UBC Farm Undergraduate Research Competition 2022
1. Rationale & Eligibility
The Centre for Sustainable Food Systems (CSFS) UBC Farm Undergraduate Research Competition provides financial support for innovative, undergraduate-led research projects at the UBC Farm. In 2022, $6000 of total funding is available, while individual projects can apply for a maximum of $3000 in funding. This research competition aims to support undergraduate students in developing their research skills and experience while enabling preliminary data gathering on any theme related to sustainable food systems and the mission of the CSFS.
Eligibility & Dates:
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- Applicants must be current UBC undergraduate students, from any faculty.
- Students must identify a primary supervisor (UBC graduate student, postdoctoral researcher, or faculty member) on their application and are encouraged to develop their proposal in collaboration with this supervisor. All financial and project management is the responsibility of the primary supervisor. Primary supervisors can be from any faculty at UBC, they are not required to be CSFS Associates or be LFS faculty.
- Primary supervisors are also welcome to identify undergraduate students in their courses or labs and work collaboratively with them to develop proposals.
- The research proposal can be on any subject related to the CSFS mission with the only limitation that the research must be carried out at the UBC Farm between May 1, 2022 and April 30, 2023.
Deadline for applications: EXTENDED to Monday, March 21, 2022.
Release of funding decision: Friday, April 1, 2022.
2. Award process & Funding details
Support will be provided for the direct costs of research carried out at the UBC Farm as described in the proposal, including:
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- Stipend and salary support for students
- Material supplies or consumables
- Land use fees
- Field labor and other field experimental maintenance costs
All budget items must be required for the successful completion of the proposed research and must be defended in a short budget justification submitted with the main application. Expenses incurred prior to the start date of the proposed work will be ineligible to receive funding.
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- Applicant information (name, email, UBC affiliation)
- Primary supervisor information (name, email, UBC affiliation, and current position)
- Project title
- Proposed start date
- Budget details and justification including site land-use fees and other expenses (1 page max.)
- Project Summary (250 words max.)
- A Project Research Proposal that includes:
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- Project Rationale (~½ page) where the central problem or question addressed by the research project is described, with particular attention paid to how the project connects to broader questions or knowledge gaps. The applicant should make clear how the project will help develop undergraduate research skills.
- A Methodology section that details:
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- the theoretical/conceptual framework guiding the research and any research hypotheses if applicable, supported by references to the existing literature
- the methods and procedures to be used and any considerations taken to ensure the work is carried out successfully
- support that the primary supervisor or their lab will provide for the project
- the project space and the experimental requirements at the UBC Farm
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- Significance section (~½ page) that describes the broader impacts of the proposed research including the expected outcomes of the project, student learning outcomes and importance to their future career path, and any relevance of the work to the Green Academic designation of the UBC Farm, and the CSFS Strategic Plan.
- Literature cited (1 page max.)
- Unofficial university transcripts of student applicant
- Reference letter from the primary supervisor that describes the research potential of the applicant and how the supervisor intends to support/mentor the student
Funding for the successful project(s) will be released to the primary supervisor as a single payment and must be spent within one year of award receipt, with no renewal possible. Successful applicants will be required to submit a final report on the research activities undertaken within 3 months of project end. Data generated from the research project must also be submitted to the CSFS within 6 months of the project conclusion. The CSFS will release this project data into a public-facing repository (Scholars Portal Dataverse) 3 years after the project’s completion. During this 3-year period, the applicants and primary supervisor will have the exclusive opportunity to interpret and publish data collected as part of their research.
3. Submission & Selection
Applications (Proposal+Budget+References submitted as a single PDF file) for this funding call should be submitted online by 5 pm, Monday, March 21, 2022.
The funding decision will be released by Friday April 1, 2022, with a funding start date of May 1, 2022.
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- Quality, innovation, originality, and relevance of the proposed project
- Potential for project to contribute to student learning and research skills
- Alignment of the project with the CSFS vision and mission
- Quality of support provided by the primary supervisor and match with proposed project
- Feasibility of completing project within the one-year timeframe
- Appropriateness of budget allocation and justification
- Academic excellence of the applicant