Junior Fellowship Eligibility

All CIFAR Junior Fellowships require candidates to have completed their PhD within the three years prior to an advertised Junior Fellowship starting date. Individuals currently completing their doctorates are also eligible to apply. Applicants who are in the process of finishing their PhD must provide a letter from their department chair or faculty dean confirming that all degree requirements will be fully completed before the anticipated Junior Fellowship start date. Start dates will be advertised by individual CIFAR programs.

Junior Fellowships normally are held in conjunction with a university postdoctoral appointment. An exception is made for candidates in the social sciences, where postdoctoral appointments are less common. Candidates in those disciplines may apply for and hold a Junior Fellowship as junior faculty members. Otherwise, candidates are expected to apply with the bona fide intention of seeking to accept a postdoctoral appointment. If an applicant accepts an offer of a junior faculty position at any time during the competition period – from time of application to announcement of competition closure – he or she is expected to notify CIFAR immediately. An applicant in this circumstance normally will lose their eligibility for the Junior Fellowship.

Each CIFAR research program may specify additional eligibility requirements for the Junior Fellowship positions they are seeking to fill.

In all instances, successful Junior Fellow candidates will have shown exceptional intellectual leadership and imagination in their work. Like all CIFAR researchers, they will be interested and able to think broadly and to collaborate on a deep level with their colleagues.

Junior Fellowships are open to citizens of any country. Successful applicants typically are responsible for acquiring all necessary visas and work permits to legally work in the country in which the offered position is based. Candidates should seek guidance from citizenship and immigration officials and the university at which they will be based.

CIFAR is strongly committed to diversity within its community, and especially welcomes applications from visible minority group members, women, Aboriginal persons, persons with disabilities, members of sexual minority groups and others who may contribute to further diversification of ideas.