Arthur B. McDonald Fellowships

Sponsor

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

Sponsor deadline: Monday, December 15, 2025

Internal deadline: Wednesday, October 1, 2025

Award Details

NSERC awards up to six McDonald Fellowships annually, valued at $250,000 over two years, with full relief from teaching and administrative responsibilities.

UBC is limited to six nominees, so VPRI will coordinate a preliminary selection process (details below) to select UBC's candidates. NSERC is strongly encouraging institutions to consider equity, diversity and inclusion in the nomination processes, and is encouraging self-nominations

• Candidates must hold an NSERC grant and have held an independent academic position for 10 years or less as of deadline (this window may be extended by career interruptions).
• Candidates may self-nominate
• Criteria and weightings:
  1. Research achievements and impacts (40%)
  2. Outreach, mentorship and leadership (30%)
  3. Future directions (30%)

Please review the full NSERC nomination guidelines: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Prizes-Prix/McDonald-McDonald/Nomination-Nomination_eng.asp

PRELIMINARY SELECTION PROCESS 

Please self-nominate for internal selection through the following two steps:

1. Send a brief expression of intent (EOI) to meaghan.miller@ubc.ca by Monday, September 15. (This is an optional stage to plan for adjudication, and candidates can still submit in the next step if they do not send an EOI.)

2. Fill out the online selection form by Wednesday, October 1, including date of first appointment and optional detail on career interruptions, and attach the following 3 documents:

1. 2-page statement addressing each of the three selection criteria of the full nomination: Research achievements and impacts (40%); Outreach, mentorship and leadership (30%); and Future directions (30%).
   • Please write to a multi-disciplinary committee, and consider giving particular emphasis to your contributions to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in your research, training, and outreach activities as it is an important factor in this award.
2. UBC CV
3. Email or letter from Department/Unit Head with signoff on terms of award, including two-year release from teaching and administrative duties.

Questions? Contact Meaghan Miller, Manager of Award Nomination Development meaghan.miller@ubc.ca  

Note: As of May 1^st, 2024 researchers nominated for this competition must comply with Government of Canada and Tri-Agency research security requirements. Please see UBC’s Research Security website for more details or to book a consultation with the Research Security team.