The Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards (CIRTA) will provide Postdoctoral Fellowships to Canadian universities to recruit prospective and incoming PhD students who are currently outside Canada. Postdoctoral Fellowships are valued at $70,000 per year for two years. UBC has been allocated 19 Postdoctoral Fellowship CIRTA awards in the first round of allocations from the Tri-Agencies.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Tri-Agency program launch announcement
Questions about UBC's CIRTA selection process that are not addressed above can be sent to: brendan.morey@ubc.ca.
Application Procedures
Nomination Procedures
Each CIRTA nomination requires identification of two roles:
- Nominator (faculty): see eligibility section above for details
- Nominee (incoming Postdoctoral Fellow): see eligibility section above for details
Each disciplinary Faculty has been allocated a number of CIRTA awards, with each Faculty responsible for selecting their nominator / nominee pair(s) and providing their selected nominations to G+PS by 4:00pm on Tuesday 24 February. The CIRTA nomination form and related documents are available to UBC faculty at: https://faculty-staff.grad.ubc.ca/administration/award-administration (CWL login required). Please note: it is recommended that the nomination form be downloaded, filled out and saved in Adobe, rather than via a web browser.
G+PS will review nominations for eligibility and completeness and submit UBC's nominations to the Tri-Agencies on 4 March 2026.
The Tri-Agencies will review each nomination to validate eligibility of the nominator and nominee.
Application Procedures
There are several avenues available to assist in finding and applying for Postdoctoral Fellowships, but there is no central application process at UBC. Applications are made directly to faculties/departments, and units will assist with any appointment-related administration.
In taking the first steps to embark on a Postdoctoral Fellowship application, prospective postdocs should connect with Faculty members at the University working in their field(s) of research. Prospective postdocs can also check faculty/department websites for any available postdoctoral positions; each department has a list of faculty members and their research topics.
The PDFO also offers a search tool that allows prospective postdocs to search research faculty by keyword.
Adjudication Procedures
CIRTA funding will be awarded through a two-tiered selection process outlined in the “Nomination Procedures” section above. Selection of CIRTA nominees does not involve an institution-wide competition.
Eligibility Requirements
Research area eligibility:
- Advanced digital technologies (AI, quantum, cybersecurity)
- Health, including biotechnology
- Clean technology and resource value chains
- Environment, climate resilience, and the Arctic
- Food and water security
- Democratic and community resilience
- Manufacturing and advanced materials
- Defence and dual-use technologies
Nominee (Postdoctoral Fellow) eligibility:
- Prospective Postdoctoral Fellow:
- Nominees cannot have a current affiliation with a Canadian institution and must be currently studying or working abroad
- Nominees must be qualified to undertake postdoctoral research at the nominating institution in Canada as of the award activation date. All Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards must be activated by March 31, 2027.
- Nominees can be of any citizenship:
- International citizens
- Canadian citizens, permanent residents and protected persons.
- Undertaking research in priority areas listed above.
- Meet eligibility requirements to hold a Postdoctoral Fellowship at UBC.
- Must not have held previous postdoctoral-level funding from the tri-agencies (CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC), regardless of institution.
- See additional nominee eligibility criteria at: Tri-Agency FAQ 23-35
Nominator (faculty supervisor) eligibility:
- Must hold an active Tri-Agency grant (details at: Tri-Agency FAQ #17)
Evaluation Criteria
As prospective postdocs, nominees will be evaluated according to the selection criteria normally used by the department and/or faculty to which they are applying. Note that (i) not all UBC faculty members are eligible to nominate a Postdoctoral Fellow for CIRTA funding and (ii) there are a limited number of CIRTA nominations available.