I’m a social sciences PhD seeking a postdoc position jointly funded by two major North American research councils. The application requires securing a supervisor in advance, and I have two potential options:
- A prominent, well-established scholar at my current R1 institution, but in a different department (though within the same faculty)
- An early-career scholar at a less prestigious university
From a grant committee’s perspective, which supervisory arrangement would be more compelling: staying at my home institution with the star scholar or moving to a different university with the early-career researcher? What factors should guide this decision to maximize my chances of success?