2018 John Charles Polanyi Prizes Postdoctoral Competition Instructions

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2018 John Charles Polanyi Prizes 

Postdoctoral Competition Instructions 

 

Page 1 of 3 

 

The School of Graduate Studies is pleased to announce the Council of Ontario Universities 

(COU) 2018 John Charles Polanyi Prizes Competition.   

 

In honour of the achievement of John Charles Polanyi, recipient of the 1986 Nobel Prize in 

Chemistry, the Government of the Province of Ontario has established a fund to provide 

annually up to five prizes to outstanding researchers in the early stages of their career who 

are continuing to post-doctoral studies or have recently started a faculty appointment at an 

Ontario university.  

 

 

Value of Prizes 

 

The prizes have a value of $20,000 each and will be conferred in the fall of 2018.  They are 

available in the areas broadly defined as Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, 

Literature, and Economic Science.   

 

McMaster’s Quota 

McMaster may submit up to three nominees in each category. 

(Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Economic Science)   

 

 

Eligibility Criteria 

 

To be eligible for an award, an applicant must:  



 

Be normally resident in Ontario;  



 

Have received their doctoral degree from any recognized university in the world on 

or after September 1, 2014, or, if the doctoral degree has not yet been awarded, be 

confident that they will have completed all degree requirements by April 30, 2018 

(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);  



 

Either be planning to continue to post-doctoral studies, or hold a faculty 

appointment, in a recognized publicly assisted university in Ontario.  

 

 

Application Instructions for candidates: 

 

School of Graduate Studies Deadline is Friday, December 1, 2017 

Each applicant must submit to 

[e-mail]

 the following 

documents as one PDF:  



 

The completed application form  

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2018 John Charles Polanyi Prizes 

Postdoctoral Competition Instructions 

 

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http://cou.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Polanyi-Application-2018-English-

Electronic-form.pdf

 



 

The applicant’s curriculum vitae (updates to which will not be accepted after 

submission) 



 

A one-page summary of the doctoral thesis, written by the applicant 



 

A brief statement of the research or scholarship to be undertaken during the period 

of the award, prepared by the applicant and not to exceed two pages (one additional 

page is allowed for diagrams, bibliography, etc.)  



 

Non-technical summary of the statement of research or scholarship, written by the 

applicant and not to exceed 500 words  

 

 

The candidate must also provide: 



 

Confidential letters from four assessors; at least two of the assessors must not have 

had any prior personal or professional association with the applicant (e.g., as a 

supervisor or a member of the applicant’s supervisory committee) and ideally are 

not at a university at which the applicant is, or has been, a student or an employee. 



 

An assessor’s letter should provide an evaluation of the applicant’s research or 

scholarship to date and the research or scholarship to be 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: 

o

 

John Charles Polanyi prizes recognize truly outstanding researchers and 

scholars for their work during their doctoral program and, where relevant, in 

their research and scholarship after doctoral study. The Selection Committee, 

when it makes its decisions about the applicants to be awarded the prizes, 

reviews both the record of research and publications and the description of 

planned research; neither, alone, is sufficient for recognition with a Polanyi 

Prize. 



 

The applicant must ask for the appraisals to be transmitted electronically by the 

application deadline of Friday, December 1, 2017 directly to the Dean of 

Graduate Studies by emailing 

[e-mail]

.  

 

 

Department Application Instructions 

 

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A letter of support is required from the department.   

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The letter is due on December 1, 2017. 

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Department Chairs and/or Proposed Supervisors of the Postdoctoral Fellow or 

fourth year doctoral applicant are required to provide a letter of support in Word   



 

Among other things, the letter should clarify the nature of the position the applicant 

will hold during the period of the prize   

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2018 John Charles Polanyi Prizes 

Postdoctoral Competition Instructions 

 

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

 

The letter of support will assist the AVP/Dean of Graduate Studies to craft the 

formal Institutional Nomination Letter required as part of the application. 



 

The Department is required to submit the letter of support by the deadline to 

[e-mail]

. 

 

 

Useful links: 

 

For further information, please visit the COU Website at:  

http://cou.on.ca/about/awards/john-charles-polanyi/

 

 

2018 John Charles Polanyi Prize Announcement: 

http://cou.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Polanyi-Announcement-2018-English.pdf 

 

 

Contacts 

 

We have provided the following email addresses if you have any questions or concerns:  

 

McMaster School of Graduate Studies inquiry email address 

[e-mail]

 

 

Council of Ontario Universities inquiry email address 

[e-mail]