Frequently Asked Questions

• Eligibility
  • Areas of research
  • Eligibility window
  • Banting and other postdoctoral fellowships
• The application process
• Evaluating Banting postdoctoral fellowship applications
• Holding a Banting postdoctoral fellowship
• After the fellowship is over

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Eligibility

Areas of research

1. Are there any restrictions on the research areas that are eligible in the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program?
2. Are social science and humanities research areas eligible in the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship Program?
3. Are Banting research projects restricted to health sciences only? Or will they include projects of any nature in the natural sciences?

Answer: All research areas that fall under the mandates of the three federal funding agencies (the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council) are eligible in the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. For more information, please refer to Selecting the Appropriate Federal Granting Agency.

Note that agencies are the final authority for the assignment of applications to committees.

Eligibility window

1. My degree completion date is in late October, 2008, only a few days short of the eligibility window of November 2, 2008 through December 31, 2011.Can I still apply to this program?
2. I will be defending my PhD dissertation in December 2011. In order to be eligible to apply for the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, would my department have to send notification of the successful defense by Jan. 15th 2012?
3. I did my PhD in 2004. I have an excellent publication record and teach to graduate and undergraduate students. Is there any way I can apply for this fellowship?

Answer: All applicants for the 2011 Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program must fulfill or have fulfilled all degree requirements for a PhD, PhD-equivalent or health professional degree: 

1. on a date within the eligibility window of November 2nd, 2008 through December 31, 2011.
   
   Or
2. no earlier than November 2nd 2006 if they have had their career interrupted or delayed for the purpose of childrearing, illness, or health-related family responsibilitiesor, for Health Professionals only, have engaged in post-degree non-research related clinical training (residency, etc.).

Applicants must document any interruptions, delays or post-degree clinical training in the Special Circumstances attachment.

Applicants who have not completed their PhD, health professional or equivalent degree at the time of application but expect to do so on or before December 31st, 2011, must also upload to ResearchNet a Fulfillment of Degree Requirements Form [ PDF (417 KB) | Help ] that has been completed by the institution that conferred the PhD, health professional or equivalent degree that was entered in the "Enter Degree Information" section. Upon completion, applicants must once again provide a Fulfillment of Degree Requirements Form that has been completed by the institution that conferred the PhD, health professional or equivalent degree that was entered in the "Enter Degree Information" section. This form must be scanned and sent by email to the Banting@researchnet-recherchenet.ca address no later than 8 p.m. (EST) January 15th, 2012 or the application will be withdrawn.

4. Is maternity leave taken into account for the purpose of the eligibility window? What about other delays or interruptions in my career?

If your career was interrupted or delayed for the purpose of childrearing, illness, or health-related family responsibilities or, for Health Professionals only, have engaged in post-degree non-research related clinical training (residency, etc.) then you may be eligible based on the following criteria:

1. you must not have fulfilled all the requirements of your PhD, PhD-equivalent or health professional degree prior to November 2nd, 2006; and
2. the interruption(s)/delay(s) in your career must have occurred after you fulfilled all the requirements of your degree.

Note that your eligibility window will only be extended by the duration of the delay(s)/interruption(s), to a maximum of two years.

For example, if the sum total of the interruption(s) post-degree is 6 months, the eligibility window will be extended by 6 months. Therefore to be eligible you must have completed all requirements for the degree after June 2, 2008.

Applicants must document any interruptions, delays or post-degree clinical training in the Special Circumstances attachment.

5. I defended my PhD thesis prior to the eligibility window, but my degree was not conferred until after November 3, 2008. Am I eligible to apply for this fellowship?

Answer: The eligibility window dates refer to the date on which the institution considers that you have fulfilled all requirements of your degree and will attest to this in the Fulfillment of Degree Requirements Form [ PDF (417 KB) | Help ] required as part of the application. If you are not sure about the official date, please consult with the university where you received your degree.

6. I'm a health professional who obtained my MD in 2002, Internal Medicine in 2007 and Rheumatology in 2009. Am I eligible to apply?

Answer: No, you are not eligible to apply. The date we use to determine eligibility is the date you fulfilled all the requirements of your health professional degree (MD). Your specialty certifications in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology are not considered as health professional degrees for the purpose of determining eligibility. The time spent obtaining a specialty certification counts as clinical training and can be used to extend the eligibility window for degree completion by up to two years (must be included in the "Special Circumstances" attachment). However, in this case, since you obtained your MD (health professional degree) sometime in 2002, which is well before our earliest eligibility date of November 2, 2006, you would not be eligible.

Banting and other postdoctoral fellowships

1. Can I apply for the Banting fellowship and regular (i.e. agency – specific) postdoctoral fellowships in the same year?
2. Can I apply for the Banting fellowship at one agency and apply for a regular fellowship at another?
3. Can I apply to both the Banting postdoctoral fellowships and to the "regular" postdoctoral fellowships at the same time?
4. Can my Banting and agency-specific fellowship applications be prepared in conjunction with different host institutions?

Answer: Yes, applicants can apply for both the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program and other agency-specific fellowship programs (whether to the same or a different granting agency) at the same time, provided that the research proposed within each application falls within the mandate of the agency to which the application is submitted. For more information, please refer to Selecting the Appropriate Federal Granting Agency.

