Overview
In honour of the achievement of John Charles Polanyi, recipient of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the Ontario Government established a fund to provide up to five prizes annually to outstanding researchers or scholars who are in the early stages of their career and at Ontario universities.
The prizes (tax-exempt) are valued at $20,000* each and are available in the areas broadly defined as Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Economic Science. For full information, including eligibility, application form and selection criteria, and notes for assessors, please visit the Council of Ontario Universities website.
*Please note, the prize amount does not meet University of Waterloo’s minimum annual postdoctoral salary, as outlined in the postdoctoral scholar guidelines. To be appointed as a postdoc, successful applicants must be in receipt of additional funding (from their supervisor or external sources) to meet the minimum salary requirement.
Application details
Applicants wishing to receive endorsement from the University of Waterloo, must email a pdf of their application materials to Heidi Mussar in Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (GSPA) by March 2, 2026. A complete application is comprised of the following:
- An application form completed by the applicant and found on the agency website;
- The applicant’s CV;
- A one-page summary of the applicant’s doctoral thesis;
- A brief statement of the research to be done during the period of the award (max 2 pages). One additional page is allowed for diagrams and/or bibliography;
- A non-technical summary of the statement of research (max 500 words);
- Four confidential reference letters that provide an evaluation of the applicant's research or scholarship to date and the research to be undertaken; they should also include a short description of their relationship, if any, with the applicant. Reference letters (signed and on letterhead) must be emailed directly from the referee to Heidi Mussar by March 2, 2026.
Additional guidance on selecting referees
- At least two of the referees must not have had any prior personal or professional association with the applicant (e.g., as a supervisor, a member of the applicant’s supervisory committee, or a co-author). Essentially, these “arm’s length” referees must not have any real or perceived interest in the success of the application;
- Having referees from the same institution is permitted, but ideally, at least two of the assessors will not be affiliated with a university at which the applicant is, or has been, a student or an employee.
Waterloo’s adjudication process
All applications received will be evaluated by an adjudication committee consisting of senior leaders and academics at the University of Waterloo. All committee members will be required to undergo unconscious bias training prior to reviewing the applications and determining which candidates will receive institutional endorsement.
Institutions are limited to submitting a maximum of three applications from each of the five areas of study (Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Economic Science).
GSPA will submit applications selected for institutional endorsement to the Council of Ontario Universities by their deadline of May 29, 2026.
Questions regarding this competition at Waterloo can be directed to Heidi Mussar in Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs.