Wall Fellowships

Wall Fellowships

The purpose of the Wall Fellowships is to recognize UBC faculty who have made, and continue to make, outstanding contributions to research and institutional service at UBC, or at prior academic institutions, in the areas of sustainable urban development, water, energy, transportation infrastructure, environmental protection of oceans and waterfronts, and resource-intensive industry.

Two Wall Fellowships of $1,000,000 are available annually to UBC faculty members through the Peter Wall Legacy Fund, an endowment established by Peter Wall, to support research excellence at UBC and invest in those who will help move BC and the world forward.


Applications for the 2025 competition are now open.

Key Dates

NOI opens: January 23, 2025
NOI deadline: February 24, 2025
The NOI is not adjudicated, but is required in order to submit a full application.

Full application deadline: May 13, 2025

Information Sessions: February 11 & 13, 2025
Download presentation slides


On this page

Eligibility

All UBC tenured and tenure-track faculty, from both campuses, are eligible to apply. Individuals may not hold this award simultaneously with a Wall Research Award (Individual Faculty Award); however, a recipient of a Wall Fellowship may be a co-applicant on a Wall Research Award (Team Faculty Award). Fellowships can only be held once by an individual. Early- and mid-career faculty are strongly encouraged to apply. 

Funds may be used to support the direct costs of research and will follow the Tri-Agency Guide on Financial Administration of grant funding, as well as infrastructure (e.g., field equipment, lab equipment, etc.) as permitted by CFI guidelines. In addition, funds may be used for teaching buy out – support for this must be confirmed by the appropriate Unit Head and Dean. 

Application Process

To apply for a Wall Fellowship, applicants must log in to VPRI’s online application system, UBC Research + Innovation Apply, using their campus wide login (CWL), and follow the instructions provided. Once the full application has been initiated, the applicant may invite others with a CWL to contribute (e.g., administrators, grant facilitators, etc.) using the “add collaborator” button located in the left side block.

Applications can be saved and completed at a later date before final submission and can be downloaded as a PDF at any time. Each section must be marked as complete before the application can be submitted. Only the primary applicant is able to submit. 

Note: Sections marked as complete are still accessible for editing, prior to submission, by clicking the three dots in the upper right-hand corner of each section and selecting edit. 

Applications include the following components (full details are available in UBC Research + Innovation Apply): 

  • Notice of Intent (NOI) due February 24, 2025 
    (The NOI is not adjudicated, but is required in order to submit a full application. Information within the NOI is used for administrative purposes, such as reviewer recruitment.)
  • Applicant information 
  • Research proposal (5 pages) 
  • Applicant’s record (4 pages) 
  • Equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) (250 words) 
  • Institutional benefit (250 words) 
  • Budget and budget justification 
  • Two Letters of Recommendation 
  • Confirmation of support for teaching buy-out (if applicable) 

A completed and signed Research Project Information Form (RPIF) must be uploaded as part of the application. 

Evaluation Criteria

To be eligible for peer review, the proposed research must:

  • Be principally related to British Columbia, or if addressing another jurisdiction, be applicable to approaches in British Columbia;
  • Align with one or more of the Wall Legacy Fund areas of interest; and
  • Include clear attempts to initiate or further develop meaningful engagement with Indigenous communities and/or integrate Indigenous methodologies or viewpoints in alignment with UBC’s Indigenous Strategic Plan.

The following assessment criteria will be used:

Research Proposal (60%) 

  • The research proposal provides a distinct purpose and clear attainable objectives with relevant and well-defined methodology and describes the potential impact of the research
  • It includes a clear plan on how the research program will involve trainees, and benefit their training and career advancement
  • The relevant expertise needed to do this work is present, or there is a feasible plan in place for its recruitment
  • A plan for how the outputs of the work will be disseminated to both academics, and other stakeholders is described
  • A description of how the proposed research will engage with Indigenous communities and/or integrate Indigenous methodologies or viewpoints in alignment with UBC’s Indigenous Strategic Plan is outlined.

Institutional Benefit (10%) 

  • The application provides a substantive and thoughtful explanation of how a Wall Fellowship will benefit the UBC community 
  • The application provides a thoughtful description of the types of service activities that the applicant would engage in as a Peter Wall Fellow 

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (10%) 

  • The application illustrates how the research is informed by, and will contribute to, the promotion of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in academia and society

Applicant’s Record (20%) 

  • The applicant possesses a strong record of research excellence, accomplishments and institutional service
  • The impact and importance of the applicant’s previous work is clear 
  • Letters of reference are supportive of the applicant’s past record and their ability to successfully lead the proposed research program 

Additional Information

REPORTING

Peter Wall Fellows are required to submit an annual report to the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation that includes the following:

  • a brief summary of the past year’s work suitable for a public audience
  • a summary of the work undertaken in the preceding year
  • summary statements describing:
    • how the work has been disseminated
    • how the work supported EDI
    • activities that advanced UBC’s Indigenous Strategic Plan
    • activities that benefited both UBC and the Fellow

Annual reports will be due sixty (60) days from the anniversary of the fellowship’s commencement. A report template will be provided to recipients.

PUBLICITY

Recipients of Wall Fellowships will informally be known as the Peter Wall Fellows. The recipients may be asked to participate in media events and other proceedings that recognize their achievement and bring awareness to the Wall Legacy Fund at UBC. 

