Postdoctoral fellows

Postdoctoral fellows are individuals who have completed a doctoral degree and who are seeking the opportunity to train further in a particular area of research.

Postdoctoral fellows at UBC can be either employees or award recipients, depending on the job description, level of direction and nature of the research grant.

  • A postdoctoral fellow is an employee where the individual plays a key role on a research team under the direction of and funded by the supervising faculty member.
  • A postdoctoral fellow is an award recipient where the individual is awarded a competitive fellowship from an external granting agency, which may or may not be paid through UBC, or receives financial support from a sponsoring agency. Award recipients don't have an employment relationship with UBC. They independently work under the mentorship of a supervising faculty member at UBC.

For information specifically related to the different categories, such as benefits and leaves, please see Postdoctoral Fellows as Employees or Postdoctoral Fellows as Award Recipients.

 Benefits and leaves

Health and welfare benefits are available to Postdoctoral Fellows as follows:

Postdoctoral fellows careers at UBC

Postdoctoral Fellow Coordinators

The PDF Coordinator in each faculty can assist postdoctoral fellows and their supervisors with postdoctoral related issues. Please contact the Dean’s Office to find out who your PDF Coordinator is.

Postdoctoral Fellows Office

The Postdoctoral Fellows office is located in the Faculty of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies at UBC Vancouver. The office has a wealth of information for PDFs including professional development opportunities & workshops. Postdoctoral Fellows at UBC Okanagan should refer to the Postdoctoral Fellows Resource in the College of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies.

UBC policies and procedures

It's is important to be familiar with the UBC Policy and Procedures Handbook that may guide certain aspects of your work at the university. Listed below are some of the policies that may be applicable to a postdoctoral fellowship at UBC:

Immigration process

Foreign postdoctoral fellows are required to obtain a temporary work permit in order to be employed and perform work for UBC.

Get details at our immigration for employees page.

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