The Banting Post-Doctoral Fellowship is one of the more competitive and prestigious awards available for Post-Doctoral Fellows (PDFs). Before you consider applying for this fellowship opportunity, please make sure to review the eligibility requirements and the application guide provided by the Federal Government. Seventy awards are presented annually, spread evenly across the three granting agencies. Due to the limited nature of this award, Trent University will only consider and support only the highest quality applicants from both Canada and abroad.
Applications submitted to the Office of Research will be presented to an interdisciplinary committee who will judge applicants on the following criteria:
- Research excellence and leadership in the research domain;
- Researchers must have proven themselves in this capacity with an outstanding track record that has demonstrably notable research impact. Along with the quality of the research, researchers will be judged on their ability for leadership, opportunity for talking a leadership role, and previous leadership experience, within their field of research.
- Quality of the applicant’s proposed research program;
- Applicants will be judged upon the potential for their proposed research plan within the context of Trent’s Institutional environment. The proposed plan should be aligned with Trent’s Strategic Research Plan. Additionally, it should align the researcher in a way that will allow the researcher to develop significant impact through a research-intensive career
- Institutional commitment and demonstrated synergy between applicant and institutional strategic priorities – 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).
Characteristics of a successful Application:
- Applicant:
- Has demonstrated leadership and impact on the field (considering career stage)
- Has a significant number of publications
- Brings new knowledge to the institution
- Proposed Research
- Should significantly advance the knowledge base
- Includes aspect of novelty: “game-changing”
- Is part of a larger research context (applicant, supervisor, institution)
- Demonstrates synergy with research environment
- Weighs risk vs. feasibility
- Considers wider impact: application of research, social impact
- Supervisor Statement (4 page maximum)
- Speaks to research excellence of applicant
- Speaks to excellence of proposed research
- Speaks to aspects of synergy (with supervisor’s research, research environment, institution)
- Explains added value of post-doc in research environment
- Demonstrates institutional commitment (professional development, funding…)
- Propels research leadership of applicant (supervisor biography, where are alumni now)
- Referee
- Should be familiar with the applicant’s research
- Should have interacted with applicant (research or leadership activities)
- One referee should be your PhD supervisor (if not, you need to explain to the committee why this is the case).
- One referee provided by the applicant must be at an “arms-length”. For more clarification, this referee must be:
- a relative or close friend, or have a personal relationship with the applicant;
- in a position to benefit from the funding of the application;
- affiliated with the applicant’s current and/or proposed institutions;
- professionally affiliated with the applicant, as a result of (but not limited to): being their supervisor or trainee; collaborating, publishing or sharing funding with the applicant, or having plans to do so in the immediate future
- When you choose a referee, consider the balance between public profile in the field and a referee who knows your research well.
Eligibility:
Canadian citizens, permanent residents of Canada AND Foreign citizens are eligible to apply.
Applicants to the 2023-24 Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships program must fulfill or have fulfilled all degree requirements for a PhD, PhD-equivalent or health professional degree before the start date of their award, with consideration of these four factors:
- On a date within the eligibility window between September 15, 2020 and September 30, 2024 (inclusively).
- Applicants who have not fulfilled all requirements for their degree at the time of application must submit proof no later than October 15, 2024. Applicants who do not submit such proof will be automatically withdrawn from the competition.
- The window of eligibility can be extended if the applicant had their career interrupted or delayed for the purpose of parental leave, illness, health-related family responsibilities or mandatory military service. The interruption 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 interruption, to a maximum of 3 years.
- Additionally, for health professionals who have engaged in post-degree non-research-related clinical training (e.g., residency), the eligibility window can be extended by the duration of this training.
Justifications for extensions must be provided in the Special Circumstances attachment.
“Fulfilled all requirements of the degree” 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.
Preparing an Application:
Planning:
- Begin to plan for the submission of this application early. The process to complete and submit an application of a suitable quality is a time consuming one, and often, people who are unaware of the burden of the application tend to become hasty towards the end. This hastiness will be reflected in the quality of your submission.
- Get in touch with the faculty member you wish to collaborate with as early as possible and with concrete idea for the research proposal. The Banting Fellowship application requires significant input from your faculty supervisor, as well as from the host institution and this will take time to prepare. Host institutions must provide applicants with 2 documents to support their application:
- An institutional letter of endorsement
- Supervisor's statement (prepared by supervisor)
- There are several letters and documents that are required, as part of the application, to be submitted by other people. These include the above mentioned documents coming from the institution and the supervisor, as well as the three letters of reference. Make sure you reach out to these individuals as early as possible in order to provide them with enough time to complete them. Additionally, providing these individuals with documents that will help them know about you and your work, will allow them to fully address your strengths within their support. Offer to provide a CV, a research proposal draft or try to meet with them in person to discuss your plans.
- Convey what you would like to accomplish with your fellowship. Think long-term, ideally in a 5-year career plan.
- To be considered for the Banting Fellowship, you need to demonstrate academic productivity. The number of publications matters as well as the quality of the scholarly journals in which you publish. Keep this in mind when you prepare your application as you may need to address journal quality.
- Make sure that Trent University’s Strategic Research Plan is reflected within the application. The proposed research must fit into this plan.
Tips for your Research Proposal
- Make sure that your proposed research is precise and concise in nature, concrete examples of research excellence and leadership should be provided. Vagueness in the application will not be rewarded.
- Make sure that the application is written clearly. Use examples, metaphor, and analogy to make difficult concepts accessible. Remember that it is most likely that reviewers will not be experts in your field.
- Ask somebody in your field, like your supervisor or another mentor to review your application. They may notice inaccuracies or omissions and will be able to help you strengthen your arguments
- Consider contacting a successful Banting applicant, ideally from your discipline, to ask for advice and to see if they would share their successful application with you.
- Only provide what is asked for. Respect page limits and word counts; additional pages will be removed