The Vice-Principal Research and Innovation (VPRI) recruits outstanding postdoctoral researchers to Queen’s University through the Postdoctoral Researcher Competition. Postdoctoral researchers play a vital role in driving Queen’s research ecosystem.
The fund provides two years of salary support for up to ten (10) postdoctoral researchers. Each researcher will receive $75,000/year of support for two years. Specifically:
- $70,000/year towards compensation, excluding benefits
- $5,000/year in research support (e.g., conference, reagents, computational needs)
Benefits (approximately 25%) as outlined in the PSAC 901, Unit 2 Collective Agreement are to be paid by the faculty member nominator/supervisor.
Access to professional development opportunities will also be provided through this postdoctoral researcher competition.
Eligibility
Faculty nominators/supervisors must:
- Hold a tenure-track or tenured academic appointment at Queen’s University; and
- Commit to providing an outstanding research environment and support, including the requisite funding to cover employee benefits for the two-year term.
Early career researchers are strongly encouraged to act as supervisors.
Co-supervision is encouraged especially where it can ignite interdisciplinary research.
Applicants must:
- Be external to Queen’s University at the time of application;
- Secure a research supervisor at Queen’s who will support and submit the application; and
- Have completed all requirements for their PhD prior to the start date of the appointment in 2026.
Research Security requirements
All applicants are required to comply with the Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern (STRAC Policy), and, as applicable, the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships (NSGRP). If the applicant’s proposed research, or research conducted by the nominator, falls under the Sensitive Technology Research Areas list, the STRAC policy requires the applicant to fill out a Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern attestation form.
How to apply
Applications must be submitted by a Queen’s faculty nominator/supervisor. A full application package must include the following components:
- Curriculum Vitae of the proposed postdoctoral researcher (maximum 10 pages)
- Research proposal of the proposed postdoctoral researcher (maximum 2 pages)
- Research environment statement describing the training environment, research infrastructure, and other relevant considerations (maximum 1 page)
- Curriculum Vitae of the supervisor
- Supervisor support letter describing the fit of the postdoctoral applicant within the supervisor’s research team and the alignment with the proposed project, as well as an attestation of available funding to cover benefits for the two-year term (maximum 1 page)
- Two external letters of recommendation (maximum 2 pages each)
The complete application package must be submitted as one PDF file with the subject line Postdoctoral Researcher Competition to research@queensu.ca.
Application deadline
Applications are currently closed. Information about upcoming deadlines will be posted here when available.
Applications will be reviewed by the VPRI Postdoctoral Researcher Competition Selection Committee, who will make recommendations for funding to the Vice-Principal Research and Innovation.
Accessibility considerations
The University will provide support in its recruitment processes to applicants with disabilities, including accommodation that takes into account an applicant’s accessibility needs. Please direct any questions about the Postdoctoral Researcher Competition to research@queensu.ca.
Previous VPRI postdoctoral program recipients
| Faculty | Postdoctoral researcher | Department/Faculty | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chris McGlory | Jonathan Mcleod | Kinesiology and Health Studies | CIHR |
| Jason Olsthoorn | Daniel Robb | Civil Engineering | NSERC |
| Dongmei Chen | Temitope Seun Oluwadare | Geography and Planning | NSERC |
| Fernanda Guarino De Felice | Fernanda Gomes deQueiroz Barros-Aragão | Biomedical and Molecular Sciences & Psychiatry | CIHR |
| Sharday Mosurinjohn | Jacob Boss | Religion | SSHRC |
| Faculty | Postdoctoral researcher | Department/Faculty | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bram Adams | Abdul Ali Bangash | Computing | NSERC |
| Jean Côté and Luc Martin | Stuart Wilson | SKHS | SSHRC/CIHR |
| Tom Hollenstein | Xiaomei Li | Psychology | SSHRC/NSERC |
| Sailaja Krishnamurti | Harshita Yalamarty | Gender Studies | SSHRC |
| Stéfanie von Hlatky | Emilie El Khoury | Political Studies | SSHRC |
| Stephen Scott | Dan Armstrong | DBMS | CIHR |
| Faculty | Postdoctoral researcher | Department/Faculty | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aristides Docoslis | Zhikun Chen | Chemical Engineering | NSERC |
| Laurent Beland | Mohsen Tamtaji | Mechanical and Materials Engineering | NSERC |
| Lisa Butler | Williams Agyemang-Duah | Public Health Sciences | CIHR |
| Paul Kubes | Filipe Oliveira | Biomedical and Molecular Sciences | CIHR |
| Rachel Baker | Joshua Buzolic | Chemical Engineering | NSERC |
| Rebecca Hall | Phil Henderson | Global Development Studies | SSHRC |