Arthur B. McDonald Fellowships

Sponsor

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

Sponsor deadline: Monday, December 16, 2024

Award Details

NSERC awards up to six McDonald Fellowships (formerly E.W.R. Steacie Fellowships) annually, valued at $250,000 over two years, with full relief from teaching and administrative responsibilities.

UBC is limited to six nominations, 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 December 14, 2024 (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 stephanie.oneill@ubc.ca by Thursday, September 12, 2024 at 11:59 pm. (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 2 at 11:59 pm, including date of first appointment and optional detail on career interruptions, as well as confirmation of Department Head agreement, and attach the following two 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

As the fellowship requires a two-year release from teaching and administrative duties, candidates should inform their department heads prior to submitting a file for preliminary internal selection.

Questions? Contact Stephanie O'Neill, Award Nomination Development Officer, stephanie.oneill@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.