THE MATS SUNDIN FELLOWSHIP IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENTAL HEALTH

About the Mats Sundin Fellowship (MSF)

With a generous gift from Mats Sundin (former captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs), the University of Toronto (U of T) and the Karolinska Institutet (KI), Stockholm, Sweden established a fellowship program designed to provide advanced postdoctoral training and scientific exchange in order to develop future health leaders in both Canada and Sweden. This program is managed by the Department of Physiology at U of T and the International Relations Office at KI.

A PhD graduate or junior postdoctoral fellow (a maximum of 3 years from graduation when starting the fellowship) from the U of T, including affiliated hospitals and research institutes can apply for a fellowship to engage in a research project with a host PI (supervisor) at the KI.
 

Area of Research

The field of human developmental health is broadly focused on understanding how conditions or diseases of childhood and adulthood can be traced to conditions/exposures within the first 2000 days of life (conception onwards). Research in this field seeks to understand the origins of diseases such as obesity and diabetes, cardiovascular disease, neurocognitive disorders and cancer, and to identify ways to reverse or prevent these diseases. By its nature, this transdisciplinary field is broad, including but not limited to developmental biology (including maternal-child health), neuroscience, psychology, cardiovascular and metabolic sciences, cancer biology, stem cell biology and regenerative medicine.
 

Fellowship Details

Interested trainees from U of T, including affiliated hospitals and research institutes, will receive a list of participating Faculty PIs at the KI. Trainee applicants will then contact the Faculty PI at the KI with whom they would like to submit an application. Together, the host PI and the candidate will develop a joint project proposal. Faculty PIs may only submit one proposal.

The goal of this program is to train the brightest minds in human development and health. We are seeking a highly talented and innovative researcher with a PhD (or soon to graduate) in developmental biology (including maternal-child health), neuroscience, psychology, cardiovascular and metabolic sciences, cancer biology, stem cell biology, or regenerative medicine.

In addition to assessing the project proposals, the MSF selection committee will evaluate the fellowship candidates. For example, excellent communication skills will be emphasized when evaluating the fellowship candidates, as the MSFs will act as ambassadors for research in the field at the highest level for both KI and the U of T. The MSFs are expected to present their work at the Annual Exchange workshop in Developmental and Perinatal Biology, which takes place annually in Stockholm or Toronto.
Proposals will be assessed by a joint U of T and KI Selection Committee and the highest ranked Fellow applicants will be interviewed.
 

Eligibility for the MSF

• Currently be affiliated or employed Doctoral Student or Postdoctoral Fellow (or similar research position) at the University of Toronto/affiliated teaching hospitals.
• Have completed their Doctoral (PhD) degree within three (3) years before starting the MSF, the latest date to start the fellowship is October 1, 2026.
   

Duration of Fellowship and Program Assessment

These highly competitive, prestigious awards will be held for a maximum duration of 2-years with a highly competitive salary. Applicants will complete a progress report after 1 year, that will be reviewed by the MSF Selection Committee. It is expected that the Sundin Fellows will present their work at the Annual Exchange workshop in Developmental and Perinatal Biology, which alternates annually between Toronto and Stockholm.

Awardees will be expected to abide by the policies of the institution where they are employed.
 

Application Guidelines

Applicants must:

• Identify the PI with whom they wish to submit their application and contact them directly. The Toronto Program Director (Prof. Stephen Matthews; hmughis@lunenfeld.ca) must be notified as soon as you have the agreement of your proposed KI supervisor to sponsor your proposal.
• Submit a completed proposal. It is important that applicants work with their proposed supervisors in development of the proposal.
• The final application must be signed by:
  • Applicant
  • Proposed supervisor
  • Head of Department/Unit at the KI where research will be undertaken
• Short-listed applicants will be interviewed by the MSF Selection Committee.
   

Full Application Details

The full application must include:

1. Completed Application Form
2. Project Outline (max: 2 Pages):
   • Must include: 1. Rationale, 2. Objectives, 3. Hypothesis, 4. Specific Aims and Experimental Design, 5. Significance
3. Lay Summary of Project (max 250 words)
4. Training expectations and career goals: (max 2000 characters); description of how the applicant will benefit from the program and their specific career goals.
5. Description of research training environment (max 2000 characters); to be completed by the supervisor.
6. Current CV of applicant and of Faculty PI supervisor (2 pages each)
7. Full publication record for the fellow applicant
8. The ten most important publications for the topic for the host PI
9. Two (2) Letters of reference:
   • One must be from your PhD supervisor
   • If already in a postdoctoral position: a letter is required from your current postdoctoral supervisor. Otherwise, the letter should come from a senior researcher familiar with your recent research progress.

All text must be in 12-point font, with a minimum of 2 cm margins. Text must be single-spaced and there should be no text compression. Applications that are incomplete and do not follow these guidelines will not be considered. The UofT applications should be submitted as a single PDF to Hafsah Mughis, hmughis@lunenfeld.ca, by November 3, 2025.

Criteria for Decision

The following general criteria for evaluating the MSF applications will be used:

• Achievements and activities of the applicant
• Quality and feasibility of the proposal and relevance to the field of developmental health
• Characteristics and abilities of the applicant. Particular emphasis will be placed on excellent communication skills
• Research training environment
   

Program Timeline

The timeline for MSF applications, reviewing and awards start date:

• Announcement to PIs                                         May 23, 2025
• Faculty Expression of Interest: Deadline        June 18, 2025
• Announcement of Program to Trainees         July 2, 2025
• Full Application Submission Deadline            November 3, 2025
• Notification of successful Awardee:               End of December, 2025
• Announcement of the new MSFs                     January, 2026
• Latest Program Start:                                         October, 2026

Contact information

Hafsah Mughis, Research Coordinator
E-mail: hmughis@lunenfeld.ca

Last updated: July 2, 2025