University of Pretoria Vice-Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme

The University of Pretoria (UP) invites applications from excellent doctoral graduates for the Vice-Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme. These fellowships enable recent doctoral graduates to join the University as postdoctoral researchers and to develop their research skills and academic careers through participation in areas that align with the University's research strengths and strategic priorities. The fellowships will be awarded on a competitive basis and the candidates' previous achievements will be important criteria in identifying suitable fellows, as will the alignment of their research interests with identified institutional priorities.

UP supports research in a range of fields, broadly grouped under faculties. These include priority research themes and research undertaken in institutes and centres within the faculties. The priority areas include biological sciences, data sciences, economics and business sciences, energy, engineering, food security, genomics, health sciences, humanities and social sciences, and sustainable development. Preference will be given to candidates with research interest and expertise in these fields.

For further information, applicants are invited to visit the University's website and the respective faculty web pages where additional information is available on discipline-specific research activities and on research themes, institutes and centres.

Aims of programme

• To allow established and early career academic researchers the opportunity to recruit individuals to join their research groups and to enhance their research productivity and scholarship.
• To provide outstanding young researchers with the opportunity to develop their research skills to transfer new skills to UP over the course of their fellowship.
• To allow UP PhD graduates the opportunity to publish from their PhD research, to establish a solid basis for future research, and to position themselves favourably for further career opportunities.
• To develop the careers of postdoctoral fellows as academics by encouraging participation in teaching and co-supervision of postgraduate students.
• To provide benefit to UP, through the presence of the fellows, in developing new, growing existing areas of research and enhancing research productivity through increased levels of publications and supervision of postgraduate students.

The postdoctoral fellow

A postdoctoral fellow is regarded as a young researcher (generally up to 40 years of age), with a doctorate, who conducts research at a university in collaboration with a senior research mentor in order to develop his/her research capabilities.

The UP Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme supports two categories of postdoctoral fellows.

• A UP Postdoctoral Fellow is a recent doctoral graduate from UP or another university.
• A Senior UP Postdoctoral Fellow is a doctoral graduate who has successfully completed a postdoctoral fellowship of at least two years and has authored publications as a postdoctoral fellow.

Applications: Requirements

Normally, only one UP postdoctoral fellowship per research leader (mentor) will be awarded annually. However, exceptions may be made in respect of strategically important research areas.

Research leaders appointed to the academic staff of the University will qualify for postdoctoral fellowship grants.  Applications may also be made in cases where a candidate fellow’s expertise could provide a strategic stimulus for a new and important research field, or where it would accelerate the development of a research group with high potential to develop in a priority research area.

Emerging researchers are encouraged to apply for postdoctoral grants with the support of the Head of Department (HoD).

The quality of the research plan in which the fellow will participate, and the potential for increasing the research output of the group through the award of the fellowship, serve as important criteria for the award of these fellowships.

Where more than one application is submitted per faculty in any one round of applications, the Dean of the faculty will be requested to indicate the order of priority for the applications. In general, the proportion of UP PhD graduate postdoctoral fellows should comprise no more than 40% of the faculty cohort of fellows. 

Requirements of fellowship candidates

Postdoctoral fellows are required to have completed a doctorate.

Candidates must have attained their doctorate no more than five years prior to their appointment as postdoctoral fellows.

The expertise and research focus of the postdoctoral fellow should indicate the potential to contribute to a noticeable increase in good quality research outputs for the research group. Therefore, the abilities and previous achievements of candidate fellows will be important criteria in selection of fellows.

In appointment of postdoctoral fellows, priority will be given to candidates from the designated groups, and specifically black South African candidates, in order to address previous imbalances and institutional targets through the development of a cohort of potential future academics.

A two-year UP Postdoctoral Fellowship may be awarded to recent UP PhD graduates (within one year of the award of their PhD).

Candidates will be encouraged to provide teaching and supervisory services to postgraduate students (up to a maximum of 12 hours per week, with additional remuneration in the form of a salary). In this case, the candidate is required to sign a declaration which provides that he/she will have to repay any award amount received, should he/she fail to complete the fellowship for any reason other than death, ill-health or injury. Mentors are required to inform the Dean of the teaching commitments expected of the postdoctoral fellow.

Duration of fellowship

UP Postdoctoral Fellowships are awarded for a period of up to two years. In the case of an application for a fellowship made for a two year period, this should be clearly stated in the original application.  At the end of the first year a satisfactory progress report will be required to justify renewal of the fellowship for the second year.

At the end of the last year of a postdoctoral fellowship, a final report must be submitted. UP Postdoctoral Fellowships will not be renewed for a third year.

UP Senior Postdoctoral Fellowships are awarded for a period of up to three years. At the end of each year of funding a satisfactory progress report will be required to justify renewal of the fellowship.

Value of the fellowship

UP Postdoctoral Fellowships and UP Senior Postdoctoral Fellowships consist of a tax-free bursary in an amount that is determined from time to time by the Vice-Principal: Research and Postgraduate Education. The amount may be supplemented from other sources of funding; approval for the supplementation must be obtained from the Vice-Principal: Research and Postgraduate Education.

Of funds are available, UP Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme funds may be allocated to supplement an externally-funded fellowship; in such cases, supplemental funds may be awarded only to provide a total bursary amount equal to the normal UP Postdoctoral Fellowship value as applicable at that time.

A UP Postdoctoral Fellowship may include a travel allowance up to an amount to be determined from time to time, made available to international fellows, for travel to and from the University of Pretoria at the commencement and termination of the fellowship period.  The allowance may also be used to cover the costs involved in obtaining the necessary visitor’s visa.  The relevant amount will be paid only upon the lodging of a claim through the International Students Office, after arrival. This allowance is not available to UP PhD graduates.

If funds are available, a once off grant, to be determined from time to time, may be awarded to postdoctoral fellows for conference presentations by the Fellow, during the multi-year support cycle. Requests must be made through the Department of Postgraduate Support and Recruitment).

The fellowship grant funds may not be used to contribute to costs related to the research work. The research leader (the grant-holder) should ensure that all the necessary infrastructure and research running costs are available to the fellow for the proposed research.