Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships

Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships is one of the most popular and highly-coveted scholarships in Canada. In addition to being open to Canadians, the awards are also open to foreign citizens and Permanent Residents (PRs) of Canada.

About the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) admits the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships. It’s also responsible for facilitating the payments of the awards to the shortlisted applicants, per the policies and regulations outlined in the Tri-Agency Research Training Award Holder’s Guide.

Overview of the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships

The Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships aims to provide as much funding as possible to the postdoctoral applicants within and outside Canada. These applicants must demonstrate the ability to make positive contributions to Canada’s social, economic, and research-based growth.

Through this means, the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships not only attract top-tier postdoctoral talents within and outside Canada but also help them develop leadership potentials while positioning them for success as research leaders of tomorrow.

Who Can Apply?

The awards are open to Canadian citizens, Permanent Residents of Canada, and foreign nationals, including Nigerians.

Who Benefits from the Awards?

The major beneficiaries are the students or applicants. Through these awards and the educational exposure that comes with them, these people are availed of access to opportunities that help them launch a successful research-intensive career.

The host institution is also a beneficiary, in the sense that the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships align with the institution’s strategic policies and related research programs.

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Scope of the Awards

The Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships are awarded annually with up to 2 years of renewable from the time of awarding. Seventy (70) fellowships are awarded annually, amounting to 140 awards active at any time and meant for the two years of renewal.

The fellowships, aside from being issued via the host institutions, are also equally distributed among the following:

The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and;
The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)

Value of the Award

The Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship is valued at $70,000 with taxation in place.

Information About the Deadlines

Deadlines are the maximum timeframe allowed for applicants to send in their applications for funding through the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships.

While it’s common for the fellowship to have a specific deadline, it often depends on the host institution to set internal deadlines. For the 2024 applications, Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships have a deadline set for September 17, 2024 (20:00 EDT).

Variations to the Deadlines

Many host institutions have internal or dedicated deadlines, with the sole purpose of having more time to sort through the applications and choosing the most meritorious applicants for the awards.

Applicants are, therefore, advised to contact the department in charge of postdoctoral affairs in the host institution of choice to get detailed information that makes the application process easier.

Academic Deadlines

The Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships also have deadlines in place for applicants, in respect to their academic pursuits. For those applying for the 2024-25 awards, they’re expected to have fulfilled all the degree requirements for a health professional degree, PhD or PhD-equivalent between September 15, 2021 and September 30, 2025. Applicants must also have completed all these requirements before the start of the award.

In the case these degree requirements haven’t been fulfilled, applicants are required to submit proof no later than October 15, 2025.

Deadline Extensions

A couple of factors can necessitate the extension of the deadlines for the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships:

Career Interruptions: applicants, whose careers have been interrupted by extenuating circumstances like mandatory military service, parental leave, or disruption due to war, illness, or natural disasters in the country of residence, might have their awards extended.
An eligibility window to degree completion is also offered to health professionals who have engaged in post-degree non-research-related clinical training, such as residency.
Professions that require post-degree and the ones that have non-research-related training to be certified by a professional body should consult the Vanier-Banting Secretariat on the eligibility of extensions.

Notes About Fellowship Extensions:

Interruptions that require an eligibility window for degree completion extension must have occurred after the fulfillment of your degree requirements.
These interruptions may be welcomed too if they happen before the application submission deadline.
The justification(s) for the extension requests must be included in the Specia circumstance attachment.

Applying for the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships

Applicants are encouraged to read the Selection committee guide and review the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion page before applying for the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships.

The steps to apply include:

Confirm your eligibility by meeting all the requirements spelled out on the eligibility criteria page.
Contact your host institution or supervisor to help you every step of the way. Determine if the desired institution is either already a host institution or eligible to host a Banting postdoctoral researcher. In addition to being endorsed by the institution’s president, or the equivalent, the applicants need to discuss other important details. Such details include, the rights and responsibilities as a postdoctoral researcher, the benefits of the awards, and the availability of any research or any (further) support. These must be discussed by the applicants and the host institution.
Register for the Canadian Common CV (CCV) account, and ResearchNet account. In addition, get the CIHR PIN, and fill out the EDI self-identification questionnaire.
Create a Vanier-Banting academic CCV and have it linked to your ResearchNet application.
Launch an application in ResearchNet.
Choose an applicable area of research (one that’s covered in the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships).
Identify the applications, which includes you (the applicant), and the institution you’re affiliated with at the time of application.
Identify up to three referees. Make sure to enter their names, and contact information. Set the deadline date by which the assessments must be submitted through ResearchNet.
Enter the type of degree you currently have.
Enter proposal information and supporting documents.
Review your application to be sure no required information is left out.
Consent to the terms listed in the ResearchNet before submitting the application.

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Conclusion

The Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship is open to Canadians, PRs of Canada, and foreigners from Nigeria and globally. While applying, keep in mind that the awards can only be held once in a lifetime. In addition, it is also only tenable at the institution that supports the program’s original application. It can’t be ran concurrently with another tri-agency training award, and are only available for two (2) years.