Charbonneau Postdoctoral Research Fellowships

Purpose of Award

The Charbonneau Postdoctoral Fellowships are competitive internal awards that recognize exceptional postdoctoral fellows at Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute, University of Calgary, who are conducting innovative and impactful research in cancer. By providing financial support and encouraging pursuit of external funding, the award aims to foster the development of future research leaders and strengthen the Institute’s training environment in Cancer Research.

Funding per Award

Charbonneau Postdoctoral Fellowship recipients will receive an annual compensation of a minimum of $60,000 plus benefits through a partnered funding mechanism. The Charbonneau Cancer Institute (via the Phillips Emerging Cancer Scholarship Fund or one of the institute's Centres or Programs) will contribute between $15,000-$37,500 per year of the scholarship.  If the applicant is also successful at the related CSM Postdoctoral Scholars competition, the CSM program will contribute $15,000 per year. The supervisor is responsible for providing the remainder of the salary plus full benefits each year. By submitting an application for a Charbonneau Postdoctoral Scholarship award the supervisor agrees to this financial partnership.

Duration of Award: Up to 2 years

Eligibility Criteria

• The applicant is being recruited for, or currently holds, a position as a postdoctoral fellow under the primary supervision of:
  • a member of the Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute, for Institute-wide awards.
  • a member of the center or program, for center- or program-specific awards.
• The proposed research fits the mandate of Charbonneau research priorities of:
  • the Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute, for Institute-wide awards.
  • the relevant center or program, for center- or program-specific awards.
• The applicant holds total scholarship funding less than $60,000 at the time of award announcement.
• The work described in the application must be conducted in Calgary.

Selection Process

Adjudication criteria include:

• Applicant's academic background and research experience.
• Excellence and feasibility of the applicant's research proposal.
• The significance and/or impact of the scientific discoveries that will potentially arise from the proposed research on basic scientific knowledge or translatable health knowledge.
• The quality of the research and training environment provided by the applicant’s supervisor, and co-supervisor if applicable. 
• Applicants proposing to continue their postdoctoral training under the supervision of their PhD supervisor remain eligible. However, preference will be given to applicants who will undertake their postdoctoral training in a new environment. Applicants remaining with their PhD supervisor must provide a clear and compelling justification, including how the proposed appointment will provide distinct training opportunities, support the development of new skills, and promote greater research independence.

The top-ranked applicants will be nominated for the CSM Postdoctoral Scholars’ Program award if they are eligible. To qualify for the CSM award, applicants must: 

• have completed a PhD (or equivalent) within the past five years, or an MD, DDS, or DVM (or equivalent) within the past ten years, with allowances made for parental leave or other special circumstances
• be supervised by a CSM faculty member; each faculty member may support only one postdoctoral researcher for a CSM award per application cycle. 

All nominations are subject to final approval by the CSM Office of the Associate Dean (Research).

Terms of Support

The term of the Charbonneau Postdoctoral Fellowship is up to 24 months. Please note that Charbonneau may request a written confirmation from the UCalgary postdoc office that all the eligibility requirements have been met by the awardee and their supervisor prior to release of funds. Awardees must submit applications to external agencies (e.g.  Alberta Innovate, CIHR, NSERC) for each year they are eligible. 

Concurrent Awards: 

• Recipients must notify the Institute if they receive or hold another postdoctoral award during the term of this scholarship. 
• If the value of the other award is $60,000 or more, this scholarship will be terminated. 
• If the value of the other award is less than $60,000, this scholarship will be adjusted so that the combined value of all awards held concurrently does not exceed $60,000. 
• If a postdoctoral fellow holds two or more awards with a combined value of $60,000, the fellow’s supervisor must provide a minimum salary top-up of $5,000 in addition to the award funding.
• Example: A Charbonneau Postdoctoral Research Fellowship recipient subsequently receives an Alberta Innovates Postdoctoral Fellowship valued at $55,000 per year. During the overlapping award period, the Charbonneau Fellowship will be reduced to $5,000 per year, bringing the fellow’s combined award funding to $60,000 per year. The supervisor must provide a minimum salary top-up of $5,000 per year, resulting in total annual salary support of at least $65,000, plus benefits.

Reporting Requirements

For the Charbonneau Education and Professional Development Committee’s records, a final report must be submitted detailing knowledge translation outputs, external scholarship applications, and awards received.