CAPS Publications / Publications de l'ACPP

2025 September – “7 Ways to Value Postdocs Beyond Postdoc Appreciation Week“
2025 Septembre – “7 façons de valoriser les postdocs au-delà de la semaine d’appréciation des postdocs”
Recommendations from CAPS executive council about how the research community can value postdoctoral scholars year-round.
Recommendations du conseil exécutif de l’ACPP sur les façons dont la communauté scientifique peut valoriser les chercheuses et chercheurs postdoctoraux tout au long de l’année.
Link to article / Lien vers l’article (EN and FR)

2024 November – “All is not well with Canada’s postdoctoral scholars: current challenges and solutions for researcher well-being”
Editorial written by CAPS Executives Dr. Henny Bennett and Dr. Micah Brush. Submitted as a CSPC 2024 conference editorial.
Link to pre-publication submission

2024 November 14th – “Is academia the new alternative? Professional development opportunities and career outcomes for Canada’s postdoctoral researchers”
Short Talk presented by CAPS Chair Dr. Henny Bennett and former Chair Dr. Edris Madadian.
Link to slides

2024 October 30th – “Challenges and Opportunities after Graduate School: 10 year Longitudinal Analysis of the Canadian Postdoc Experience”
Presentation at the 62nd Annual CAGS Conference in Toronto, highlighting postdoc career development and challenges postdocs face with a focus on gender disparities in research.
Link to slides

2024 October 29th – “About CAPS/ACPP and our work on fellowships and employee status”
Presentation at the Annual CAPA Conference in Toronto, highlighting the issues of postdocs without employee status, an experience faced by too many fellowship holders in Canada.
Link to slides

2024 October 28th – 14th Annual General Meeting of CAPS/ACPP
Presentations by CAPS and other speakers at the 14th Annual General Meeting of CAPS/ACPP held in a hybrid format on Zoom and at Toronto Metropolitan University. 
Links for slides

2022 – “How administrative ambiguity and devaluating language hurts Canadian postdocs”
Opinion article written by CAPS Executive members, published in University Affairs (Jan 2022). “Redefining how university and institutional administrations see this vulnerable population of highly skilled workers is an important first step toward countering inequity and mending the gender gap in academia” – an article that illuminates why CAPS/ACPP changed its French name and is now CAPS/ACPP.
Link to article

2019 – “Statut en balance”
French language article about CAPS/ACPP’ advocacy work on behalf of Canadian postdocs written by David Brosseau for Quartier L!bre (Jan 2019).
Link to article

2018 – “Postdoctoral scholars in Canada call for better recognition, funding and career training”
Article written by Léo Charbonneau from University Affairs about CAPS’ 2018 Canadian Science Policy Conference panel including comments from panelists.
Link to article

2018 – CSPC interview with Joseph Sparling (Chair, CAPS/ACSP)
Video interview (~7 minutes) following CAPS/ACPP’ panel at the 2018 Canadian Science Policy Conference (Dec 2018; published online by CSPC).
Link to video

2018 – “Slowly but surely, postdoc advocacy is working”
Post by Brianne Kent on The Black Hole blog published by University Affairs that includes a summary of the recommendations made by CAPS/ACPP during the 2018 Canadian Science Policy Conference panel (Dec 2018).
Link to article

2018 – “Why Canada’s immigration regulations may be pushing postdocs out”
Article by Chris Woolston in Nature based on findings from CAPS/ACPP 2018 Immigration Report and 2016 National Survey. Includes quotes from interviews with Joseph Sparling (Chair) and Anni Hämäläinen (VC Operations) of the 2018 CAPS/ACPP Executive Council.
Link to website – Link to pdf version

2018 – “Réinventer le système de formation postdoctorale canadien”
French language article written by François Potus and Sara Teinturier (2018 co-Vice Chairs French Communications, CAPS/ACPP) along with Joseph Sparling (2018 Chair, CAPS/ACPP) for Découvrir Magazine (Sept 2018; published by Acfas).
Link to article

2018 – “A Portrait of CAPS/ACPP”
CAPS/ACSP in the 2018 EURAXESS North America Newsletter, online publication.
Link to article

2018 – Joint Statement on Budget from Canada’s research community
Signed and supported by CAPS/ACPP along with 13 other stakeholder groups (March 2018; published online by Universities Canada).
Link to article

2017 – “Reviewing the International Research Landscape in Canada”
A brief summary of the presentation by Joseph Sparling (2017 Chair, CAPS/ACPP) on page 19 of the Proceedings of the 3rd Annual Meeting of the European Scientific Diasporas in North America (published online by EURAXESS).
Link to website – Link to pdf version

2017 – “Postdoctoral Fellows in Canada: Situations and Actions”
Report, written by CAPS/ACPP At-Large Member Dr. Peter Clark. This report provides a wealth of information about postdoctoral policy at the federal, provincial, institutional and funding body levels and focuses on the effect of those policies in terms of labour conditions, statutory benefits, and immigration in particular. In addition, Dr. Clark identifies a number of action items for addressing the lack of basic labour rights and other difficulties facing postdocs in Canada. From a provincial perspective this report is particularly valuable, as it provides a detailed account of the legislation that should be targeted to improve postdoctoral policy in each province.
Link to article

2016 – “Postdoctorants et postdoctorantes : portrait quantitatif d’une population”
French language article written by Comité intersectoriel étudiant des Fonds de recherche du Québec (the Intersectoral Student Committee of the Québec Research Funds) for Découvrir Magazine using data from CAPS’ 2016 National Postdoctoral Survey (published by Acfas).
Link to article

2014 – “Improving the Experiences of Social Sciences & Humanities Postdocs in Canada”
A report prepared by CAPS/ACSP and submitted to SSHRC.
Link to full report

2009 – CAPS/ACSP First Postdoctoral Survey and Position Paper on Postdoctoral Status
The final report from our 2009 postdoctoral survey, entitled “A postdoctoral crisis in Canada: From the“Ivory Tower” to the Academic “Parking Lot” is available here.
The accompanying position paper on postdoctoral status, entitled “CAPS Preliminary Position Paper on Postdoctoral Status” is available here.