Offer of Appointment/Invitation
All PDFs require a Letter of Appointment/Invitation regardless of their funding arrangement. External PDFs receive a Letter of Invitation and Grant PDFs receive a Letter of Appointment. According to Policy R50.03:
- “Typically, an individual faculty member or group of faculty members may invite a PDF to become a research colleague; as noted above, one faculty member must be designated as the Faculty Supervisor. Simon Fraser University requires that an Appointment/Invitation Letter be sent by the prospective Faculty Supervisor to the prospective Grant PDF or External PDF; the letter must include:
- a. position title
- b. starting date and term of appointment
- c. remuneration (if not already specified by an external agency)
- d. statutory and additional employment benefits (for Grant PDFs)
- e. extent (if any) to which moving expenses will be reimbursed
- f. nature of the research to be undertaken
- g. any special conditions that may apply
- Sample Appointment/Invitation Letters for Grant/External PDFs respectively are attached as Appendices B and C to this Policy respectively.” (SFU Postdoctoral Fellows Policy, R50.03)
In summary, all Grant PDFs require a Letter of Appointment and all External PDFs require a Letter of Invitation. The letter is vitally important as it provides clarity as to the type of PDF relationship: whether Grant PDF or External PDF. The letter outlines the PDFs relationship to the University, and what benefits they may or may not receive.
Often the Letter of Invitation for an External PDF is missed, because there is a belief that the PDF has established an agreement with a funding agency, which is enough. This is incorrect. The PDF has established a funding relationship with the agency, yet the Faculty Supervisor must still establish a supervisory relationship (non-employment relationship) with the PDF. The Letter of Invitation should include the sentence “This is not an employment relationship” when the External PDF is funded entirely from an external source.