Waterloo is home to over 350 postdocs across all six of our faculties; Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs is here to:
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Support the University of Waterloo postdoc community
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Advocate for, secure, and promote postdoc resources and benefits
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Establish guidelines for postdoctoral appointments
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Offer guidance to faculty and staff who hire postdocs
What is a postdoctoral scholar?
A postdoctoral scholar (postdoc) is an individual who holds a doctoral degree and is seeking further training in an area of research to support their career objective of becoming an independent researcher either inside or outside of academia. Postdoctoral scholars are valuable members of the University of Waterloo community and make important contributions to research and the community.
Did you know?
Postdoctoral scholars may also be referred to as postdocs, postdoctoral researchers, postdoctoral fellows, or PDFs, but are a separate job category from research associates or research assistants. At the University of Waterloo there are three distinct categories of postdoctoral scholars: postdoctoral scholar employees (type A), postdoctoral scholar employees (type B), and postdoctoral scholar associates.
Stay informed. Get connected.
News
Postdoc Engagement Liaison updates
Postdoc Engagement Liaisons are hard at work to advocate for the postdoc community at the University of Waterloo.
Postdocs head to the rink
Postdocs and their families were invited to join Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs at Columbia Icefield to see the Women’s Waterloo Warriors hockey team take on the Guelph Gryphons.
Postdoctoral scholars welcomed with Provost luncheon
Postdoctoral scholars who joined the University of Waterloo under the Provost’s Program for Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Scholars or the Provost’s Program for Black and Indigenous Postdoctoral Scholars and their supervisors were invited to have lunch with Dr. James Rush, Vice-President, Academic and Provost and Dr. Justin Wan, Interim Co-Associate Vice-President, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs.
Waterloo Postdoc Profiles
Lauren Straatman
Lauren completed her Bachelor of Kinesiology at the University of Toronto in 2019, followed by a PhD at Western University in 2023. Lauren is now a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo, where she works in the Mobilize Clinical Biomechanics Lab researching knee osteoarthritis (OA) and the impact of a variety of structural and illness factors in knee OA progression and severity.
“If there’s one thing I learned, it’s that you shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help. I tried to figure everything out on my own because I assumed asking for help would show a weakness. I couldn’t have been more wrong."