Welcome aboard package

Welcome aboard package for new postdocs at uLeth

 

Checklist of things to do before arrival

  1. The University of Lethbridge has established the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs to provide various services related to available resources, information, and opportunities. You can browse the office link for information in detail: https://www.uleth.ca/research/office-postdoctoral-affairs . For additional inquiry you can email them at postdoc@uleth.ca.
  2. The University does not arrange for housing for postdoctoral fellows. However, you can find information on housing on university website: https://www.uleth.ca/offcampushousing.
  3. If you will be arriving between November and March, it will be winter. Ensure that you have adequate warm clothing. You can get information related to appropriate clothing for winter at https://www.immigrant-education.ca/knowledge-base/winter-in-calgary/
  4. The salary pay day is only once in a month which is last working day of the month. So, you need to bring money for at least initial one-month survival. In case if you will join after 15th of month then you will get salary after 45-days, so you have to bring money for at least initial one and half month survival. One more thing you must consider that you have to pay one-month apartment rent and security deposit (which is equal to one month rent) in advance.
  5. If you rent an apartment that is not furnished, you will need to arrange for furniture. Most apartments are non-furnished.
  6. When you arrive, you may not have access to Wi-Fi. Please download or print any information that you will need in case you do not have access. Most café’s and public areas have some sort of Wi-Fi connection, but there are definitely areas where you won’t have anything. At the University, you can log on to the Guest Wi-Fi until you are set up with access.
  7. It will be helpful to have a chat with your supervisor beforehand so that they are aware of your arrival. Every supervisor is different with the assistance that they provide with getting settled. If there is anything that you find you need, you can always email Angela Rosenau (Coordinator, Office of Postdoctoral Affairs) or call her at (403) 329-2480.
  8. Also, in planning your transportation, if you fly into Calgary, you may want to arrange a transferring flight to Lethbridge. Both Air Canada aircanada.com and WestJet www.westjet.com have flights available as connector flights. Alternatively, you can take a bus ride from Calgary Airport to Lethbridge which drops you off right at the University of Lethbridge via Red Arrow bus lines https://www.redarrow.ca/trip/select-trip. The bus also stops (after the stop at the University of Lethbridge) at the Sandman Hotel. The bus service includes snacks and Wi-Fi.

Alternatively, you can choose to rent a car to arrive at Lethbridge. However, we would recommend contacting the car rental agency to enquire about licensing and insurance requirements, as well as the cost and any other particulars. From Calgary to Lethbridge, it is about 2.0-hour long drive (212 km).

  1. When you arrive in Lethbridge, you will want to look at public transportation. There are taxis and buses available. You can check out the information available on the websites https://www.uleth.ca/international/content/international-student-services
  2. The International Centre at the University of Lethbridge has some wonderful information on pre-departure, travel and accommodations under the International Student Services tab. The City of Lethbridge has information available for all bus routes. It may be helpful to you to understand these prior to your arrival. https://www.lethbridge.ca/living-here/getting-around/Transit/Pages/default.aspx
  3. If you are going to work with animal and human tissue samples, need to communicate with Moira Holley (holley@uleth.ca) for animal facility access in advance. You should also check with Institutional Review Board (IRB) for working with humans derived tissue. All of this is to ensure that you will signing up for courses well in advance usually that happen irregularly so that when you get to campus, you can start your research asap.

Checklist of things to do after arrival

  1. After you arrive at uLeth, you will need to visit Angela Rosenau (Coordinator, Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, B615, University Hall) to complete your joining process. Please bring your work permit and passport to her. She will provide you a checklist for completing your joining process. She will also provide you ‘Welcome Package for Postdoc’. You can ask any university and accommodation related query to her.
  2. You may also want to familiarize yourself with Alberta healthcare system a bit. You can find some information about your benefits on the PostDoc website https://www.uleth.ca/research/office-postdoctoral-affairs. Also, you can find information from immigration at https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/new-immigrants/prepare-life-canada.html, the government of Alberta http://www.albertacanada.com/opportunity/settle.aspx  and Alberta Health Services https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/info/Page12623.aspx. When you are looking for a physician for you and your family, this website https://chinookprimarycarenetwork.ab.ca/ will provide you with a list of clinics, including those that are accepting new patients. Dental costs can vary significantly from one clinic to the next, so be sure to ‘shop around’ when looking for a dental clinic.
  3. Please pay special attention to the information on 811 Health-link. This number allows you telephone access to a registered nurse to talk about any concerns that you have. It is a valuable service. Also, My Health has information for Health services available https://myhealth.alberta.ca/Pages/default.aspx.
  4. For emergency call 911.