Canada Impact+ Research Training Awards

CIRTA recipients are selected through the nomination process as outlined below, rather than through a university-wide adjudicated competition.

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.
• 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) 

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

UBC's allocation of Wave 2 awards will be distributed to disciplinary Faculties, each of which will determine the process by which they will select their nominators and nominees. Disciplinary Faculties with multiple academic units will provide instructions to their units and set their own internal nomination deadline.

Disciplinary Faculties are responsible for providing their selected nominations to G+PS by 4:00pm on Wednesday 27 May. 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 wave 2 nominations to the Tri-Agencies on 3 June 2026. 

The Tri-Agencies will review each nomination to validate eligibility of the nominator and nominee. 

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.