The application process has opened for Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships. These are the most prestigious postdoctoral awards in Canada. Only 70 are awarded annually, across all fields of science, social science, and health science. The goal is to bring the very best young international researchers to Canada (or, for a subset of the awards, support top young Canadian researchers to do postdocs outside Canada). Here are the key details:
- Eligibility: Any nationality. Received your PhD between 1 Nov. 2009 and 31 Dec. 2012 (or after 1 Nov. 2007 if your career was interrupted by childbearing or illness). If you currently hold a postdoc funded by a Canadian government agency, it must end before 1 Oct. 2013. (UPDATE: as noted by sharp-eyed commenters, these dates may well be those from last year’s competition; the competition website may have yet to be updated for this year. If you’re not sure if you’re eligible or not, contact your prospective supervisor).
- Value, duration: $70,000 CAD/year for 2 years. Not renewable. The generous salary (for a postdoc) is intended to attract top applicants.
- You must hold the award at a Canadian institution, unless you’re a Canadian citizen or permanent resident who got their terminal degree in Canada.
- Deadline: 1 Nov. 2013, but many Canadian institutions are likely to have earlier internal deadlines.
To apply, you need to line up a prospective supervisor. As part of the application process (which is lengthy), both you and the supervisor are evaluated.
I would be very happy to hear from strong applicants interested in working with me. The University of Calgary is very keen to do well in the Banting competition. Our VP Research, ecologist Ed McCauley (whom I know well), has set up a strong internal process to identify good applicants and support their applications. If you want to work with me, please email me ASAP (jefox@ucalgary.ca). Calgary’s first internal deadline for letters of intent is 1 Aug. 2013. (UPDATE: this date is correct, it was provided in an email to faculty earlier today).
Dynamic Ecology 
I wonder if they messed up the dates. Needing to have finished your Ph.D. a full year before application seems weird to me. And this doesn’t make any sense: “Applicants who have not fulfilled all requirements for their degree at the time of application must do so no later than December 31, 2012.” Perhaps they forgot to increment their years? Kinda matters to some of us…
The 2013-14 round won’t launch until July 9th according to their website, so the dates still reflect the 2012-13 competition.