Postdoctoral
Each fall, the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences (PIMS) invites nominations of outstanding young researchers in the mathematical sciences for postdoctoral fellows for the following year. Candidates must be nominated by a mathematical scientist (broadly construed) or a department at a PIMS Member University. The fellowships are intended to supplement support provided by the sponsor, and are tenable at any of PIMS Canadian member universities: Simon Fraser University, the University of Alberta, the University of British Columbia, the University of Calgary, the University of Lethbridge, the University of Manitoba, the University of Regina, the University of Saskatchewan, and the University of Victoria.
PIMS postdoctoral fellows may apply to receive up to \$1000 (CAD) to fund research related travel, each academic year (starting September 1st, annually). To apply for these funds, please complete the PDF Travel Fund Application Form. PIMS also supports US-based Postdoctoral fellows via the PIMS-Simons program.
Typically the amount of the award is at least \$30,000 and the sponsor(s) is (are) required to provide additional funds to finance a minimum total stipend of \$60,000. PIMS Postdoctoral Fellows will be expected to participate in all PIMS activities related to the Fellow's area of expertise and will be encouraged to spend time at more than one site.
Award decisions are made by the PIMS PDF Review Panel. Please see the Current Job Posting for specific selection criteria. Postdoctoral candidates applying to PIMS and their sponsors are strongly encouraged to read our guidelines for preparing a successful application for further details.
Regular PIMS Postdoctoral Fellowships
The regular PIMS PDF nomination/application process takes place entirely online, utilizing the MathJobs service provided by the American Mathematical Society.
Sponsors should direct their selected nominees to apply online at www.mathjobs.org/jobs/PIMS.
Please be aware of these policies:
- Application is by nomination only; unsolicited applications will not be considered.
- Successful nominees who also receive another major fellowship continue to be PIMS PDFs but may not receive both stipends.
- Postdoctoral fellows associated with Collaborative Research Groups will go through the same nomination and rigorous review processes.
- All nominees must apply through MathJobs; including nominees for PIMS Collaborative Research Groups and those eligible for the CNRS designation.
- The detailed requirements for both sponsors and nominees are given on in the Job Posting for the current competition, and are specified in the award letter.
- Sponsors are required to contribute to provide a total of $30,000(CAD) in matching funds to finance a minimum total stipend of $60,000(CAD) per year.
Eligibility Criteria
Applications will be assessed against the eligibility criteria below. Applicants and Sponsors should review these carefully before submitting an application to ensure it is eligible for consideration. Each criterion must either be met directly, or applications should include a clear justification explaining why it has not been met.
- The candidate is a recent PhD graduate (PhD awarded after 31 December 2023) or has provided sufficient justification as to why not.
- The proposal is for a PDF with a new supervisor at a new institution, extending the candidate's professional network, or explains why this is not the case.
- The proposed supervisor has provided a supervision philosophy statement that outlines their approach to supporting highly qualified personnel (HQP), or has sufficiently justified why such a statement cannot be provided.
- The candidate has submitted all materials required for a complete application or has sufficiently explained any omissions.
- The proposed teaching workload does not exceed the equivalent of two courses per year or provides sufficient justification as to why not.
Nomination
PIMS Postdoctoral Fellowships are awarded by nomination. Candidates do not apply independently; each application is submitted in partnership with a sponsor at a PIMS member university. A nomination may come from a single sponsor or from a group of co-sponsors, and every nomination designates one lead nominator who coordinates the nomination and submits the required materials.
Nomination limits
Any individual may serve as lead nominator on at most 3 nominations per cycle. There is no limit on the number of nominations an individual may join as a non-lead co-sponsor. A lead nominator with more than one nomination will be asked to submit a ranking of those nominations in order of priority.
PIMS is deeply committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion in all of our programs. To reflect this, we are asking that the nominator’s supervision philosophy statement also include a description of the recruitment practices they used: how the opportunity was advertised, what outreach was undertaken, and what steps were taken to reach and encourage applicants from underrepresented groups. In parallel, PIMS will offer recruitment and EDI training and resources to support nominators in developing and strengthening these practices, which we hope will be valuable in their own right; nominators are welcome to draw on these in preparing their statement.
The deadline for complete nominations/applications: DECEMBER 1, 2026. Sponsor nomination forms are due DECEMBER 5, 2026. The first round of offers goes out to candidates in early February and PIMS abides by the AMS response deadline for candidate responses.
From time-to-time, in addition to the annual PIMS PDF Program, PDF positions are posted to mathjobs by PIMS member sites. Currently active positions can be found by searching for "pimspdf" on MathJobs.
CNRS / PIMS Designation
Through its partnership with CNRS, PIMS may designate eligible PIMS Postdoctoral Fellows as CNRS/PIMS Fellows. This is not a separate application or competition; all eligible applicants to the PIMS Postdoctoral Fellowship program are considered automatically.
Applicants to the regular PIMS Postdoctoral Fellowship program who are French citizens or who earned their PhD in France are eligible for consideration under the CNRS/PIMS partnership.
PIMS-Simons Postdoctoral Fellowships
Through funding from the Simons Foundation, and by leveraging contributions from the PIMS member institutions, PIMS has launched the PIMS-Simons Postdoctoral Fellowship Program as a way to recruit and recognize top postdoctoral researchers from around the world at our member institutions.
The PIMS-Simons PDF Program provides a top-up to the regular PIMS Postdoctoral Fellowship program to create competitive offers for the postdoctoral fellows who will potentially form the next generation of academic leadership in the mathematical sciences. All applicants to the PIMS Postdoctoral Fellowship programs (including CNRS/PIMS Postdoctoral Fellowships and nominees for a PIMS Fellowship associated to a PIMS CRG or PRN) are automatically considered for a PIMS-Simons Postdoctoral Fellowship. The flexibility of the program also enables us to sponsor postdoctoral fellows across international borders at our University of Washington Site. Candidates for the PIMS-Simons award at the University of Washington must already hold a postdoctoral fellowship and must be nominated by an eligible department. Travel support for PIMS-Simons Postdoctoral Fellows at the University of Washington is available; PIMS-Simons PDF's should see their award letter for details and should complete the PDF Travel Fund Application Form.
Please direct any technical questions to:
Program Assistant, PIMS
Email: programs@pims.math.ca