University of Toronto John Charles Polanyi Prizes 2027

To honour the achievement of John Charles Polanyi, recipient of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the Ontario Government established a fund to award John Charles Polanyi Prizes annually to up to five outstanding researchers or scholars who are in the early stages of their careers and at Ontario universities. The prizes have a value of $20,000 each and are available in the areas broadly defined as Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Economic Science.

Table of Content

• Summary
• Benefits
• Requirements
• Application Deadline
• How To Apply

Summary

• Application DeadlineNot Specified
• Study LevelPostdoctoral Fellowships
• SponsorUniversity of Toronto
• City to studyToronto
• School to studyUniversity of Toronto
• Course to studyChemistry , Literature , Medicine , Physics , Physiology , Economic Science
• Eligible CountryAll Countries

Benefits

$20,000

Requirements

To be eligible for an award, applicants must:

1. Be normally resident in Ontario;
2. Have received their doctoral degree from any recognized university in the world on or after September 1, 2022, or, if the doctoral degree has not yet been awarded, be confident that they will have completed all degree requirements by May 31, 2026 (an applicant who was on parental leave between the time of completion of the doctorate and the time of application may have their period of eligibility extended by six months);
3. Either be planning to continue to post-doctoral studies, or hold a faculty appointment, in a recognized publicly assisted university in Ontario.

   Important: Nominating units must ensure candidates have been or will be offered a full-time postdoctoral position or faculty appointment that will be accepted before signing the application form.

Application Deadline

How To Apply

All applicants must submit to their graduate unit or their supervisor’s affiliated graduate unit (not the Dean of Graduate Studies as indicated in the COU accouncement) an electronic copy of the following documents in a single PDF package by the graduate unit deadline:

1. The completed application form – downloadable from the Council of Ontario Universities’ (COU) website;
2. Curriculum vitae (no page restrictions), including information concerning the application. Updates to curriculum vitae will not be accepted after submission;
3. A summary of the doctoral thesis (1 page max, to be written by the applicant);
4. A brief statement of research or scholarship to be undertaken during the period of the award, prepared by the applicant (maximum of 2 pages, an additional 1 page is allowed for diagrams, bibliography, etc.);
5. A non-technical summary of the statement of research or scholarship, written by the applicant (maximum 500 words);
6. Confidential letters (on letterhead and signed) from four assessors (emailed directly to the nominating unit’s graduate administrator before the unit deadline).

• • Mandatory arm’s length assessors: All applications must have two arm’s length assessors from among the four assessors. Eligible arm’s length assessors include those who have read the applicant’s work, seen them present at conferences, but have not actually been involved with the applicant. The arm’s length assessors cannot be:
    • a relative or close friend, or have a personal relationship with the applicant;
    • in a position to benefit from the funding of the application;
    • affiliated with the applicant’s current and/or proposed institutions;
    • professionally affiliated with the applicant, as a result of (but not limited to): being their supervisor or trainee; collaborating, publishing or sharing funding with the applicant, or having plans to do so in the immediate future.

• • Letters should focus on an evaluation of the applicant’s research or scholarship to date, and the research or scholarship being undertaken. In particular, the assessor should explain why the research is worthy of a John Charles Polanyi Prize, paying particular attention to the selection criteria outlined below. Assessor should also provide a short description of the relationship, if any, with the applicant.

• • Assessors must read and comment on the statement of research (or writing) being submitted as part of the application.

• • Note: COU allows external thesis examiners act as arm’s length assessors

For more information, visit University of Toronto scholarship webpage.