For Indigenous Students | Queen's University Faculty of Arts and Science

An Opportunity to Research, Teach, and Network

For Indigenous PhD students, this is a unique opportunity. Not only will they receive financial support while they complete their degrees, the Fellows will expand their professional network and advance Indigenous issues, histories and/or ways of knowing while contributing to intellectual life at Queen's. Perhaps most importantly, the experience will provide Fellows with a competitive advantage in their careers.

For the Fellows' home institutions, this opportunity offers financial support to their PhD students in the final stages of their doctoral work, encourages them to complete their degrees on time, and provides future examples of successful Indigenous alumni.

Queen's, the Fellows' home institutions, and all Canadian universities will benefit from the scholarly collaboration and advancement of Indigenous issues, histories and/or ways of knowing that the Fellowships support. Through this collaboration and engagement with Indigenous peoples and communities, the researchers will be able to contribute to relationship-building, knowledge-sharing and Indigenizing curricula.

Fellowship Details

Applications are invited from Indigenous doctoral students enrolled in a PhD program and working on doctoral research in the creative arts, humanities, social sciences or natural and physical sciences at an accredited university other than Queen’s University.

Candidates must have completed all doctoral degree requirements except the final doctoral project (e.g. dissertation). They will be expected to compete their doctoral project during their tenure as a Fellow to receive their degree from their home institution.

Applicants should be committed to advancing Indigenous issues, histories and/or ways of knowing.

The Fellowship holder will have the opportunity to teach one 3-unit (four-month) university course in the Faculty of Arts and Science, and to contribute to the intellectual life of the university. Candidates are expected to be based in Kingston or its environs through the duration of the fellowship.

The Pre-Doctoral Fellowship provides an annual stipend of $37,000. In addition, if the incumbent opts to teach a course, they will be separately appointed and compensated as a Term Adjunct to teach a half-course (3 unit) university course. The Term Adjunct appointment shall be governed by the Queen’s-QUFA collective agreement. In addition, up to $3,000 will be available for research and conference travel. Successful candidates are eligible to request funds in support of relocation.

Applications are open. The application deadline is January 31, 2024.
Pre-Doctoral Fellowship award period: July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025

Qualifications

Candidates for the fellowship must:

be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident;
self-identify as Indigenous and demonstrate strong ties to, and work with, Indigenous communities;
demonstrate exceptional academic merit and a commitment to advancing Indigenous issues, histories and/or ways of knowing;
be registered in a PhD program in the creative arts, humanities, social sciences or natural and physical sciences at an accredited university other than Queen’s; and
have completed the degree requirements necessary to identify them as in an advanced stage of research or writing on an approved doctoral research topic.

Application Process

A complete application consists of

Cover letter outlining background, training, and plans, including any work with Indigenous communities, groups or organizations;
Doctoral research proposal (approximately 10 pages or 3,000 words) detailing the doctoral research program and proposal and its potential to contribute to the advancement of Indigenous issues, histories and ways of knowing;
Undergraduate and graduate transcripts;
A letter from the department chair, confirming that the applicant has passed their qualifying examinations and has achieved advanced standing in the program and can be expected to complete their doctoral project during the fellowship period; and
Two confidential letters of support from faculty on the supervisory committee, sent under separate cover, one of which must be from the student’s supervisor, commenting the student’s performance, potential and expected time to degree completion.

Applicants are encouraged to send all documents in their application package electronically as PDFs to Kim Bellefontaine at deanartsci@queensu.ca, although hard copy applications may be submitted to:

Ms. Kim Bellefontaine
Assistant to the Associate Deans
Faculty of Arts and Science
Main Floor, Dunning Hall
94 University Avenue
Queen’s University
Kingston, Ontario
CANADA K7L 3N6

The University will provide support in its recruitment processes to applicants with disabilities, including accommodation that takes into account an applicant’s accessibility needs.

Current and Former Pre-Doctoral Fellows

"In the last year of my PhD at the University of Saskatchewan, I was looking for opportunities to expand my teaching experience and to receive the funding to complete the writing of my dissertation. Queen’s University is a well-respected institution that was recommended to me, so the Predoctoral Fellowship for Indigenous Students seemed like a worthwhile program to pursue. I was accepted into the program and found that Kingston was a great place to work and live.

Over the course of my Predoctoral Fellowship, I had the opportunity to teach, as well as make many new relationships with professors at Queen’s and at neighboring institutions like McGill University and the University of Ottawa. I felt very welcomed into the Queen’s University community and greatly benefitted from having Dr. Jane Errington as my mentor in the Departmental of History throughout the duration of my Predoctoral Fellowship. I most appreciated the opportunity to grow in my academic career and connect with others in my field, outside of home institution – the University of Saskatchewan.

I loved the Predoctoral Fellowship experience so much that I never left. I am currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Queen’s University. I am in the middle of publishing my first book titled France in the Hudson Bay Watershed: Imperial Ambitions, Canadien Intermediaries, and the Rise of the Métis with McGill–Queen’s University Press. The Predoctoral Fellowship was beneficial in giving me an intimate look at working in a department as an instructor, and also put me in contact with several people who were able to give me invaluable advice as I pursued a career in academia.

I would highly recommend the Predoctoral Fellowship to current Indigenous PhD candidates because it is a unique opportunity to work as a fellow while still working on your PhD. My biggest advice to other Indigenous Predoctoral candidates would be to take advantage of the resources available to you, talk to people, ask questions, and focus on using those to improve your research and career prospects."

- Scott Berthelette, Indigenous Pre-Doctoral Fellow, 2018-19

See the Queen's Gazette Story about the inaugural 2018-19 Pre-Doctoral Fellowships: Indigenous scholars visit Queen's for year-long fellowship

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