoral Office at SGS; and
• Submit proof of completion of degree no later than three months after the fellowship commences if they had not fulfilled all requirements for their degree at the time of nomination.

At the University of Toronto, we strive to be an equitable and inclusive community, rich with diversity, protecting the human rights of all persons, and based upon understanding and mutual respect for the dignity and worth of every person. We seek to ensure to the greatest extent possible that all students and employees enjoy the opportunity to participate as they see fit in the full range of activities that the University offers, and to achieve their full potential as members of the University community.

Selection Criteria

Nominations will be evaluated based on the following selection criteria:

• Excellence of the research proposal and nominee’s CV;
• Nomination letter from the supervisor, demonstrating the complementarity between the research interests/background of the supervisor and applicant, and the anticipated mutual benefits. Provide specifics about how the proposed research complements the supervisor’s ongoing projects and/or new research directions.
• Support letter from the graduate unit/department Chair, addressing how the nominee meets the eligibility criteria and confirming that the nominee intends to accept the offer if funding is made available. The letter should illustrate the synergy between the research proposal and the research goals of the supervisor/unit/department, as well as the mission of the University. The letter should outline support of the nominee by demonstrating how the Faculty/unit/department and applicant will benefit from this engagement.

In selecting Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellows, preference will be given to nominees who have not yet held a postdoctoral fellowship. In addition, the School of Graduate Studies will be seeking to balance diversity of the candidates and distribution of Postdoctoral Fellows across academic divisions to ensure that program goals and objectives are met.

Application Process

Applicants must be nominated by their UTSC department Chair to the Vice-Dean Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. Potential nominees interested in the Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship should contact potential supervisors. Supervisors wishing to support a candidate's application must contact their UTSC department Chair.

Departments should submit all complete nomination packages along with the  Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program Nomination Form, to the Office of the Vice-Principal Academic and Dean at postdoc-awards@utsc.utoronto.ca by 5:00pm on March 8, 2021.

The nomination package for each nominee should contain the following material:

1. A support letter from the graduate department Chair, as per the selection criteria above (maximum two pages). Be sure to clearly state in the letter, with which underrepresented group (Indigenous and/or Black) the nominee identifies;
2. A nomination letter from the faculty advisor/mentor, as per the selection criteria above;
3. Statement of research intent from the nominee (maximum two pages);
4. Nominee’s C.V. (no page restriction); and
5. NEW: A short personal biography written by the nominee (150-words limit), which may be used on the SGS Postdoctoral Fellows website or other communications, should they be successfully selected as a Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow.

Please provide the requested documentation as five separate files using the following naming conventions:

1. Support letter from the UTSC Chair or Academic Director:  LastName-FirstName_SupportLetter_PPFP_Winter2021
2. Nomination letter from the faculty advisor/mentor:  LastName-FirstName_NominationLetter_ PPFP_Winter2021
3. Statement of research intent :  LastName-FirstName_ResearchIntent_ PPFP_Winter2021
4. C.V.: LastName-FirstName_CV_ PPFP_Winter2021
5. Biography: LastName-FirstName_Biography_ PPFP_Winter2021

Results

All nominees for the Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship program at UTSC will be notified in early April whether their nomination has been selected to go forward to SGS for the university-wide competition.

Results of the University-wide Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship program competition at SGS will be made available in August 2021.

UTSC Inclusive Excellence Postdoctoral Fellowship results will be available by the end of August 2021.

Contact & Resources

Consult the Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program on the School of Graduate Studies website

• For information regarding the nomination process at UTSC, please contact Shelley Eisner - Campus Graduate Administrator : postdoc-awards@utsc.utoronto.ca or 416-208-2792

• For information regarding the selection process, please contact Sarah Pickering, Postdoctoral Administrative Officer, Postdoctoral Office, School of Graduate Studies : sgs.postdoc@utoronto.ca or 416-946-5254