Call for applications: Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Fellows

This programme is not currently accepting applications. The programme has changed to: The Fulbright Canada - Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Joint Chair in Contemporary Public Policy: a one-year fellowship opportunity for U.S.- based American academics and researchers.

Each year, the Foundation selects up to five (5) Fellows who are: 

• Top-level researchers and professors in the social sciences and humanities. Early-career researchers and professors are encouraged to put forward their candidacy as much as candidates with extensive experience 
• Intellectuals rooted in their communities, with experience in community-based projects, and with an interest in experiential learning 
• Gifted and original teachers 
• Catalysts for change 
• Bold, inspired thinkers 
• Canadians and foreign professors from a variety of cultural and ethnic backgrounds; persons with disabilities; and from all gender identifications and sexual orientations 
• First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples 

What are the opportunities?

Fellows will participate in the training of tomorrow’s leaders and will contribute to a wholesale transformation of our society. At the same time, they will continue their own evolution as socially engaged thinkers:  

• They challenge their own perspectives through engagement with Scholars  
• They are enriched through contact with Mentors, who are also sociopolitical entrepreneurs  
• They leave their comfort zone and participate in an intensive experience, taking place from coast to coast to coast, and abroad  
• They become part of a vibrant community  
• They maximize the impact of their research  

The Fellows’ commitments

Fellows chosen by the Foundation commit themselves to the following over three years:  

• Participate in a strategic planning retreat with the Foundation community from 26-30 May 2019 in Orford, Quebec. 
• Conceive one intensive seminar (1 week) based on their area of expertise and relating to the theme of the current scientific cycle (“Power and Knowledge”) 
• Half the seminar should relate to texts that influenced the Fellows and can shed light on their intellectual journeys (which thinkers inspired them?). The other half should be grounded in their own writings in relation to the scientific cycle and to engaged leadership. First and foremost, the seminar should instill in Scholars a desire for enlightened action.  
• Fellows have the mission to create a curriculum for Scholars.   
• Run seminars through an intensive week of teaching, every morning for up to seven (7) days. 
• Work with Mentors, who will organize afternoon activities, and direct end-of-day discussions (debriefing workshops). 
• Participate actively in the planning and organization of the General Conference led by Scholars during their second year.  
• Work with the Scholars and Mentors on an initiative to disseminate the learnings from their Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation experience. This may take many forms: from a publication to a theatrical performance, from a fundraising gala to the organizing of a series of prizes. This initiative will help broaden public appreciation for the positive impacts of the program (to take place in the third year).  

The Fellows will receive financial compensation corresponding to the activities for which they have been selected (training, teaching, sharing and planning). In accordance with the services rendered, the Fellows will receive up to a maximum of $50,000 per year for three (3) years. 

The Fellows are required to attend at least one (1) Institute during their term of office (first year), in addition to the General Conference (second year) and the dissemination activity (third year). The Foundation provides a Travel Allowance of $15,000 per year for three (3) years, to enable them to participate in these events, to actively engage with the community and to benefit from learning opportunities. 

Each year, the Fellows are required to submit an activity report in a format outlined by the Foundation, in which they detail their contributions as they relate to their commitment.

Becoming a Fellow 

Each year, the Foundation and its scientific committee decide on a scientific theme (the “scientific cycle”) upon which the new members (Fellows and Mentors) will be selected. 

Each year, the Foundation launches an application process to attract candidates wishing to become Fellows.  

Candidates may be prompted to apply by actors in a variety of sectors of practice, by individuals in university communities, by civil society groups, or by members of the Foundation community.  

The Foundation submits a short list of candidates to the Application and Nomination Review Committee (ANRC). The Committee reviews the files and conducts interviews at the Foundation offices. The Committee then submits a final list to the Board of Directors for final approval.

The new Fellows are announced in the spring of each year. 

Required supporting materials for candidates

CV (maximum 10 pages): each candidate must submit a resume which demonstrates they possess qualifications related to the theme.

Candidates must also demonstrate the following accomplishments or attributes:

• Bold research
• Innovative teaching methods
• Experience in supervising and mentoring
• Academic and community-based collaborations
• Activity outside academia, social involvement

Personal presentation (2 pages maximum)

• Why are you applying? What difference do you think you make?
• Why is engaged leadership important to you?
• How have you been contributing to leadership development?
• To you, what is a leader?

Personal and professional presentation

• An academic or a non-academic text, a news article or a blog entry, a grey literature publication (maximum of 2 elements)
• Any material (audio, video, work of art or visual art) that will support the candidacy and demonstrate interest in preparing a leadership development plan related to the chosen scientific theme (maximum of 2 elements). When applying, the candidate may include a hyperlink in the body of their email of application.

Letters and other forms of reference

• A maximum of three (3) references from, for example, peers, scientific or other collaborators, senior individuals in your field, universities, leadership in non-university or non governmental organizations. Please ask your referees to send the letter directly to the Foundation mentioning the candidate’s name in the subject line.
• Above all, these references should highlight the capacity and desire of the candidate to devote themselves to the transmission and dissemination of knowledge within the Foundation, with the goal of producing a cohort of Scholars who will reflect the values of Inclusive Excellence and Engaged Leadership.

Screening Interviews in Montreal 

To apply, please send all documentation in PDF format, by February 22, 2019, to the following address: competition.2019@fondationtrudeau.ca

The Foundation will not accept paper files at the Foundation's mailing address.