PIMS Postdoctoral Competition

The Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences (PIMS) invites nominations of outstanding young researchers in the mathematical sciences for postdoctoral fellowships beginning in the academic year 2024-2025. Candidates must be nominated by a mathematical scientist (broadly construed) or a department at a PIMS Member University. These fellowships are intended to supplement support provided by the sponsor, and are tenable at any of the PIMS Canadian member universities: 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, Simon Fraser University and the University of Victoria.

Program Features

Nominees must have a PhD or equivalent (or expect to receive one by December 31, 2024) and applicants and sponsors are responsible for ensuring that any institutional requirements at the sponsoring institution(s) are also met. The fellowship may be taken up at any time between September 1, 2024 and January 1, 2025. The fellowship term is one year and is renewable, contingent on satisfactory progress, for one additional year. The amount of the PIMS award is typically $30,000 and the sponsor(s) is (are) required to provide additional funds to finance a minimum total stipend of $55,000 per year. PIMS Postdoctoral Fellows are 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. To ensure that PIMS Postdoctoral Fellows are able to participate fully in Institute activities, they may not teach more than two single-term courses per year. All candidates for PIMS Postdoctoral Fellowships in Canada will also be considered for the PIMS Simons Award. This award provides a $10000/yr salary supplement to the top candidates in the competition.

Application Process

The PIMS PDF nomination/application process takes place entirely online, utilizing the MathJobs service provided by the American Mathematical Society. Potential sponsors should direct their nominees to apply online at mathjobs.org/jobs/PIMS. (Detailed instructions regarding all aspects of the MathJobs application procedure may be found in the online MathJobs user guides.) Please note that all nominees, including those applying for the PIMS-CNRS Postdoctoral Fellowship, must apply through MathJobs. Candidates applying for a position associated with a PIMS Collaborative Research Group (CRG) or PIMS Research Network (PRN) should check this page for a CRG specific competition and discuss their application with the CRG/PRN leaders.

• Nominees will be asked to upload the following documents:
  1. An AMS standard cover letter
  2. A list of publications (highlighting their 3 most important publications).
  3. A curriculum vitae (CV).
  4. A statement of research interests. This statement should include details of specific project(s) to be worked on with the their sponsor and should be coordinated with a similar statement to be provided by the sponsor. Special justification statements should be included if the applicant plans to either (i) continue to work with his/her PhD advisor, (ii) remain at their current institution (iii) if the time since their PhD was awarded is longer than 3 years.
  5. An equity, diversity and inclusivity statement. This statement should highlight your current contributions and future plans to advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion, with attention to your own experiences and any supporting activities for the success of students from racial, ethnic, and gender backgrounds that are underrepresented in mathematics. If you have not yet had the opportunity for such experience, please address any future plans.
• Nominees are required to specify the name and contact information of one or more sponsors on the application form. The nominee should select the option to "notify these people by email on submission" when identifying their sponsor(s). These sponsors will be contacted and asked to provide details of their support through a separate form. Applicants applying for a position which involves more than one PIMS site (either as a single application with sponsors at multiple sites, or as multiple independent applications with independent sponsors) should submit a single application and use the options in the "PIMS Site" section of the form to describe their intentions. The sponsor nomination form collects details of the financial commitment from each sponsor, along with a letter of support describing your fit with their research program. The sponsor nomination form is due by December 5th, and must be received for the application to be considered complete.
• Nominees are required to specify at least two additional references addressing the selection criteria below. All references will be contacted (by MathJobs via email) requesting that they upload their reference letters. At least one reference should preferably be an outside referee separate from the candidates PhD advisor and their sponsor. References are due by December 5th, and must be received for the application to be considered complete.

Selection Criteria

• The scientific qualifications of the candidate
• Excellence of the proposed research
• Demonstrated scientific leadership
• The fit between the research interests of the candidate and those of the sponsor
• Awareness of dimensions of diversity and contributions to initiatives involving equity, diversity and inclusivity initiatives

Both the PIMS PDF candidate and their sponsor are expected to work towards increasing the inclusion and advancement of underrepresented groups in the mathematical sciences as one way to enhance excellence in research and training.

Procedure and Deadlines

1. Candidate must submit their application to MathJobs before December 1, 2023.
2. All three references and the sponsor nomination form(s) must be received by December 5th, 2023.