Killam Faculty Research Prizes

Sponsor

UBC VP Research

Sponsor deadline:

Award Details

Established in 1986, ten UBC Killam Research Prizes are awarded annually to top campus researchers with funds provided annually from the Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Fund for Advanced Studies established through a bequest from the late Dorothy J. Killam.

The award recognizes outstanding research and scholarly contributions.

Jump to Nomination Package details

Eligibility

Nominees must be:

  • Full-time tenure-stream faculty at UBC, and have held an appointment at UBC for at least 3 years as of the closing date for nominations.
    • For the November 15, 2023 deadline, 3 years means they must have started at UBC on November 15, 2020 or earlier.
    • The UBC Killam Research Prize may be held only while the recipient is a full-time member of faculty.
    • A Prize is tenable during a period of study leave; for other types of leave, it is deferred until the recipient returns to the University.

Nominees:

  • Are eligible for only one Killam Research Prize in their lifetime.
  • May not receive a Killam Research Prize concurrently with a Charles A. McDowell Award for Research Excellence. They can be nominated for both awards in a given year, but cannot receive both.

Terms of the Award

  • Up to ten prizes in the amount of $5,000 each will be awarded each year.
  • All fields of research are included.
  • Five prizes are awarded for the types of scholarly activity associated with NSERC and CIHR, and five for the types associated with SSHRC and the Canada Council.
  • Each type is adjudicated by a subcommittee, the Science and Applied Science Subcommittee or the Arts and Humanities Subcommittee.
  • At least three prizes in each of the groups are allocated to faculty in the Established Category (faculty members who have held their final degree for 12 years or more as of the closing date for nominations), but typically at least one Early Career prize is also awarded.

Selection Criteria

Nominations will be evaluated against the following three criteria:

  1. Demonstrated outstanding research and scholarly contributions relative to peer group at a comparable career stage.
  2. Demonstrated research impact, accounting for context of the discipline or field of study.
  3. Evidence that nominee has demonstrated national and/or international research leadership, where appropriate.

Nomination Process

  • Self-nominations are not permitted.
  • Faculty members must be nominated by at least one tenured, tenure-track, or emeriti faculty member in their Faculty.
  • Nominators must complete and submit all documentation, and must select which sub-committee should adjudicate the submission (Science and Applied Science or Arts and Humanities).

Note: The Dean's office should be informed of the intention to submit a nomination and the name of the proposed nominee in order to avoid duplicate nominations. (Dean's signature not required.)

Nomination Package

Nominators must submit all required materials by the November 15 (11:59 pm) deadline using this nomination form.

Nomination form fields include:

  • Nominator information: Name, title and affiliation, email address
  • Nominee information: Name, faculty, department, title, rank, tenure/track, year of PhD/terminal degree, year started at UBC, email address, sub-committee to adjudicate
  • Citation (50 words): Please include a brief 50-word citation of the nominee's research written for a non-expert audience.

Documents required:

  1. Nomination Letter (1,200 words): A letter of nomination signed by at least one faculty nominator, including the name, title, and affiliation of each nominator. The letter should:
    • Frame the achievements of the nominee for a non-specialist, multidisciplinary, university-wide committee.
    • Set the subject matter and the contribution of the research in the context of the field. It should also illustrate how the nominee has had an impact in their field.
    • Illustrate the nominee’s outstanding research and scholarly contributions.
  2. Letters of Support (3): Three external letters of support from arm's-length referees. Recommended 1,200 words max per letter.
    • The letters of support are critical to the selection process and should be objective assessments of the nominee’s suitability for the prize.
    • Referees should be external to UBC and internationally recognized in their field (i.e. outside of UBC and preferably one from outside Canada).
    • Referees must be at arm’s length and may not include thesis or dissertation supervisor(s), anyone the nominee has supervised, or anyone with whom the nominee has collaborated (as co-author or co-investigator) within the past 6 years. 
    • Letters written by referees with a confirmed conflict of interest with the nominee will not be included and the package will be considered incomplete. Incomplete packages will not be reviewed.
    • Letters must be signed and dated. 
    • Letters in excess of three will not be considered.
  3. CV: Official updated UBC CV including complete list of publications (no page limit)

Questions?

Please review the FAQs, and contact research.prizes@ubc.ca.


Previous Award Winners

2023

  • Jeremy Biesanz (Psychology)

    .

    Stefan Dollinger (English Language and Literatures)

    .

    Amanda Giang (Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability; Mechnical Engineering)

    .

    Feng Jiang (Wood Science)

    .

    Joelle LeMoult (Psychology)

    .

    Teresa Liu-Ambrose (Physical Therapy)

    .

    Joanna McGrenere (Computer Science)

    .

    Heather O'Brien (School of Information)

    .

    Yue Qian (Sociology)

    .

    Stuart Turvey (Pediatrics)

2022

  • Janine Benedet (Peter A. Allard School of Law)

    .

    Andrew Martindale (Anthropology)

    .

    Renisa Mawani (Sociology)

    .

    Christopher Rea (Asian Studies)

    .

    Azim Shariff (Psychology)

    .

    Cristina Conati (Computer Science)

    .

    Linda Li (Physical Therapy)

    .

    Scott Oser (Physics and Astronomy)

    .

    Tarek Sayed (Civil Engineering)

    .

    Mohammad Arjmand (School of Engineering)

2021

  • Karl Aquino, Arts and Humanities, Senior Category (Sauder School of Business)

      .

      Bruce Miller, Arts and Humanities, Senior Category (Anthropology)

      .

      David Tindall, Arts and Humanities, Senior Category (Sociology)

      .

      Connor Kerns, Arts and Humanities, Junior Category (Psychology)

      .

      Kristin Laurin, Arts and Humanities, Junior Category (Psychology)

      .

      Catherine Johnson, Applied Science, Medicine, Sciences, Senior Category (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences)

      .

      Aly Karsan, Applied Science, Medicine, Sciences, Senior Category (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine)

      .

      Raymond Ng, Applied Science, Medicine, Sciences, Senior Category (Computer Science)

      .

      Marina von Keyserlingk, Applied Science, Medicine, Sciences, Senior Category (Land and Food Systems)

       

      .

      Mark Schmidt, Applied Science, Medicine, Sciences, Junior Category (Computer Science)

    2020

    • Peter Dauvergne, Arts and Humanities, Senior Category (Political Science)

      .

      Susan Herrington, Arts and Humanities, Senior Category (School of Architecture & Landscape Architecture)

      .

      E. David Klonsky, Arts and Humanities, Senior Category (Psychology)

      .

      Ryuko Kubota, Arts and Humanities, Senior Category (Language and Literacy Education)

       

      .

      Jiaying Zhao, Arts and Humanities, Junior Category (Psychology/Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability)

      .

      Lara Boyd, Applied Science, Medicine, Sciences, Senior Category (Physical Therapy)

      .

      Luke Clark, Applied Science, Medicine, Sciences, Senior Category (Psychology)

      .

      Nicholas Coops, Applied Science, Medicine, Sciences, Senior Category (Forest Resources Management)

      .

      Wendy Robinson, Applied Science, Medicine, Sciences, Senior Category (Medical Genetics)

       

      .

      Gina Ogilvie, Applied Science, Medicine, Sciences, Junior Category (School of Population & Public Health)


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