Understanding postdoc funding

Faculty members at the university frequently obtain funding to support their research, which sometimes can be used to hire a postdoc. Funding may come from a variety of sources, including a tri-agency grant, Mitacs, or an external partner.

If a faculty member has funding to hire a postdoc, they may choose to hire someone they already know (e.g. a recent PhD they have worked with or met in the past), hire someone who has reached out to them to inquire about postdoc positions, or post a job advertisement to solicit applications.

Additional considerations

If a postdoc is hired through the supervisor’s funding, they will be paid through the University of Waterloo payroll. The supervisor’s funding will also be used to cover any benefits related employer costs.

If funding is coming from an external partner, particularly an industry partner, there may be additional intellectual property or contractual obligations as a condition of the funding. If you are considering a postdoc that includes funding from an external partner, you are encouraged to ask your prospective supervisor about any agreements with the external partner.

Finding funding

If you’re interested in finding postdoc opportunities supported through a supervisor’s grant, we encourage you to reach out directly to prospective supervisors. See our tips for reaching out to supervisors for more information. 

Prospective postdocs may apply for a variety of funding opportunities to support their own postdoc appointment. Some of these opportunities are paid through the University of Waterloo payroll including University of Waterloo specific competitions (e.g. Provost’s Program for Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Scholars or Black and Indigenous Scholars) and tri-agency postdoctoral fellowships.

Additional considerations

University of Waterloo funding opportunities and tri-agency postdoctoral fellowships are paid through University of Waterloo payroll. Employer costs, including benefits costs, are paid centrally by the university.

These funding sources may have additional obligations, such as annual reporting. It is the responsibility of the postdoc to be aware of any obligations associated with their funding source.

Finding funding

Information about internal University of Waterloo funding opportunities, including eligibility and application deadlines, is available on our website. Information about tri-agency postdoctoral fellowships can be found in our external funding listing.

Once you have obtained funding, or as part of your funding application, you will need to find a supervisor. See our tips for reaching out to supervisors for more information.

In addition to tri-agency postdoctoral fellowships and internal University of Waterloo funding opportunities, there are many additional external funding sources available that a prospective postdoc may apply for and receive directly (e.g. tri-agency equivalent funding from other countries). In these cases, as the funder provides the salary directly to the postdoc, funds do not flow through the University of Waterloo and the postdoc is not on the University payroll.

Additional considerations

Payment is provided directly to the postdoc from the external funder, according to their processes. As pay does not come through the University of Waterloo payroll, postdocs paid externally are not eligible for University of Waterloo benefits.

External funding sources may come with additional Intellectual Property considerations or obligations. It is the responsibility of the postdoc to be aware of any obligations associated with their funding source.

Finding funding

There are many sources to search for external funding, for tips and suggestions, please visit our external funding webpage.

Once you have obtained funding, or as part of your funding application, you will need to find a supervisor. See our tips for reaching out to supervisors for more information.

Occasionally, a prospective postdoc has funding from an external source and their proposed supervisor also has funding available used either to bring the postdoc up to the minimum funding value (if the external funding does not meet the minimum requirements), or to provide the postdoc with an additional top-up of funds. In this case, the salary will come in part from the University, with the other portion paid directly to the postdoc from the external funder.

Additional considerations

University benefits eligibility is based solely on the portion of the total salary that is paid through University of Waterloo payroll. As such, postdocs paid in a combination of external and internal funding, will be eligible for benefits based only on the internal funding. As a result, postdocs paid through this framework are typically eligible for only part-time benefits and are required to pay part-time benefits premiums.

We recommend prospective postdocs who may be funded by this model inquire with Human Resources about their benefit eligibility and potential costs.

Finding funding

See the above sections on supervisor provided funding and externally paid funding for more information.