(This information was circulated to ADRs by email on Feb 27/26)
The three-year Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Fellowship award is a public recognition of outstanding academic achievements and a promise of future transformative contributions. Beyond the active three-year phase, the Foundation’s Fellowship remains an honorary lifetime appointment, encouraging ongoing ties between the Foundation and its alumni.
Up to four fellowships are awarded nationally each year, and UBC is limited to three nominations.
Candidates’ research must be linked to one or several of the four Foundation themes:
- Human Rights and Dignity;
- Responsible Citizenship;
- Canada and the world;
- People and their natural environment
and must integrate itself in the general field of humanities and social sciences.
The Fellowship has of a total value of $300,000 per Fellow:
- $70,000 prize
- $50,000 research grant (year 1)
- Up to $100,000 additional research grant (years 2-3)
- Up to one (1) year of teaching buy-out, with $80,000 in compensation paid to the university.
Candidates:
- are senior academics in Canada who are leaders in their field. They are academics holding a full-time tenured appointment in a Canadian university at or near the rank of Full Professor with a national or international reputation;
- are in the middle of their academic career; the Foundation respects that professional careers may happen at different life stages and considers professional academic milestones as references; we respect career interruptions, leaves or changes which may have occurred;
- tackle important current issues in social sciences and humanities intersecting with one or more of the four themes of the Foundation; the research being pursued must have an impact and must contribute to important societal and research questions;
- propose a research project that is innovative and socially significant, pushing research and thinking in new directions; we are interested in how this Fellowship may meaningfully shape the next phase of the candidate’s career and in which way the Fellowship would amplify their research, leadership, and public impact;
- have a demonstrated commitment to supporting graduate students;
- have a proven record of academic excellence, as established by their prior success in obtaining research grants;
- are effective communicators willing to engage with a range of actors in society.
Internal Selection process 2026:
Department Heads or their representatives can nominate candidates by sending the following materials (note that page limits are not strict, but for the final submission, Trudeau recommends 3-4 pages for each letter and the proposal):
- Nomination Letter from an established career faculty member.
- Email from Department/Unit Head indicating agreement to 1-year teaching release, if awarded.
- Letter from the candidate, explaining their interest in the Foundation’s Fellowship program.
- If not at Professor level, please explain your path to promotion in the near future.
- Please also explain how you will participate in Trudeau Foundation activities. (Mar 3: Please see the FAQ under Fellowship > Expectations.)
- Fellowship research proposal, including expected impact of the Fellowship research funding.
- Address how the research fulfills one or more of the Trudeau Foundation’s 4 themes: Human Rights and Dignity; Responsible Citizenship; Canada and the world; People and their natural environment.
- Current UBC CV
Questions and submissions:
Please submit directly to research.prizes@ubc.ca by Wednesday April 1 at 9 am.
Any questions or concerns should be directed to VPRI Office of Research Prizes and Awards, research.prizes@ubc.ca.
A central committee will review these materials and select the institution’s three nominations for submission.
VPRI support (nomination review) will be available for selected candidates ahead of submission to the sponsor.
ORPA award page: https://prizes.research.ubc.ca/awards/trudeau-fellowship
Sponsor page: https://www.trudeaufoundation.ca/fellowship
Sponsor FAQ: https://www.trudeaufoundation.ca/faq/