T. Boone Pickens Emerging Leaders Postdoctoral Fellowship

This award reflects the commitment of the T. Boone Pickens Estate to educate and train the next generation of research leaders in brain and mental health. This award will allow the Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI) to support recruitment of outstanding postdoctoral fellows (PDFS) to innovative, foundational and translational research training programs through the offer of highly competitive salary awards.

Value of the Award: $30,000/year.

Number of Awards offered a year: Variable, depending on the budget.

Length of the Award: 2 years, subject to annual renewal

Eligibility:

Acceptance into a full-time postdoctoral fellowship program under the primary supervision of a full-time HBI faculty member at the University of Calgary. Trainees who anticipate starting a postdoctoral training program at the University of Calgary within 9 months, or who have commenced training in the past 18 months, are eligible to apply. 

Awardees who have not started their program yet must take up the award within 9 months of the application deadline date. Applicants already in their program must start within 3 months of the award offer letter.

Terms of the award

The purpose of this award is to attract and support postdoctoral fellows (PDFs) to the HBI who will be highly competitive for external awards on the basis of their academic performance and research program. Thus, PDFs holding this award are expected to apply for external awards or grants for which they are eligible, including those from provincial or national agencies. Renewal of the award for the second year is contingent on the applicant fulfilling this requirement. It is anticipated that the award will be pro-rated by funding obtained from other sources.

  • A postdoctoral fellow is defined as an individual with five years or less of full-time training after PhD or other advanced degree.
  • The PDF must spend at least 60% of their fellowship on site at the HBI. The Education Director must be informed of extended periods of absence (greater than 3 weeks) from the HBI.
  • Full HBI members can only have one PDF supported by an HBI Education Award (i.e. Harley Hotchkiss, RHISE, T. Boone Pickens) at a time.
  • HBI support does not include benefits.
  • Funding will not be allocated to a PDF remaining in the laboratory where they received their PhD.
  • The host laboratory must supplement the HBI contribution through a commitment of an additional $25,000/year.  Applicants must provide a letter of support from their research supervisor confirming commitment of annual supplementation.
  • Funding is allocated annually and may be renewed once for an individual fellow; renewal is contingent upon application for external scholarships, annual review of progress, and a letter of support from the supervisor.
  • Individuals obtaining external support (i.e. tri-council, AI-HS, or equivalent) or any other internal funding must immediately inform the HBI Education Director to enable re-allocation of HBI funding to other individuals.
  • Funding will be subject to budget availability.

Citizenship: Unrestricted

Adjudication: Review criteria will include, but not necessarily be limited to:

  • Quality of the candidate
  • Quality of the proposal, including novelty, significance, clarity, expected outcomes, and feasibility
  • Evidence of previous research productivity
  • Appropriate and informative letters of reference
  • Quality of the supervisor’s research program 

Apply: Complete the on-line application form available on the HBI Postdoctoral Funding Opportunities webpage. 

Deadline: March 15 / October 1

Questions can be directed to hbi.education@ucalgary.ca