The Canadian government has created a fellowship programme to attract top postdoc talent. Alain Beaudet, president of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research in Ottawa, hopes Banting Postdoctoral Fellows will achieve a status like that of Rhodes Scholars. To recruit the best candidates, the fellowship requires that applicants be endorsed by the host institution president. At Can$70,000 (US$66,000) a year, the two-year awards pay much more than a typical first-year postdoc in North America and are open to biomedical, social and natural scientists. Fifteen of the 70 fellowships may be taken outside Canada by Canadian citizens. The application deadline is 3 November.