Background

Living Skies Fellowship funding will support PDFs with at least two faculty supervisors from different disciplinary areas (CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC) and a mentor from outside of the academy such as a private or public sector partner. Projects should align with one or more of the Signature Areas of Research.

Round three proposals should demonstrate strong collaboration with partners such as:

  • Community organizations and members
  • Policymakers and government agencies
  • Industry leaders and professionals
  • Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)

Information on the first two cohorts of the Living Skies Postdoctoral Fellowship can be found here.

About

Fellowship opens for application January 5, 2026. The full application package will be available for download then.
  • Deadline: February 23, 2025, at 4:30 PM (CST)
  • Duration: 24 months
  • Value: $60,000/year 
  • Number of Awards: Up to 9 fellowships will be awarded, with no more than one award per Signature Area of Research

$45,000 of salary funding is provided by the Office of the Vice President Research and at least $15,000 of salary funding plus benefits (and research supplies/materials) must be provided by the supervisory team.  

How to apply

  • The call is open to all USask faculty who are eligible to supervise postdoctoral fellows

  • The supervisory team must consist of 2 faculty members who do not represent the same Tri Agency domain. The 3rd team member needs to be a non-academic, external to USask. Those with adjunct appointments are not considered external.

  • The supervisory team will nominate one PDF candidate. PDFs who are already at USask and who have already applied for a postdoc appointment as of December 31st are not eligible for this funding. 

Applications will be reviewed by the Living Skies Postdoctoral Fellows Selection Committee consisting of Signature Area leads and representatives from the CGPS Postdoctoral Advisory Committee.

All information must be typed, and include the following attachments:

Attachment 1: Supervisors/faculty members’ statement

  • Description of the supervisors’ academic and research background
  • Description of how the research interests/background of the nominated PDF fit with the team
  • Description of the proposed research setting

Attachment 2: Publications

  • List the 5 most relevant publications from both faculty members

Attachment 3: External mentor statement

  • Description of the external mentor’s research background, experience, professional activities and contributions related to the proposed transdisciplinary work

Attachment 4: Research Proposal (submitted by faculty member and nominated PDF)

  • Objectives of the proposed research program
  • Explanation of the transdisciplinary nature of program
  • Theoretical approach or framework
  • Methodology
  • Contribution that the research will make to the advancement of knowledge

Attachment 5: Funding contributions

  • Sources of committed/secured funding to support the matching (min. $10k/year for 2 years)
  • Outline research costs and funding sources

Attachment 6: CV from PDF

Questions?

Please contact leah.johnson@usask.ca.