Indigenous Graduate Fellowships (IGF) 5th Year Award
Deadline
Annual Value
Citizenship
Degree Level
The University of British Columbia offers opportunities for eligible Indigenous PhD students to apply for a fifth year of funding, in line with the University’s core commitments to Indigenous engagement and student support.
In recognition of the significant community engagement often required for research projects undertaken by Indigenous graduate students, this award is intended to provide additional resources to support and strengthen such engagement: building relationships, supporting community-capacity development, conducting fieldwork, establishing reciprocal and community-led research protocols, reporting back to community and more. This commitment is aligned with the CAGS (Re)conciliation Task Force Report (2022) Call to Action 2.
Effective September 2024, the IGF 5th Year Award provides a stipend of $25,000 per annum plus tuition to support Indigenous Doctoral students’ fifth year of study. Tuition funding will not exceed the current value of standard doctoral degree tuition fees.
Eligibility
- All Indigenous students are eligible to apply, but priority is given to Indigenous students whose traditional territory falls, at least in part, within Canada. This includes Canadian First Nations, Métis or Inuit students and may include Indigenous students from Alaska and other states of the USA. The University may request further information to confirm Indigenous eligibility.
- Awardees must be enrolled as full-time graduate students at the UBC-Vancouver campus for the duration of this award.
- The award is open to Indigenous Students from all disciplines.
- Months of Study
- Applicants must have completed, as of December 31 2023, between 32 and 44 months of full-time (or full-time equivalent) doctoral-level study. For applicants who have transferred to the PhD from the Master’s without completing the Master’s, eligibility is counted from the date of transfer.
- Successful applicants are eligible to receive funding for a period of 12 months, to be held during months 49 through 60 of their program.
- The award will commence on the 49th month of a student’s PhD program. Eligible start dates are as follows:
- May 1st, 2024
- September 1st, 2024
- January 1st, 2025
- May 1st, 2025
- Eligible students must have reached candidacy in their doctoral program prior to the commencement of their award.
- Applicants are not eligible to receive the IGF 5th Year Award during their 6th year of doctoral study (61 months of study onwards).
- All previous studies at the doctoral level will be included in determining eligibility.
- To be eligible to receive the IGF 5th Year Award, award holders are expected to devote full-time hours to the research or studies for which they were funded (full-time status), and are required to make satisfactory academic progress throughout their funding period.
- Applicants are not eligible to receive the IGF 5th Year Award concurrently with external (e.g., Tri-Agency) or major internal (e.g., 4YF, IGF) funding that equals or exceeds the IGF stipend amount.
Evaluation Criteria
The IGF 5th Year Award recognizes and supports the significant community engagement and resource-intensive work undertaken in Indigenous graduate research, such as building relationships, supporting community-capacity development, conducting fieldwork, establishing reciprocal and community-led research protocols, reporting back to community and more.
Applications will be evaluated with a focus on the intention of the award, with particular emphasis on activities and research approaches aimed at building relationships and fostering deeper connections and engagement with Indigenous communities.
Application Procedures
A complete application must be submitted online to the Faculty of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies by uploading a complete application form via the Qualtrics link provided below. Complete applications must be received by 4:00pm on Friday, February 16, 2024. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered; it is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that their application is complete by the deadline.
Applicants to the IGF 5th Year Award may also be eligible for funding through the IGF Research & Travel Award. Applicants are welcome to apply for both awards, through a single application, or by submitting two separate applications if they wish to tailor the content differently for each funding stream.
Some applicants may be eligible to apply for the IGF 5th Year Award via the main IGF competition. Please contact graduate.awards@ubc.ca to discuss the most appropriate application route.
A complete application consists of the following:
- Application Form, including a brief description of proposed research, and an outline of research methodology and community engagement, signed by the applicant and their research supervisor.
Adjudication Procedures
The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies will convene an adjudication committee to review applications submitted. The committee will review the applications and select the successful applicants.
Further Information
The contact at Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for this competition is Bree Wilson (bree.wilson@ubc.ca).