Timeline

January 23, 2025NOI open for submission 
February 11, 2025, 2:00-3:30 pm PTWall Fellowship information session (Optional)  Download presentation slides
February 13, 2025, 10:00-11:30 am PTWall Fellowship information session (Optional) Download presentation slides
February 24, 2025, 5:00 pm PT Notice of intent (NOI) due 
May 13, 2025, 5:00 pm PT Full application due 
Mid-June, 2025Applicants notified of decisions
September 1, 2025Award term begins

Frequently Asked Questions

Eligibility

Who is eligible to apply for these awards?

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

Can I apply for a Wall Fellowship and a Wall Research Award for faculty? 

Yes, you may apply for both awards. However, if you are successfully awarded a Wall Fellowship, you will not be eligible to take up the Wall Research Award as a primary applicant, i.e., you would only be eligible to hold the latter as a co-applicant on a Wall Research Award (Team Faculty Award). 

Can I apply for a Wall Fellowship if I already hold a major Chair (e.g., Canada Research Chair, Canada Research Excellence Chair) or other distinguished fellowship? 

Yes, however, the adjudication committee may favour, at their discretion, other outstanding applicants who do not hold these types of funding, in order to maximize the impact of Wall Legacy Funds to researchers.  

Application Process

Who is allowed to launch an application? 

The primary applicant must 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., trainees, administrators, grant facilitators, etc.) using the “add collaborator” button located in the left side block.

How do I submit an application? 

To apply for a Wall Fellowship, applicants must log into UBC Research + Innovation Apply using their campus wide login (CWL), and follow the instructions provided. A Notice of Intent (NOI) must be submitted to progress to the full application.

Do I need to include references or figures in my proposal? 

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 that can be provided, however, figures and tables are restricted to one page. References and figures must follow the formatting guidelines stated within the application.

Can I include a CV and other additional material as appendices? 

No. All relevant information pertaining to the applicant’s record must be included within the 4-page Applicant’s Record document. This document may follow a biosketch-type format with narrative elements describing the applicant’s most significant contributions to their field, and its impacts, as well as notable services to the university. Reviewers will remove all other unrequired appendices.

Do I need to submit an RPIF with the proposal? 

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 present in the application. ORS signatures are not required at the time of application.

Can details of the proposal (e.g., title, summary details, etc.) change between submission of the NOI and full application? 

Yes.

What does “the potential for lasting transformative impact” mean

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. 

What does “sustainable approaches” mean in the Wall Legacy Fund areas of interest? 

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.

Do research proposals have to exclusively focus on British Columbia? 

Projects aligning with the Wall Legacy Fund areas of interest may also apply to and address other Canadian and international regions outside of British Columbia, provided that such research can be ultimately applied to approaches in British Columbia.

Do reference letters need to come from referees who are “arms length”?

No. As stated in the full application, two letters of reference, one of which should be provided by someone from UBC, must be included in the application. These letters should speak to the applicant’s research excellence, mentoring, collaborativeness, and service to the institution.

Budget

What can the funds be used for? 

Wall Fellowships are intended to fund various aspects of a research program that will have the potential for significant transformative impact. Therefore, 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, fellowship may also be used to support infrastructure (e.g., field equipment, lab equipment, etc.), as permitted by CFI guidelines, as well as 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).

Can I pay undergraduate students, graduate students and/or postdocs with Fellowship funds? 

Research does not happen in a vacuum. It takes the support of many to bring a research program to fruition, thus, Wall Fellowship funds may be used to support research trainees. Salary support for trainees must be described in the budget section of the application and should be mentioned within the research proposal.

How are fellowship funds distributed over the term of award? 

Fellowship funds will be awarded in a single tranche but must be expended within a five-year period, in accordance with the proposed budget included within the application. 

Should concurrent overlapping funding from other sources that will support the proposed program of research be mentioned in the application?

Yes, concurrent overlapping funding that will be used to complement the proposed program of research and contribute to its success should be mentioned within the budget justification and/or the proposed research, as appropriate. Applicants should demonstrate how Wall Fellowship funding will be used to complement concurrent funding from other sources to ensure that Wall funds are being used optimally and adding value.

Other Questions

For further information on this competition, contact Leslie Grad, Manager, Strategic Initiatives (leslie.grad@ubc.ca).

For issues pertaining to UBC Research + Innovation Apply, the VPRI’s online application system, please contact Stacey Herzer, Manager, Internal Research Competitions (stacey.herzer@ubc.ca).  

2024 Wall Fellows

Michelle Tseng
Assistant Professor, Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science
UBC Biodiversity Research Centre
Merging community science with computer vision to create biodiverse urban ecosystems throughout British Columbia

“This is an incredible honour, because I know the calibre of my colleagues at this institution. I feel very lucky and privileged.”

Stepan Wood
Professor, Peter A. Allard School of Law
Canada Research Chair in Law, Society and Sustainability, Director of the Centre for Law and the Environment
Respect for All Relations: Can Indigenous and Settler Laws Work Together?

“This fellowship allows us to explore whether rights of nature can help mend broken relationships between human and other beings and advance the resurgence of Indigenous laws in B.C.”