Subsidy for Scholarly Activities 2024-25

The UBC Emeritus College seeks to assist in fostering, promoting, and disseminating the scholarly activities / academic pursuits of retired faculty, consistent with the University's mission, by disbursing funds provided for this purpose by the University, on the initiative of the President. It is the intent of the College to offer the Subsidy program every year.

The application is now open. Applications must be submitted by Thursday, July 17, 2025.

Application Form

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Recognizing that many faculty contribute to the scholarly, scientific, and artistic life of the University after retirement and that the University has invested a great deal in faculty over the years, the College invites applications for partial subsidy of expenses incurred by members of the UBC Emeritus College in conducting scholarly activities during the academic year 2024-2025.

Applications for such support will be assessed by an Adjudication Committee, consisting of at least three members of the College, each representing a different discipline.  The Committee will seek to support as many applications as can be funded, provided the expenses claimed are eligible. If requests for reimbursement exceed the monies available, requests may be met only in part.  The Committee will aim to achieve some level of balance among disciplines, while recognizing that this will not be possible every year, and  will give priority to first-time applicants (i.e. those who have not received awards in previous years). College members should seek support from this fund only when no other sources of reimbursement (e.g. research grants; support from an institution, department, school, or organization) are available to them. 

The Adjudication Committee will be guided by three key principles:

1. Requests for subsidy must be consistent with the spirit of the program, and in support of scholarly activity (not a hobby), as defined by the University’s Collective Agreement 2022-2025, Part 4, Article 4.03 ‘Scholarly Activity’, accessible here (PDF).
2. Requests must adhere to current University’s financial practices and  procedures
3. Requests must be for expenses for which no other resources are available (i.e. for which the applicant would be personally out-of-pocket).

We welcome requests for partial reimbursement of expenses incurred by members of the Emeritus College in pursing scholarly and creative activities that contribute to the university’s mandate.
 

Delroy Paulhus, Emeritus Professor of Psychology , reports:

I’d like to thank the emeritus college for the generous financial assistance.  The funding was awarded to defray costs incurred while exhibiting our research at the recent meeting of the Canadian Psychological Association.  The meeting was held in Ottawa at the Westin hotel during June 16-19, 2024. 

   Our research was spearheaded by graduate student, Talia Morstead (in photo), and my colleague, Dr. Anita DeLongis (not pictured). It addressed a burgeoning topic, namely, at-home DNA testing. This testing is now easily facilitated by online software such as Ancestry.com and 23&Me. Our large surveys focused on motivations for testing and how people cope with unexpected results. Results indicated that many people seek out DNA testing in the first place because their sense of self is chronically impoverished, and they wish to strengthen it. But the discovery of an unexpected parentage can be an emotional shock to many people because their very identity is threatened. These phenomena resonated with the many conference participants who commented on our presentation. Several published papers have ensued, with Talia as the primary author.    

 

The following guidelines frame the main activities for which subsidy can be requested, but are not limiting or definitive:

• Those related to the conduct of scholarly activities: travel expenses such as airfare, ground transportation and accommodation, in accord with University guidelines. We do not subsidize meals or per diems. (In general, please see UBC Finance guidelines). https://finance.ubc.ca/expenditure-guidelines-0/travel-expenditures

  If your airfare includes premium economy or any class higher than economy, please provide an economy equivalent airfare for the Committee’s reference.

• Those related to the publication of books, papers, clinical studies, and manuscripts; these may include costs for cartography, copyright permissions for illustrations and, in exceptional circumstances, costs incurred for colour reproduction. Reimbursement of publication costs may be requested, up to a limit of $5,000 per applicant. Proof of commissioned illustrations must be specifically provided.
  Please note that UBC Library provides discounts through negotiated licence agreements direct with selected publishers and via their membership to the Canadian Knowledge Research Network. Please check this resource before you submit your application. If authors do not take advantage of these discounts, the requested amount of subsidies may be adjusted accordingly. More information is available on this webpage.
• Books and journals required for scholarly research are normally expected to be sourced through UBC Library. Purchases of books or journal articles will only be subsidized under special circumstances.
• Those related to the presentation of  the results of scholarly and creative activity. Priority will be given to those receiving significant awards, presenting invited talks, and serving as officers of scholarly societies.  Attendance alone will not be reimbursed.
• Expenses related to the development of policy papers, to data analysis/data synthesis and for student research assistance.
• Translation is required for receipts if it is not in English.
• Licensing of necessary software not available through UBC licences accessible via Kivuto portal.
• Other activities consonant with the University’s mission such as the development of innovative teaching methodologies, artistic performance, or production.
• All payments are as subsidy to recoup expenses already incurred, for which no other source can be found. 
• Subsidy requests for capital expenses and equipment will be denied.
• No subsidy requests will be accepted from departments.
• Receipts must be for expenses incurred for activities that took place between July 1 of the past year and June 30 of the present year (tickets may have been bought earlier in order to get discounts).
• Professional Membership Fees, if necessary, for example to attend a conference or to obtain a sizeable conference fee discount, will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

ELIGIBILITY, CRITERIA AND PROCESS

Members of the UBC Emeritus College (from both UBC-O and UBC-V) are eligible. 
(All senate-appointed emeriti are automatically members of the College.)

The following documents are required:

1. Completed Expense Overview, which is now part of the questions in the online application.
2. Written justification for the expenses. 
3. Supporting documentation which could include conference program, invitation letter, etc.
4. An up-to-date CV (reflecting scholarly activity in the last 6 years) in whichever format is easiest (UBC, common CV, N5F, etc.) 
5. Detailed receipts for the expenses incurred.
6. Completed Online Application.

Applications must be submitted by Thursday, July 17, 2025.

Application Form

The committee will adjudicate applications between August and October 2025.
Notifications and cheques will be sent between November 1 and December 31, 2025.