Note that applicants who are successful in both will have to choose which award to accept.

5. I do not meet the eligibility criteria to apply to the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program this Fall. I am eligible only in the regular agency specific postdoctoral fellowships program, and plan to submit an application this Fall. If I am successful in the agency specific competition, will I be eligible to apply to the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program in the next competition?

Answer: You may be eligible to apply for subsequent Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships competitions, provided that your agency-specific funding expires on or before the latest date on which the Banting award can be taken up for that competition. For example, if you apply for and receive an agency-specific award in the competition this Fall (2011), you may apply to the Banting competition next Fall (2012) if your agency-specific award expires on or before September 30, 2013, and you continue to meet the eligibility criteria for the program.

Applicants who hold agency specific postdoctoral fellowship funding from CIHR, NSERC, or SSHRC may not terminate their agency specific postdoctoral award for the purposes of application to the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship Program funding.

6. Can your Banting and agency-specific fellowship application be prepared in conjunction with different host institutions ?

Answer: Yes, your Banting and agency-specific fellowship applications can have different host institutions.

The application process

1. Where do I find the application for the Banting awards? Is it a separate application from those used by the granting agencies?

Answer: You will find the application on ResearchNet. Because of the unique application requirements of the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program, it has a unique application which will be used by all three granting councils.

2. Who is responsible for selecting potential applicants?

Answer: The application to the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program must be completed by the applicant in full collaboration with the proposed host institution, which is responsible for endorsing the applicant and providing them with a commitment to support their application.

3. Who will be submitting applications on the applicants' behalf?

Answer: The applicant is responsible for submitting their own application and is responsible for ensuring that all necessary supporting material from the host institution and the referees is included by the deadline of November 2nd, 2011 (8:00 PM EDT). All supporting materials from the host institution must be sent to the applicant prior to the submission deadline. The applicant is responsible for uploading the host institution documents to ResearchNet as part of their complete application submission. Referee forms are uploaded by the referee, however it is the applicants responsibility to ensure that these forms are included by the deadline. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.

4. In the "Unique Application Requirements" section, it is stated that the application must be completed in full collaboration with the "proposed host institution". Does this refer to the institution in which the trainee is currently doing research or does it refer to the institution that the trainee will apply to in the future when his/her current research is completed?

Answer: The application must be completed in full collaboration with the institution where the applicant will hold their Banting fellowship.

5. Is there any cap on the number of fellows a university can nominate?

Answer: There is no set cap on the number of applicants an institution can endorse. However, given the level of collaboration required between host institutions and applicants, the rigour of the selection process and that only 70 fellowships are awarded per year, institutions are expected to be highly selective about the applications they endorse and to limit the number of applicants they put forward.

6. Are there any matching requirements from the institution?

Answer: No.

7. Is there going to be funding available in subsequent years?

Answer: The Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program was established with $45 million from the Government of Canada over five years. Given the timing requirements of the 3-year eligibility window, we encourage you to apply when you are eligible.

Evaluating Banting postdoctoral fellowship applications

1. Why is this program run independently from the regular agency-specific fellowships?

Answer: Successful applicants for the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program will be evaluated on the basis of three criteria: research excellence and leadership; quality of the applicant's proposed research program; and institution commitment and demonstrated synergy between the applicant and the institution's strategic priorities. Because this is a different selection process than for other postdoctoral fellowship programs, applications will be evaluated independently. Because of the additional criteria, it does not necessarily follow that the best applicants in the regular fellowship competitions will be the best candidates for the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program.

Holding a Banting postdoctoral fellowship

1. If applicants are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents, they can only hold their fellowship at a Canadian institution. Does that mean that international travel and field research would not be allowed?

Answer: Travel and field research are permitted, but applicants must continue to be based at their host institution.

2. How will the awards be paid out – to the institution or directly to the individual?

Answer: Within Canada, the award will be paid to the institution in most cases. Outside Canada, the postdoctoral researcher will receive the award directly.

3. Does the Banting postdoctoral fellowship include money for travel/research?

Answer: The Banting postdoctoral fellowship is valued at $70,000 (taxable) per year. There are no additional funds provided for travel/research; however, since the recipient is responsible for deciding how the funds are allocated, a portion of the $70,000 could be used for that purpose.

4. Can the host institution deduct money from the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship to help cover indirect costs?

Answer: No.

5. Can I apply for a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship for one year instead of two?

Answer: No, all fellowships are for two years.

6. I'm an international student who would like to apply for a Banting Fellowship. What else do I need to know about studying in Canada?

Answer: We're looking forward to having you in Canada. To find out the details you need to know, visit the Edu Canada website.

After the fellowship is over

1. Is there a requirement for a host institution to keep Banting postdoctoral fellowship holders after the fellowship is completed?

Answer: There is no explicit requirement for institutions to retain Banting postdoctoral fellowship holders after the fellowship has ended; however, this would likely be in the institutions best interest given the characteristics the successful applicant would have demonstrated in order to receive an award.

2. Should a Banting postdoctoral fellowship holder be committed to staying in Canada? What if the scholar is not Canadian, but will have long-term international collaborative prospects?

Answer: The objective of this program is to attract and retain top-tier postdoctoral talent, both nationally and internationally, but there is no explicit requirement for successful applicants to stay in Canada upon completion of their fellowship.