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
$20,000
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, 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);
- either be planning to continue to post-doctoral studies, or hold a faculty appointment, in a recognized publicly assisted university in Ontario.
Application Deadline
April 14, 2026
Application Process
The application must be sent to the university at which the applicant proposes to undertake the research supported by the award. For the University of Ottawa, the application must be submitted to the Financial Aid and Awards Service by email at [email protected] and must include:
- an application form completed by the applicant. Application forms (in English and French) are available at http://cou.ca/about/awards/john-charles-polanyi/;
- the applicant’s curriculum vitae (updates to which will not be accepted after submission);
- a one-page summary of the applicant’s 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.);
- a non-technical summary of the statement of research or scholarship, written by the applicant and not to exceed 500 words;
- 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, a member of the applicant’s supervisory committee, or a co-author) and ideally are not at a university at which the applicant is, or has been, a student or an employee.
The applicant must ask the assessors to send their letters directly, and in electronic format, to the Financial Aid and Awards Service by email at [email protected].
Notes for the Assessors: An assessor’s letter, signed and on letterhead, 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. Assessors should also provide a short description of their relationship, if any, with the applicant.
Selection Criteria
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.
Please visit the John Charles Polanyi website for more details.
* The information on this page is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment from the University of Ottawa.
The selection committee’s decisions are final. The dean (or delegate) of the faculty offering the program will hear appeals only on procedural grounds.