RIDS | Tygerberg Doctoral Office
FMHS Postdoctoral Fellows
The FMHS offers fulltime research fellowships for PhD graduates to grow their research experience in pursuit of an academic career, on a competitive basis. Fulltime FMHS academic or research staff apply to host a potential postdoctoral fellow and then advertise each fellowship to recruit a suitable fellow. Awards start from R220,000 per annum for two years, with application closing dates between March and September.
Fellowships are possible with the support of Subcommittee C and other funding sources. Host enquiries regarding Subcommittee C funding may be directed to Mr Tashwell de Wet at tashwell@sun.ac.za. To access further information for hosts, please click here.
Information for (prospective) postdocs:
As an individual who has completed a doctoral degree less than five years ago, you are invited to apply for a postdoctoral fellowship in the SU Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.
As every
postdoctoral fellow should have a host, it is best to explore this
possibility in conversation with your supervisor or a prospective host
who is a senior academic in your academic environment, even before
submitting your dissertation for examination at SU. External and
international prospective postdocs are also welcome and encouraged to
apply for advertised postdoctoral positions within four years of
receiving a doctoral degree. Should you have successfully secured
independent funding, you are also welcome to approach a prospective host
in the FMHS about setting up a possible postdoctoral fellowship.
Fellowships are dependent on selection and funding, and may be awarded for a minimum of one year and a maximum of five years. A Postdoctoral fellowship may be awarded up until five years following graduation from a PhD.
Apart from full postdoctoral fellowships, SU also offers funding to allow doctoral candidates to spend six months from completion of the degree to write and publish articles based on their doctoral research via the competitive
Consolidoc programme.
The Tygerberg Doctoral Office serves as a campus-based referral point for all FMHS postdocs or prospective postdocs. Overarching responsibility for all general matters pertaining to Postdoctoral Fellowship, especially registration and payment, lies with the
SU Postdoctoral Office. You are invited to contact that office at
postdocinfo@sun.ac.za.
The following services are available to all registered postdoctoral fellows in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences based on Tygerberg campus (click here for printable version):
1 Card access
To obtain an access card a registered post-doctoral fellow may go to the card activation office located near the entrance of the clinical building, where a picture and an access card is issued for a fee of R200. (Access cards may also be acquired at Stellenbosch campus at the IT Hub in the Admin A building.)
A post-doctoral fellow who is not yet registered, will need to apply for visitor's access at a cost of R200. An application form is completed with a copy of ID attached and sent to Ms L Matthee
lm@sun.ac.za and Mr A Hartzenburg
abrahamh@sun.ac.za for processing.
2 Parking
Post-doctoral fellows may park at P5 in front of the BMRI (please see the map
at this link). To have boom and parking access activated, post-doctoral fellows need to contact the
parking coordinator or apply for parking
here by clicking on the link in section 1.1.2. The details of the post-doctoral fellows may also be sent to the
parking coordinator by the host in order to be loaded in the system. Should you encounter any difficulties with these steps, contact Ms Wendy Robyn (wrobyn@sun.ac.za) for further enquiries.
3 Library
Post-doctoral fellows have the following privileges (as indicated
at this link):
- Borrowing: 15 items for 30 days per item.
-
Renewal: 2 per item (with a maximum renewal period of 90 days) unless someone else has requested it. Renew online or ask a staff member.
- Returns: To any of the Library and Information Service sites.
- Fines: Overdue items will be fined at R1 per item per day. Borrowing privileges will be suspended when a limit of R30 is reached.
-
Reserving books currently on loan: Free and unlimited - reserve online or ask a staff member.
The
Medicine & Health Sciences Library has nine seminar rooms. Postdoctoral fellows may book seminar rooms 4 and 8 which are reserved for use by postgraduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and staff. A seminar room may be reserved
at this link.
4 Access to research software
The
SU
software hub gives postdoctoral fellows access to specific research software packages as facilitated by institutional licenses.
