Canada Postdoctoral Research Award: September 2026 Competition—Instructions for completing the Institutional Nomination and Commitment form

2026-09-10T20:00:00

On this page

• Technical support
• Introduction
• Identification
• Institutional nomination and commitment
• Accept and submit

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Technical support

If you have problems with SSHRC’s online application form system, contact our helpdesk: 613-995-4273 or webgrants@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca.

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Introduction

The Institutional Nomination and Commitment form, which is part of a Canada Postdoctoral Research Award application package, should be completed by the department head (or designate) at the institution where the proposed postdoctoral research will take place. This form is only available through the unique URL included in the system-generated email requesting a completed Institutional Nomination and Commitment form. As you might have to complete the Institutional Nomination and Commitment form at a later date, we recommend you save the system-generated email.

Your Institutional Nomination and Commitment form is available until the application has been submitted to SSHRC. This form must be verified and submitted before the applicant can submit their application package. The system will not accept incomplete applications.

• If you misplace the unique URL required to access this form, the applicant can resend the invitation.
• If you decline the invitation, the applicant will be notified by email.
• If you are removed by the applicant, you will be notified by email.
• If you try to make changes to the form after the applicant has submitted the application package, you will receive one of two messages: (1) Form update error, or (2) The application form has been forwarded to SSHRC.

You must complete three modules to submit this form: the Identification module, the Institutional nomination and commitment module, and the Accept and submit module.

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Identification

Fields identified in bold are required and must be completed.

Department head details

Names and initials

Any changes to the information displayed in this section will be reflected on the application form.

Position

Indicate your position (e.g., associate professor, director). If an applicable position is not listed, select “Other” from the list and type the information in the box provided.

Organization—Department/Division

Choose the organization and department/division by selecting from the “List…” button. The “Country” list will appear. Choose the country, the province or state (if applicable), then the organization. If the organization or department/division is not listed, select “Other” from the list and type the information in the box provided.

Supervisor details

Enter the full name of the proposed supervisor.

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Institutional nomination and commitment (maximum 2,300 characters)

SSHRC expects postdoctoral researchers will have the opportunity to build both academic (research and teaching) competencies and general professional skills, including knowledge mobilization, transferable to a variety of settings; have access to international and/or intersectoral opportunities whenever possible and applicable; and benefit from specific, effective mentoring and institutional support. Based on SSHRC’s Guidelines for effective research training, outline how your institution will support effective research training and career development for this candidate.

Applicant’s CV and form

You can preview the applicant’s CV and application by selecting the appropriate link at the top of the page. The system will generate a PDF of each file. You can view the application even if the applicant has not yet completed it.

Best practices and guidelines to limit unconscious bias

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and SSHRC are committed to promoting equity, diversity and inclusion to ensure equitable access across their programs.

The following best practices and considerations should be taken into account when drafting your Institutional Nomination and Commitment form:

Best practices

• Be accurate, fair, clear and balanced.
• Avoid being unduly personal.
• Support your points by providing specific examples of accomplishments where possible.
• Support superlative descriptors (e.g., excellent, outstanding) with evidence.
• Include only information that is relevant to the selection criteria (e.g., do not include information related to ethnicity, age, hobbies, marital status, religion, disability status, financial need, etc.).
• Avoid sharing personal information about the applicant. Such information might be helpful only in explaining academic delays or interruptions, and should be shared with caution.

Limiting unconscious bias

The agencies strongly encourage the use of inclusive language (e.g., “the applicant” or “they” instead of “he/she”). The form should be free of words or sentences that reflect prejudiced, stereotyped or discriminatory language of particular people or groups, or their institution.

Use of inclusive language has been shown to decrease unconscious bias during the evaluation process. For more information, refer to the Canada Research Chairs guidelines for letter writers on Limiting Unconscious Bias.

Letter writers should also refer to the tri-agency Excellence in Peer and Merit Review training modules as a guide for preventing unconscious bias in merit review.

For further information on unconscious bias, consult the Gender-based Analysis Plus webpage of Women and Gender Equality Canada.

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Accept and submit

You must successfully verify the form before you can submit it to SSHRC. When you select the “Accept and submit” module and then “Click here to verify your form”, the system will generate a Verification Report, which lists any fields that must be completed or corrected. Once you have successfully verified your form, you must select “I accept” and the completed Institutional Nomination and Commitment form will be submitted electronically to SSHRC. When you select “I accept”, it confirms you accept the terms of use—your electronic acceptance is the equivalent to your handwritten signature.