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Becoming a Research Student or Fellow
Find and apply for a position at SickKids' RTC
View student and fellowship positions at SickKids' RTC by expanding the sections below!
Get a feel for real research work before embarking on your post-secondary education.
The Student Advancement Research (StAR) Program
The Student Advancement Research (StAR) program provides Indigenous, Black, and Filipino high school students with a first-hand perspective of the research underway at world-class SickKids Research Labs over six weeks in the summer.
Learn more about the StAR Program
Funding and Benefits
Student funding levels vary depending on what kind of position you're doing at SickKids. Please speak to your supervisor or prospective supervisor for more information. For the full list of SickKids researchers, visit our dedicated researchers page.If you're interested in volunteering at SickKids, visit our dedicated Volunteering page for current opportunities!
If you're interested in working with a SickKids scientist during the school year, please contact your undergraduate department or the scientist you’re interested in working with for information on how to become a research student at SickKids.
Funding and Benefits
Undergraduate student funding levels vary depending on what kind of position or research you're doing at SickKids. Please speak to your supervisor or prospective supervisor for more information.You can find the full list of SickKids scientists by visiting our Reseachers page from the link below.
Graduate student research placements are coordinated via your graduate program at the University of Toronto. Please contact your program for more information.
Non-University of Toronto students can pursue their research project at SickKids (either their thesis/dissertation or a collaboration or learning experience) if they are under the supervision of a scientist appointed to the SickKids Research Institute. Please contact the scientist you’d like to work with for more information.
You can find the full list of SickKids scientists by visiting our Reseachers page from the link below.
Funding and Benefits
Graduate student funding levels vary depending on what kind of position or research you're doing at SickKids. Please speak to your supervisor or prospective supervisor for more information. For the full list of SickKids researchers, visit our dedicated Research page.
Fellowship Positions
Research fellowships are most often directly coordinated with the lab’s Principle Investigator. You may also want to check out SickKids’ Careers site, as postdoctoral positions are occasionally posted.
To see current postdoctoral fellowship positions, visit our Careers page for opportunities.
Postdoctoral Advisory Committee (PDAC)
The Postdoctoral Advisory Committee (PDAC) is open to all postdoctoral fellows at SickKids, and represents the interests and needs of postdoctoral fellows. PDAC facilitates opportunities for networking, collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and career development by hosting seminars, coffee hours and other events. Under the umbrella of the Research Training Centre, we keep postdoctoral fellows connected to resources, information, and supports needed for their research and career plans.
Funding and Benefits
Postdoctoral funding levels vary depending on what kind of position or research you're doing at SickKids. Please speak to your supervisor or prospective supervisor for more information. For the full list of SickKids researchers, visit our dedicated researchers page.Why pursue your research at SickKids?
SickKids is Canada’s largest paediatric research centre, and its Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning is home to over 2,800 research student, postdoctoral, scientific, and staff researchers pursuing groundbreaking research in Canada.
SickKids research students and fellows work with top researchers in their fields and have exclusive opportunities to translate their research into improved patient treatment and care. All members of the SickKids Research Institute, whatever their particular research skills, are tasked with considering how their research may impact child health.
By coming to SickKids as a research student or fellow, you'll help create a critical mass of progressive academic achievement. You’ll have access to our expertise, state-of-the art equipment, technologies, and services provided by core facilities, and the financial and educational support of the Research Training Centre.
Our research activities are coordinated under seven major research programs, covering the spectrum of child health from wellness and normal development to causes of diseases, diagnostics, treatments, and therapies. Through these programs, we collaboratively bring together more than 5,000 scholarships, fellowships and grants providing more than $300 million in support for cutting-edge research that approaches child health from all angles and disciplines.
Funding and benefits
Undergraduate student funding levels vary depending on what kind of position or research you're doing at SickKids. Please speak to your supervisor or prospective supervisor for more information.
For the full list of SickKids researchers, visit our dedicated Researchers page.
Graduate student stipend levels are set by faculties and departments at the University of Toronto and other universities. Most graduate students at SickKids are funded in accordance with the Faculty of Medicine's Harmonized Stipend Agreement .
Visit the University of Toronto Graduate Students' Union website for more information.
A research fellow is any individual pursuing full-time research after the completion of a PhD, MD degree, or health professional degree. Fellows are eligible to remain in a fellowship position at SickKids until the end of their sixth year of research fellowship training at any organization.
Research fellows are paid a minimum salary corresponding to their years of research fellowship experience from a source agreed upon with their supervisor (i.e. supervisor's grant, Restracomp, external award), and are eligible for an annual increase. Supervisors may choose to pay research fellows above the minimum salary level for their years of experience.
The minimum required salary levels for research fellows are as follows effective July 3, 2023:
|
Postdoctoral Experience |
Year |
Minimum Salary |
|
0 to 364 days |
Year 1 |
$50,000 |
|
1 year + 1 day |
Year 2 |
$52,500 |
|
2 years + 1 day |
Year 3 |
$55,000 |
|
3 years + 1 day |
Year 4 |
$57,500 |
|
4 years + 1 day |
Year 5 |
$60,000 |
|
5 years + 1 day |
Year 6 |
$60,000 |
Research fellows being paid through SickKids (rather than directly by a funding agency or other source) are eligible to participate in the SickKids dental and extended health benefit plan. Your prospective supervisor will share detailed information about the benefit plan with you as part of the hiring process. (Research fellows with their own funding, who are not paid through SickKids, should investigate an individual plan through an insurance carrier, or through the private insurance carrier provided through SickKids.) Fellows are also entitled to other benefits, including vacation, sick leave, etc.
Clinical Research Fellows are not governed by the same salary and benefits guidelines. They are subject to the same conditions, rules, and requirements as a Clinical Fellow and require a Postgraduate Education Certificate of registration or Independent Practice certificate or registration from the CPSO or RCDS.
Moving to Toronto
Prepare for your move to Toronto with information on housing, utilities, driving, child and medical care, and more.
Resources of international research students and fellows
Find general information on the immigration process for foreign nationals (people who are neither Canadian citizens nor permanent residents) coming to SickKids as research students, both undergraduate and graduate, and fellows.
In any cases where the information provided differs from the information provided by the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario, or a licensed immigration lawyer, the information provided by the government or your legal advisor should be taken as authoritative.
You can also contact the Research Training Centre for questions about coming to SickKids as an international research student or postdoctoral fellow.
Contact the RTC
Have a question? Get in touch with us today!
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Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards
View scholarships, awards, and fellowships available to research students and fellows who are a part of the’ RTC.