5 FMHS-OAF publication support
The FMHS Open Access Fund provides
financial support towards article processing charges (APC) of research
publications in peer-reviewed DHET-accredited open access or hybrid
journals. Postgraduate students who do not have dedicated grant funding
towards APC, are encouraged to apply on an ad hoc basis, throughout the
year. Depending on the availability of funds, awards of up to R30,000
are available to support 100% of the APC for prorated FMHS-affiliated
authors, Enquiries may be addressed to Dr Tania Brodovcky at taniab@sun.ac.za.
6 Capacity development opportunities
Postdoctoral fellows are encouraged to take up some of the campus-specific
capacity development opportunities available within the FMHS Division of Research and Internationalisation Support. The central SU Postdoc Office also offers Postdoc-specific opportunities via their online platforms.
It is also possible to attend the masterclass webinars that theAfrican Doctoral Academy arranges from time to time.
7 Campus Health Services
The Health Services clinic on Tygerberg campus is open Monday to Friday, 8:00am - 4:00pm, and can be reached at (021 – 938 9590 ). The clinic is located at the 2nd Floor, of Tygerberg Student Centre. To visit the Tygerberg clinic one must book an appointment first by contacting the above-mentioned contact number. More information of the campus health services is available
here.
8 Student support
The Centre for Student Councelling and Development (CSCD) offers cost free and confidential support services to students on teh Tygerberg campus. An appointment should be made during work hours at reception or on telephone number (021) 927 7020 or email address
supportus@sun.ac.za. More information about mental health services and support is available here.
9 Food outlets
The following options are available for buying food on Tygerberg campus:
- Cups and Saucers coffee shop located near the entrance of the clinical building. It offers a variety of coffees, cold drinks, breakfast and lunch meals and snacks, while platters may be ordered in advance;
- Synergy Cafe situated on the ground floor of the BMRI offers light meals and drinks;
- Vida Cafe coffee shop situated in the foyer of the education building sells cold and hot beverages, sandwiches and snacks;
- Hospital Cafeteria or Student Centre with various outlets including chips, pies, wraps, burgers, pasta etc. Offerings range from sandwiches starting at around R40, to cooked or cold meal with an average cost of R100 per meal. The hospital and student cafeteria can both be accessed using the access card.
- The student center has four shops which sell food: My Brew Coffee Roastery, Planetsavvy, Vida café, and a mini supermarket. My Brew Coffee Roastery offers cold and hot beverages and snacks, while Planetsavvy sell cold beverages, sandwiches, pizza slices, pie, wraps, pasta, chicken and steak.
10 General enquiries
General enquiries should be addressed to postdocinfo@sun.ac.za. All Postdoc Administration documents are available via this link: https://stellenbosch.sharepoint.com/sites/PostdocAdministrationSupportPostdocs. Walk-ins are also welcome at the Tygerberg Doctoral Office in office 1073 on the first floor of the Clinical Building (Support Divisions passage) on Wednesdays or Friday mornings, or to direct any queries to Ms Brigitta Kepkey of our office at tel 011 938 9813 or email address
tyg-phd@sun.ac.za. This office acts as a referral point to the SU Postdoc Office, based on Stellenbosch campus.
11 Peer support and membership of the Postdoc Society
Every postdoc of Stellenbosch University automatically is a member of the
Postdoctoral Society. The PDS is run by postdocs and represents the interests of the postdocs within the structures of Stellenbosch University. Apart from this representative role, the PDS aims to connect postdocs via meetings, events and social activities.
The PDS can be contacted via
postdocs@sun.ac.za.
Accommodation
Please note that
no dedicated postdoctoral accommodation is offered by SU. Accommodation comes at a premium in the sought after locations of the Western Cape, and it is advisable to arrange (at the very least temporary) suitable accommodation before you arrive. You may want to consider the options below.
Verified:
Unverified:
When securing private accommodation, SU is not involved in placement.
Instead, it is the responsibility of the individual postdoc to contact the
owner/lessor to enquire about availability and to secure a specific
space. To avoid possible fraud or exploitative practices, it is
imperative not to pay a deposit to an individual lessor prior to viewing accommodation; and to read all aspects of rental contracts carefully before
signing.
