Rick Hansen Man In Motion Fellowship
Quick Facts
The Rick Hansen “Man in Motion” Fellowships are made available by the University of British Columbia to honour the incredible determination and many personal achievements of Rick Hansen, Bachelor (Physical Education), 1986 and Doctor of Laws, honoris causa. His two-year world tour, Man in Motion, completed in 1987, changed public attitudes and the prospects for people with disabilities. Two fellowships, each valued at $16,000 per year, are awarded each year.
Mid- to late February 2012 - check with graduate program
Eligibility
The competition is open to students with a physical disability. The definition of disability is outlined in UBC Policy #73, Academic Accommodation of Students with Disabilities, as well as by UBC Access and Diversity. Applicants may or may not be UBC graduate students at the time of application – the competition is open to both incoming and continuing graduate students. However, awardees must be enrolled as full-time graduate students at UBC for the academic year 2012-2013 and registered with UBC Access and Diversity in order to receive a Rick Hansen Fellowship through this competition.
Evaluation Criteria
Academic excellence (applicants for Master`s funding - 50%; applicants for doctoral funding - 30%)
- Academic record
- Scholarships and awards held
- Duration of previous studies
Research ability or potential (applicants for Master`s funding - 30%; applicants for doctoral funding - 50%)
- Quality of contributions to research and development
- Relevance of work experience and academic training to field of proposed research
- Significance, feasibility, and merit of proposed research, and justification for location of tenure
- Ability to think critically
- Ability to apply skills and knowledge
- Judgment
- Originality
- Initiative and autonomy
- Enthusiasm for research
- Determination and ability to complete projects within an appropriate period of time
Communication, interpersonal and leadership abilities (all applicants - 20%)
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The ability or potential to communicate scientific concepts clearly and logically in written and oral formats. For example, this could include:
- quality of the application's presentation;
- participation in preparing publications; and
- awards for oral presentations or papers
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Professional and relevant extracurricular interactions and collaborations. For example, this could include:
- mentoring;
- teaching;
- supervisory experience;
- project management;
- chairing committees;
- organizing conferences and meetings; and
- elected positions held.
Procedures
Applicants must check with their graduate program regarding their program’s internal application deadline. Internal application deadlines are normally several weeks before the Faculty of Graduate Studies deadline, as graduate programs must review students' applications well in advance of the Faculty of Graduate Studies deadline of Friday, February 24, 2012.
Applicants must submit the following materials to their graduate program at UBC:
- completed Rick Hansen “Man in Motion” Fellowships application form
- academic records for all university-level studies (including studies undertaken but not completed) up to December 31, 2011. For institutions other than UBC, only official transcripts will be accepted. These may be original or certified true copies provided by the applicant's graduate program. For UBC, the applicant's "Academic History" printed from the SISC by the applicant's graduate program will be accepted. Please note that students must request certified true copies of transcripts from their graduate program, not from the Faculty of Graduate Studies.
- Two letters of recommendation. Only recommendation letters signed by the person providing the reference are acceptable; original, faxed, and scanned copies sent by e-mail directly to graduate program are acceptable.
Graduate programs are to:
- verify eligibility of applicants
- review and rank applicants
- prepare a department cover page describing the internal review process and the rationale for ranking candidates
- forward application(s) to the Faculty of Graduate Studies by 4:00 pm on Friday, February 24, 2012.
The Faculty of Graduate Studies will convene an adjudication committee made up of UBC faculty from a variety of disciplines. The committee will review the applications and forward those applications recommended for awards to the Faculty of Graduate Studies.
The Faculty of Graduate Studies will notify graduate programs of the competition results for their applicants. The Faculty of Graduate Studies will assign the Rick Hansen “Man in Motion” Fellowships on the Student Service Centre.
