PDF Supervisors & Mentors

Postdoctoral Fellows (PDFs) are valued members of the Faculty of Education’s community. There are several support initiatives already in place for PDFs and their supervisors, and we are currently working on furthering such resources.

  • Postdoctoral Fellows are either funded through personal scholarships (e.g., Banting, SSHRC, CIHR, Killam) or by their sponsoring faculty member’s research grants. In the first case, PDFs are appointed as award recipients and work independently. In the second case, they are appointed as employees and work in a research team.
  • PDFs are always considered faculty at UBC. Please consult University Policy AP10 - Postdoctoral Fellows regarding the eligibility criteria and terms and conditions for postdoctoral fellow appointments.
  • All Faculty of Education PDF appointments should be processed through the Deans’ Office, whether the PDF brings her/his own funding or is paid through a faculty member’s grant.
  • Individual faculty members interested in recruiting PDFs can choose whether or not to advertise the position.
  • For more information on benefits, please consult Benefits HR and use the Benefits Cost Calculator form to determine benefits and deductions.
  • Postdoctoral Fellowships are typically temporary positions. Appointments are usually one-year long with a three-month probation period, and can be renewed for up to three years. With approval from the Dean, a PDF can renew an appointment for up to five years.
  • PDFs working half-time or more are eligible for benefits, including extended health plan, Canada pension plan, employment insurance, and parental leave. Whether PDFs are employees or award recipients, supervisors are obligated to pay for PDFs’ benefit package, with the exception of MSP (MSP is paid by the PDF). Please contact Human Resources for further and updated benefits information.
  • PDFs can be international or Canadian citizens/Permanent Residents.
  • PDFs can be concurrently hired as Postdoctoral Teaching Fellows (PDTFs). Alternatively, PDFs are eligible to apply for sessional instructor positions, and if successful, their secondary teaching appointment is processed as PDTFs. In all cases, a separate appointment will need to be processed through the Dean’s Office.

  • The ORE administers the Postdoctoral Fellows Conference Travel Grant. PDFs presenting their research as first authors at local, national, or international conferences can apply for this grant at any time. The application form can be found here.
  • The Postdoctoral Fellows Office (PDFO), located within the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, offers a number of useful resources for current and prospective PDFs: news and events, professional development opportunities, awards and funding, benefit packages, and other resources available at UBC.
  • The PDFO has developed a document entitled “A Guide for Postdoctoral Fellows”. This handbook provides basic information and advice for prospective and current UBC PDFs. Much of the information in this handbook is from the Faculty Relations website and in the Postdoctoral Fellows Office (PDFO) website. “A Guide for Postdoctoral Fellows” can be downloaded here.
  • Supervisors may contact Dr. Nancy Perry, Associate Dean, Research, and PDF Coordinator for specific academic and professional concerns.
  • The PDFO provides PDF Offer Letter templates and a PDFO Welcome Letter (a CWL login is needed to access these templates).

We would like to encourage faculty members to include PDF positions into next grant application. We can help! Contact Robert Olaj for advice and support on how to involve Postdoctoral Fellows into a research plan. Remember, PDFs are qualified junior researchers who are transitioning from a recent graduation to becoming established scholars in their fields, and as a result, they are skilled and competent individuals who can engage in original and independent research. PDFs can help mentor and coach graduate students, and they will actively work in the dissemination of the outcomes of collaborative investigations.

UBC offers and administers programs that provide financial help to PDFs. Some of these funding opportunities are external to UBC, however others are internal. The Postdoctoral Fellows Office has compiled an extended list of funding opportunities for PDFs working in different areas and disciplines. Visit the PDFO’s Funding Opportunities site for a comprehensive list.

Some of the most relevant PDF funding opportunities for the Faculty of Education are:

Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program

Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)

Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)

Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council (NSERC)

Killam Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (UBC)

Other Merit-based Funding Opportunities

Killam Postdoctoral Fellow Research Prizes (UBC)

Alice Wilson Award (Royal Society of Canada)

SSHRC Talent Award (SSHRC)

Dr. Patsy Duff,
Associate Dean, Research, PDF Coordinator

Dr. Rachel Fernandez
Associate Dean, Postdoctoral Fellows Office and Student Professional Development

Hourik Khanlian
Manager, Human Resources and Postdoctoral Affairs

Sarah Henderson
Coordinator, Human Resources and Postdoctoral Affairs