Our deadlines
Post-doctoral researchers
O'Brien Graduate Fellowships
Boulton fellows
Wainwright fellows
Post-doctoral researchers
The Faculty of Law hosts a handful of postdoctoral researchers each year. The following details applicationÌýand funding requirements. Applications are reviewed only once per year, and the deadline to apply is February 1st of the year preceding the academic year during which the fellowship will be taken.
Nota bene: Professors who are considering hosting a postdoctoral candidate through their internal funds must remember to calculate an additional 28% in benefits to the minimum salary.
There are several important steps to consider when applying for postdoctoral positions, outlined below:
- The prospective candidate should first liaise with a potential supervisor and obtain a confirmation that this professor is willing to supervise him or her. A professor’s willingness to supervise in no way obliges the Faculty to accept the candidate.
- The candidate must then fill out our Application FormÌýand send it to the research.law [at] mcgill.ca (subject: Postdoctoral%20application) (Research Office) of the Faculty of Law. This form must state who the potential supervisor will be and where the candidate intends to obtain external funding.
- Please note our application deadline. No application will be accepted after that date. Applications are assessed only after the deadline has passed; the Faculty requires 4-6 weeks to review them.
- The Faculty of Law does an internal review of all of the postdoctoral applicants and decides to whom they would like to make conditional offers. If a candidate is accepted, the Faculty of Law sends a letter of invitation to the potential postdoc. This letter will say that acceptance is conditional on obtaining funding and a valid work permit.
- Candidates must find external funding. Â鶹Çø regulations stipulate that a postdoctoral student must obtain external funding equal to or greater than $48,000ÌýCAD per annum. It is solely the candidate’s responsibility to find and obtain such funding. The Faculty does offer institutional support on these applications, particularly with regards to the supporting documents that we will need to provide. However, it remains the candidate’s job to ensure that the application is complete and done properly.
- Although all applications must go through a formal process before an official invitation is made, the Faculty may issue an expression of interest to assist you in securing funding as required. Although it will be our pleasure to try and accommodate candidates, if you require such an expression of interest, it is preferable to contact us four (4) to six (6) weeks before the sponsor’s deadline in order to allow for processing and approvals.
- Once the candidate has secured funding, the Faculty will send the candidate a formal Letter of Invitation that he or she may use to obtain a work permit (if necessary). Once the candidate has fulfilled these conditions, he or she will be accepted into the postdoctoral program.
- Only candidates who have recently been awarded (within 5 years) a PhD or equivalent are eligible to hold a postdoctoral position.
- Kindly consult the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies website for more information.
Funding
Postdoctoral Fellows must obtain external funding. Most Canadian students are funded through theÌý, while many students who are also Quebec Residents obtain funding from theÌý.
Both Canadian and International postdoctoral students are eligible to apply forÌý; however, there are very few of these awards offered each year. The Faculty may only nominate one candidate for the Banting Fellowship each year (and, some years, exceptionally two). A call for proposals is circulated to all Faculty members sometime in April inviting them to propose potential candidates. If you are interested in applying, please inform your supervisor or intended supervisor. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Faculty of Law Research Office.
Most international students obtain funding from their own governments. They can also apply for theÌýQuebec Merit Scholarship for Foreign StudentsÌý(Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur, Recherche, Science et Technologie), which is a non-renewable one-year scholarship with a $35,000.00 CAN value.
Please consult the Â鶹Çø Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies website for more information on requirements for postdoctoral studies at Â鶹Çø. Jurists who are interested in air and space law fields can also consider the Erin Arsenault Postdoctoral Research Fellowships offered by Â鶹Çø's IASL.
Contact
Questions and/or documentation should be research.law [at] mcgill.ca (subject: Postdoctoral%20Fellowships) (emailed).
Alternatively, applications may be sent by mail to:
Research Office
Room 503, New Chancellor Day Hall
Faculty of Law, Â鶹Çø
3644 Peel Street
Montreal, Quebec
Canada H3A 1W9
Please kindly allow aÌýminimum of 3 weeksÌýfor an answer to each communication with our office.
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Faculty fellowships
O’Brien Graduate Fellowships for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism
The O’Brien Graduate Fellowships were established in 2005 through a very generous gift from David O’Brien (BCL ’65) for outstanding graduate students studying in the area of human rights and legal pluralism in the Faculty of Law.
This entrance fellowship is awarded annually by the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Office upon recommendation of the Faculty of Law. Fellows become members of the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism.Ìý
Learn about theÌýO'Brien Graduate FellowshipÌý
Boulton fellowships
Please note that we are not seeking applications for this fellowship at the moment.Ìý
The Boulton Fund was established in 1983 under the terms of a bequest of the late A. Maxwell Boulton, QC (1909-1981), BA 1930, BCL 1933.Ìý
The purpose of the Fund is to enable the Faculty to invite, from time to time, a senior scholar to Â鶹Çø to participate in the teaching and intellectual life of the Faculty as Boulton Visiting Professor; and to appoint one or more junior scholars, Boulton Fellows, in each academic year, in order to assist them in carrying out a research project of significance while gaining some teaching experience in the Faculty.Ìý
The Trustees of the Boulton Fund naturally look with particular favour upon research projects that have significance to the Canadian legal system and legal community although the subject matter of the project need not bear directly upon a subject of Canadian law. It is normally assumed that the finished product will be published in some form or another.Ìý
How to applyÌý
Fellows are appointed upon an open competition.Ìý
Applications for the Boulton Fellowships should include a letter of intent, a curriculum vitae, a detailed statement of research project, and the names of three referees. Applications should be addressed to the Boulton Fund Administrators, Faculty of Law, Â鶹Çø. For inquiries, email staffappointments.law [at] mcgill.ca.Ìý
Wainwright fellowships
Please note that we are not seeking applications for this fellowship at the moment.Ìý
°Õ³ó±ð Wainwright Fund was established under the terms of the will of the late Arnold Wainwright, QC (1879-1967), BA 1899, BCL 1902, DCL 1963 of the Montreal Bar. Mtre Wainwright taught Civil law at Â鶹Çø from 1909 to 1934. His merits as a teacher of the Civil Law for over twenty-five years were recognized by the University in 1934 when it named him Emeritus Professor upon his retirement. In 1963, the degree of Doctor of Civil Law honoris causa was conferred upon him by the University.Ìý
Mtre Wainwright bequeathed the residue of his estate to Â鶹Çø for the use of the Faculty of Law; in so doing, he intended to promote the scholarly study of the Civil Law of Quebec, which had always remained his abiding interest throughout his long and distinguished career.Ìý
The Faculty has since appointed a number of Wainwright Fellows, many of whom now hold academic positions in Canadian law faculties.Ìý
How to apply for a Wainwright Fellowship.Ìý
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