NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowships Program

Applicants, please consult with your proposed department/unit and faculty for information about potential department/unit and/or faculty-specific requirements for tri-agency fellowship applications.

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Postdoctoral Fellowships Program provides support to a core of the most promising researchers at a pivotal time in their careers. The fellowships are also intended to secure a supply of highly qualified Canadians with leading-edge scientific and research skills for Canadian industry, government and academic institutions.

You can hold your PDF at

• Canadian academic institutions
• provincial research institutions in Canada
• other appropriate research laboratories in Canada
• research institutions abroad

You cannot hold a PDF in Canadian federal government laboratories or in industrial laboratories in Canada.

NSERC encourages you to undertake research that involves collaboration with other Canadian organizations. The nature of the proposed collaboration must be acceptable to the host institution.

In addition:

• You may hold a PDF abroad only if you have received your doctorate from a Canadian institution.
• NSERC encourages PDF award holders to broaden their research experience by gaining exposure to different research environments. You are not permitted to hold your fellowship at the same institution (or its affiliated hospitals, research institutions and other laboratories) where you received your doctorate. However, you may request an exception that will be considered by the selection committee. The request must be based on medical reasons (for example, proximity to required health care facilities), family reasons (for example, a spouse’s career) or scientific reasons (for example, availability of specialized equipment), which make it extremely difficult for you to leave a particular institution. Even if your exception is granted, you are not permitted to be supervised by your PhD supervisor.You are encouraged to include an alternate location for your PDF in the event that your request for an exception is not approved.
• You may not hold the PDF with your PhD supervisor, even if your supervisor changes research institutions.
• If you are a permanent resident of Canada and will be taking up your award outside of Canada, you should contact the relevant Canadian immigration authorities to determine how doing so may affect your Canadian residency status.

NSERC will notify you of the results by February 28. NSERC will not provide results by telephone.

NSERC will publish the names (and other basic award information) of fellowship recipients on its website. For more information, see the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act .

Refer to the Tri-agency research training award holder’s guide for policies and requirements about holding the award, such as acceptance, start date, deferment, paid parental leave, holding the award on a part-time basis, etc.