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The Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships competition for funding in September 2025

Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships are highly competitive and aim to recruit top-tier Canadian and international postdoctoral researchers at an internationally competitive level of funding. The fellowships are valued at $70K/year for two years and just seventy new fellowships are awarded annually.

Prospective Banting applicants who wish to hold the award at the Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, and their supervisors must note the following:

1. We have embarked on a revised review process since 2022 in which each department participates in the pre-selection of candidates. It was proven efficient in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Therefore, we will continue with the same review structure this year.
2. Pre-Application Registration: All prospective applicants in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, including in the Research Institutes must register their intent to apply (ITA) via webform on the Faculty website.

• The ITA includes the completed webform plus 1) a 500-word abstract of proposed research program, 2) a 500-word summary of the integration of candidate’s background, the proposed research program, ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ training environment, supervisor(s)’ expertise, and the faculty’s strategic plan, and 3) a list of Banting referees with their relationship to the applicant, and a justification for the arm’s length referee.
• Interested applicants must register their intent to apply on the webform by April 24 2024, at 11:59pm. Then they will submit a full application to FMHS via webform on the Faculty website by May 15 2024, at 11:59pm.

3. Department or academic unit-level review: Each department or academic unit will be asked to review their candidates’ full applications, and submit nominee(s) to the Faculty review committee. We ask that units perform a stringent review process and only submit a candidate's application if they truly believe that it will be competitive and meets all Banting criteria. It is critical that the candidate be highly qualified and demonstrate an exemplary career path development. Candidates should have an excellent research proposal that is accessible to a lay audience. In addition, there must be a clear demonstration of how the candidate, project, and training environment integrate with the Faculty's strategic plan. This should be incorporated throughout the proposal. The scoring rubric will be sent to the department/unit when pre-application registration is closed.
4. The Faculty level review: The Faculty review committee will work as before to review the full applications, give feedback and nominate applicants to the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.
5. All application guidelines are detailed at the and will be detailed at the Faculty’s Banting website when it is available.
6. Eligibility and key dates and deadlines are outlined below:

PLEASE NOTE: The Hyperlinks referencing the official Banting website may not be compatible with Google Chrome, please try using a different Browser if you receive an error message. Degree completion dates below are assumptions. These guidelines are provided in advance of Banting's official launch of the 2024-2025 Postdoctoral Fellowship program. These guidelines (including dates and eligibility criteria) are subject to change once the official launch is open.

Please consult Banting's applicant on the official Banting website and carefully review all details. 

The Banting fellowship program is open to both Canadians and international postdoctoral applicants who must fulfill or have fulfilled all degree requirements for a PhD, PhD-equivalent or health professional degree between September 15, 2021 and September 30, 2025 (inclusively).

*Please note that in alignment with the guidelines set by Vanier-Banting Officials, the review committee at ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ will not favor and recommend applicants who are currently affiliated with the same institution or within the same research environment where they completed their PhD, PhD-equivalent or health professional degree unless a solid strong justification is provided.*

"only in rare circumstances will a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship be awarded to an applicant who is staying at the same institution or within the same research environment where they completed their PhD, PhD-equivalent or health professional degree. If an applicant chooses to apply in collaboration with the same institution (or its affiliated hospitals, research centres and other laboratories) or within the same research environment from which they obtained their PhD, PhD-equivalent or health professional degree, a solid justification must be provided in the Special circumstances attachment. Examples of valid justifications are scientific reasons (e.g., availability of specialized equipment/infrastructure or expertise), family reasons (e.g., family obligations), health reasons (e.g., proximity to health care facilities), applicants conducting research with Ìý³¦´Ç³¾³¾³Ü²Ô¾±³Ù¾±±ð²õÌý²¹²Ô»å/´Ç°ùÌýreasons related to community or cultural responsibilities. Indigenous communities are broadly defined as individuals, groups, organizations, and populations who self-identify as Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit and or Métis) living and working anywhere in Canada." ()

Justification for remaining in PhD research environment

Applicants who wish to undertake postdoctoral level research training in the same institution (or its affiliated hospitals, research centres and other laboratories) or within the same research environment from which they obtained their PhD, PhD-equivalent or health professional degree must provide a strong justification for this exceptional circumstance which will be assessed as part of the selection committee review process. The more similar the proposed research environment is to that of the PhD, PhD-equivalent or health professional degree environment, the stronger the justification is required to be. Examples of valid justifications are:

• scientific reasons (e.g., availability of specialized equipment/infrastructure or expertise);
• family reasons (e.g., family obligations);
• health reasons (e.g., proximity to health care facilities);
• reasons related to community or cultural responsibilities; and
• conducting research with Indigenous communities.

Justification for remaining in the same research environment (other than PhD)

At the time of application, if the applicant is affiliated for more than six months with the proposed host institution (e.g., postdoctoral position) they must justify the decision to continue at the same location. The longer the applicant has been at the same institution (or research environment), the stronger the justification is required to be.

KEY DATES & DEADLINES

April 24, 2024 @ 11:59 pm

All applicants must register their intent to apply via an online webform and upload a PDF containing 1) a 500-word abstract of proposed research program, 2) a 500-word summary of the integration of candidate’s background, the proposed research program, ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ training environment, supervisor(s)’ expertise, and the faculty’s strategic plan, and 3) a list of Banting referees with their relationship to the applicant, and a justification for the arm’s length referee. Please note that it is critical to adhere to the upload format as instructed (a single PDF format document).

April 25- May 15, 2024

Candidates prepare their FULL APPLICATION. The full application is in one PDF file containing the completed -but un-submitted- , the 4-page research proposal, bibliography, supervisor's statement, and applicant's CCV. 

May 15, 2024 @ 11:59pm

Deadline for candidates to submit their FULL APPLICATION in one PDF file to FMHS via the webform on Faculty's website. FMHS Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs will inform all Departments/units the number of full applications to be submitted. This is expected to be one application per candidate.

May 22nd, 2024

Deadline for departments to inform FMHS and selected applicant that their application will move forward for Faculty review.

May 23 – June 5, 2024

Faculty review period. Top candidates will be nominated to GPS.

June 7- June 14, 2024

Submission of complete application on FAD to GPS for final vetting.

Nominated applicants will be informed and provided with FMHS reviewers’ comments.

July and August 2024, date to be confirmed by GPS

Candidates will receive invitations from the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies to attend Graphos writing workshops where they will receive detailed guidance on preparing their applications.

August 2024, date to be confirmed by GPS

Applicant and supervisor arrange for face-to-face or zoom meeting with expert and non-expert reviewers. Applicant revises application in consequence.

September 2024 - Institutional Endorsement Letters to successful nominees will be sent electronically to nominated applicants with a copy to Supervisor by GPS.

Final Submission Deadline in September 2024 (date to be confirmed later): National Banting Fellowship application deadline. Nominees must submit on ResearchNet before the deadline.

Please consult the and ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ GPS' Banting website for complete details on the fellowship and for the responsibilities of the applicant, supervisor and other university offices. Specific questions which are not addressed on the websites can also be directed to gradadmin.med [at] mcgill.ca