Wall Awards

Deadline

April 30, 2024 at 4:00PM PT

Annual Value

$25,000 per year for Master’s students; $30,000 per year for Doctoral students

Citizenship

Canadian

Permanent Resident

International

Degree Level

Masters

Doctoral

Graduate awards, ranging in value from $25,000 (for Master’s students) to $30,000 (for PhD students), have been made available through the Peter Wall Legacy Fund, an endowment established by Peter Wall, for graduate students whose thesis/dissertation research relates to one of three specific areas of interest:

sustainable approaches to and development of the general urban environment, including water, energy and transportation infrastructure in British Columbia;
environmental protection of oceans, beaches and waterfronts that impact British Columbia;
and sustainable approaches to resource-intensive industry in British Columbia.

Projects within these areas of interest will principally relate to British Columbia, but may also apply to and address other Canadian and international regions.

These awards will be offered to students in their 5th and/or 6th year of their PhD program and to students in their 2nd or 3rd year of Master’s programs. The awards are thus intended to enable applicants to complete their degree.

Masters awards will commence September 1 2024 for up to 12 months or until program completion, whichever comes first. Doctoral awards will commence September 1 2024 for up to 24 months or until program completion, whichever comes first.

Eligibility

Applicant Eligibility

The competition is open to applicants from UBC Vancouver and UBC Okanagan campuses, for continuing PhD students and Master’s students in research-based programs.
- For the purposes of this competition, research-based programs are defined as those that include a significant research component that leads to the completion of a thesis, major research project, dissertation, scholarly publication, performance, recital, and/or exhibit that is merit/expert reviewed at the institutional level as a requirement for completion of the program.
- Students in programs that are not administered by the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies are not eligible.
Months of Study:
- Masters: To be eligible to hold Wall Award funding, applicants must have completed, as of August 31 2024, between 12 and 24 months of full-time (or full-time equivalent) Master’s level study.
  - Successful applicants for Master’s level funding are eligible to receive the Wall award to support their 2nd or 3rd year of study, for a period of 12 months or until the program completion date, whichever comes first.
  - Recipients will not be funded beyond their 36th month of study.
- Doctoral: To be eligible to hold Wall Award funding, applicants must have completed, as of August 31 2024, between 48 and 60 months of full time (or full-time equivalent) doctoral level study.
  - For applicants who have transferred to the PhD from a Master’s program without completing the Master’s, eligibility is counted from date of transfer.
  - Successful applicants for Doctoral level funding are eligible to receive the Wall award to support their 5th or 6th year of study, for a period of 24 months or until the program completion date, whichever comes first.
  - Applicants must have advanced to candidacy by no later than August 31, 2024.
  - Recipients will not be funded beyond their 72nd month of study.

Research Area Eligibility

The Wall Awards are open to UBC graduate students whose thesis/dissertation research relates to one or more of the following areas:
- sustainable approaches to and development of the general urban environment, including water, energy and transportation infrastructure in British Columbia;
- environmental protection of oceans, beaches and waterfronts that impact British Columbia;
- and sustainable approaches to resource-intensive industry in British Columbia.
Applicants whose research applies to other Canadian and international regions are eligible to apply, however depending on funding availability priority will be given to projects focused on British Columbia.
Applicants will be expected to speak to and describe the relationship of their research to the three areas of interest as described above, and how their research relates to British Columbia. The adjudication committee will ascertain substantive eligibility of students’ research as part of the adjudication process. Questions about substantive eligibility will not be entertained ahead of submission of the application.

Evaluation Criteria

Applications will be evaluated with a weighting of 90% towards the Research Proposal, and 10% towards the supervisor’s letter of support.

A successful research proposal should:

Define and clearly describe the research objectives;
Provide a justification and description of research methods undertaken, and its relevance to the subject matter as described above;
Describe methods of dissemination of research results;
Outline current progress of thesis/dissertation, including preliminary results;
Outline plan for completion of thesis/dissertation;
Speak to the feasibility of completion of thesis/dissertation.

A supervisor’s letter of support should:

Speak to the quality and likely impact of the applicant’s research, and the likelihood of completion of thesis/dissertation

Application Procedures

A complete application package (including supervisor letter) must be submitted by 4:00PM PT on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Incomplete or late applications will not be accepted.

A complete application consists of the following:

Submitted by applicant – SUBMIT APPLICATION HERE

Completed Application form, which includes:
- Outline of proposed research (max 2 pages, plus 1 page for citations/references)

Submitted by supervisor – SUBMIT REFERENCE HERE (Applicants: Share this link with your referees. This is for referee’s use only ; applicants must not submit a reference on behalf of a referee)

Letter of support from research supervisor
- Letters should be signed and on institutional letterhead
Letters must be submitted by the application deadline. Please follow up with your supervisor as appropriate to ensure letter of support is submitted on time.

It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that all application materials are received by the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies by the deadline.

Adjudication Procedures

The Faculty of Graduate Studies will convene an adjudication committee of UBC faculty members to review applications submitted. The adjudication committee will determine the eligibility of applicants for the Awards as described above on the basis of their statement on relevance and their research proposal.

Further Information

For more information, please contact Dr. Julian Dierkes, Senior Associate Dean, Students at julian.dierkes@ubc.ca.