Frequently Asked Questions

In 2022, The University of British Columbia announced the Peter Wall Legacy Fund endowment to support a new suite of research awards and fellowships that invest in research excellence at UBC and the future minds of our province. UBC’s largest-ever donor-funded endowment, the Peter Wall Legacy Fund supports two prestigious faculty research fellowships (Wall Fellowships) and, a number of awards (Wall Research Awards) for UBC faculty and students totaling approximately $4 million each year, in perpetuity.  

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To apply to the Wall Fellowship, applicants must log into UBC Research + Innovation Apply using their campus wide login (CWL), and follow the instructions provided.

The primary applicant should be the one to initially launch an application (i.e., not a designate). Once the full application has been initiated, the applicant may invite others with a CWL to contribute (e.g., students, administrators, grant facilitators, etc.) using the “add collaborator” button located in the left side block.

References and figures are not required, but may be included in the application as optional uploaded PDFs. There is no limit to the number of references and figures that may be included, but they must follow the formatting guidelines stated within the application. 

No. All information pertaining to the applicant’s record must be included within the 4-page document uploaded to the on-line application. This document may follow a biosketch format with narrative elements describing the most significant contributions to their filed and its impacts. Reviewers will remove all other unrequired appendices.  

No. The focus of these awards is on enabling good future work, rather than rewarding past work, and are intended to support a range of scholars at different career stages. Furthermore, projects supported by these awards may include both exploratory and those derived from established programs of inquiry. Thus, applicants are not asked to include CVs or standard bibliometric evidence of research quality or impact as part of the application. Reviewers will remove all other non-required appendices.  

Yes. A completed Research Project Information Form (RPIF) signed by the applicant’s Unit Head, and if applicable, Centre Director and/or Dean, must be included within the application. A prompt to upload the RPIF is resent in the application. 

Yes.

The term transformative within the context of this award refers to not only the potential of the research itself, but also the recipients. A broad lens is therefore used when defining this term, with transformative impact including reducing constraints of time and money, enabling experimental high-risk/high-reward research, and supporting non-traditional approaches to significant and complex topics. 

The Wall Legacy Fund supports research focused on “sustainable approaches to and development of the general urban environment” and “sustainable^* approaches to resource-intensive industry in British Columbia”. For the purposes of this award, sustainability refers to meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. 

Projects aligning with the Wall Legacy Fund research areas may also apply to and address Canadian and international regions outside of British Columbia, provided that such projects will principally relate to British Columbia. 

All awards funded through the Wall Legacy Fund are intended to be offered on an annual basis. 

Any tenured or university tenure-track faculty member from both UBC campuses are eligible to apply. 

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Yes, but if an applicant is successfully awarded a Wall Fellowship, they are not eligible to take up the Wall Research Award (Faculty) as a primary applicant, i.e., they would only be eligible to be a co-applicant on a Wall Research Award (Faculty) team award. 

Individuals can only be named on at most two (2) concurrent Wall Research Awards but can only be named as the primary applicant on one award (i.e., one Individual Faculty Award and one Team Faculty Award, or two Team Faculty Awards). 

Yes, however, the adjudication committee may favour, at their discretion, those who do not hold these kinds of major chairs or awards in order to maximize the impact of Wall Legacy Funds to researchers.  

No. Only eligible UBC faculty and students are eligible as applicants for Wall Research Awards. 

The Wall Fellowships are meant to fund various aspects of research support to increase the chances of conducting transformative research that will have the potential for significant impact. Therefore, the Wall Fellowships were designed to go beyond the constraints of a typical operating grant: in addition to supporting the direct costs of research, following the Tri-Agency Guide on Financial Administration of grant funding, the fellowship may also be used to support infrastructure (e.g., field equipment, lab equipment, etc.), as permitted by CFI guidelines. In addition, funds may be used for teaching buy out; however, support for this must be confirmed by the appropriate Unit Head and Dean in the form of a signed letter(s). 

The Wall Research Awards (Faculty) are meant support the direct costs of research, following the Tri-Agency Guide on Financial Administration for grant funding.

Yes. Research does not happen in a vacuum, and that it takes the support of many to bring a research program to fruition, thus, Wall Fellowship funds may be used to support research trainees. This must be reflected in the budget section of the application and reflected in the research proposal. 

Fellowship funds will be awarded in a single tranche but must be expended within a five-year period. 

Award funds will be provided as a single payment upon the start of the award term. Recipients will have up to three years to use the funds