At the present time PITP supports Research Networks, Meetings, Postdoctoral Fellowships, and stays at the PITP Visitor Centre. To apply for support for these an application form must be submitted.

Submitting a form

• Research Networks: application form
• Meetings (workshops and conferences), and schools: Meeting application form
• Postdoctoral fellowships: There is no form for fellowship applications
• Stays at the PITP Visitor Centre: Visitor application form

Download the appropriate form (Word document) and complete it.

Once the form is completed and your modifications saved, you can send the document using the following web interface.

After a successful upload, you should receive a confirmation number.

All enquiries can be sent to the email address:

PITP Research Networks

The research activities sponsored by PITP are organised in research networks. At the present time these networks are being reorganised, to align them with the new focus of PITP on themes in complex systems (including condensed matter physics, complex materials, biophysics, quantum optics, and topics in theoretical quantum chemistry). The purpose of the networks is to encourage synergy and joint research activities between groups of researchers, and between researchers and postdocs/students. This is done by encouraging these groups to use the PITP visitor centre, and where appropriate to organise meetings and/or schools. Note that individual researchers are also free to apply to use the PITP facilities, but network activities are given preference.

One may apply to join an existing network, or to form a new one. Individuals may also apply for PITP membership. All applications should use the application form.

Funding of PITP Activities

(1) Meetings (workshops and conferences), and Schools

Meetings can vary in size from conferences (up to several hundred participants), which typically cover fairly broad themes, to more focussed workshops. Summer Schools are intended for students and postdocs, although others can apply. PITP typically supports about a dozen meetings each year. All meetings are archived, with in some cases video records of presentations as well as the usual slide or powerpoint records of talks. The archives of previous meetings can be found on the PITP webpage, as well as notices of upcoming meetings.

Meetings are typically viewed as a means to an end, the end being the fostering of new research and/or the diffusion of new ideas. There is a strong emphasis on the involvement of students and postdocs in PITP meetings, where appropriate.

Researchers may apply for PITP support for the organisation of a meeting by submitting a meeting application form. This web-based application should be submitted by following the instructions at the bottom of this page. Note that PITP, as an international institute, has and will continue to support meetings in different parts of the world. However if the meeting is taking place outside Vancouver the organisers need to have some sort of plan for local organisation, and for the way in which that local organisation will be working with the PITP administration. Normally details of the organization will be specified in the application. Any queries on this can be addressed to the PITP director.

Applications for PITP funding for a conference should normally be submitted AT LEAST 8 MONTHS before they are supposed to take place. This is to give the scientific panel time to evaluate the application, and for the organisation of the meeting. If the meeting is a small one needing less organisation we can be flexible about this. An application that is felt by the evaluation panel to leave insufficient time for organisation will be rejected. Applications for funding for summer schools should be submitted AT LEAST ONE YEAR before they are supposed to take place.

All applications are reviewed by an international scientific panel, whose membership is independent of PITP. Applicants will be informed of the decisions as soon as possible.

(2) Postdoctoral Fellowships

PITP expects to have a number of postdoctoral fellowships available in the next few years. These postdocs will be of 2 kinds:

(i) PITP National Fellow: Postdoctoral researchers may apply for these fellowships to work in any of the Canadian institutions participating in this programme. The applicant should have agreed with a potential supervising Professor at this institution to apply for this fellowship, and the professor must nominate the candidate for a PITP fellowship tenable at that professor's institution. If the applications is accepted, PITP will then partially fund the fellow's salary and research expenses. The remainder will be provided by the supervising professor. The candidate will be based in the nominating institution but it is expected that they should take part in joint activites between the PITP nodes where appropriate, and benefit from the facilites provided by PITP. A professor can nominate more than one national fellow. The application should be accompanied by the candidate's CV, list of publications, research plan, and the names of at least 3 referees; and the candidate or supervisor should arrange to have reference letters sent to PITP. The research plan should explain, amongst other things, how the candidate will use the facilites that PITP provides. More details on the funding arrangements are available from the PITP administrator. The set of Canadian institutions participating in this programme is also available on request.

(ii) PITP International Fellow: Candidates for PITP fellowships from outside Canada may be nominated by a Professor from their home institution, to perform research at PITP in some field of theoretical physics. Sometimes this will be as part of some exchange agreement between the home institution and PITP, but the arrangements and the funding of these positions are flexible and will depend on the detailed research plan of the candidate. A professor can nominate more than one international fellow. The nomination should include an explanation from the nominating Professor of the rationale for the nomination, and the expectations for the research at PITP. The application should be accompanied by the candidate's CV, detailed list of publications, research plan, and the names of at least 3 referees; and the candidate or supervisor should arrange to have these letters sent to PITP, as above.

Applications for Postdoctoral fellowships will be accepted until Jan 15 of each year. The applications will be ranked by an international scientific panel, whose membership is independent of PITP. To support the best possible research in theoretical physics, the scientific panel will rank all the candidates together without consideration of the host institute. The panels will award fellowships in order of preference until that year's PDF budget is exhausted. We will attempt to get a decision to candidates before March 15th. Please note that all decisions are conditional on the availability of funding.

(3) Stays at the PITP Visitor Centre

To apply for research time at the PITP visitor centre, applicants should fill out the visitor application form. This should be done as far in advance of the visit as is possible, since we have to organise the space in the visitor centre, and this is particularly difficult in the summer. All information about stays at the visitor centre is on the application form.