Peter A Allard School of Law

Visiting Scholars Program

The Peter A. Allard School of Law welcomes visiting faculty and scholars from around the world. If you are interested in visiting, we have several endowed visiting chairs, and a program for self-funded visiting faculty and visiting scholars. 

Endowed Visiting Chairs

The Allard School of Law has two endowed chairs - the Walter S. Owen Chair and the Douglas McK.Brown Chair. Details will be posted on the Allard Law Careers page when these positions are open.

Centre for Asian Legal Studies (CALS) Visiting Scholar Program

Effective March 11, 2024, The Centre for Asian Legal Studies (CALS) have terminated their Visiting Scholar Program.  For more information please visit Centre for Asian Legal Studies website.

Global South Visiting Scholar In-Residence Program

This program hosts an exceptional scholar from the Global South for a short-term, fully funded visiting scholar in-residence program. For the purposes of this competition, “Global South” includes all low or middle-income countries located in Africa, Asia, Central and Latin America, the Middle East, Oceania and the Caribbean.

Applications for our 2022-2023 program have now closed.

Invited Visitors

The Allard School of Law welcomes invited, self-funded visiting faculty and visiting scholars. These visiting appointments are generally six months long. On occasion, shorter visits are possible, but without the same level of support (such as office space and library borrowing privileges).

Visitors in this category provide a valuable opportunity for the exchange of ideas and research and the creation of new and ongoing national and international research collaborations. Invited visitors are admitted into this program only where there is a Faculty Sponsor from the Allard School of Law who supports the application.

Visiting faculty includes professors, associate professors, assistant professors, and lecturers who have continuing appointments at other universities or academic institutions. Visiting faculty members are usually on sabbatical and are expected to return to their home institutions at the end of the visit.

If you are a graduate student interested in Visiting International Research Student opportunities at UBC, please see the Visiting International Research Student website. All queries regarding these applications should be directed to Go Global. Contact details are available on the Visiting International Research Student website.

Allard School of Law Faculty Sponsor

All visitors require a full-time faculty member as sponsor. Before applying, applicants need to make contact with a Faculty sponsor to ask whether they are willing to sponsor the visit. If you have not identified a sponsor, then please review the faculty profiles  to identify faculty members who are working in your field of interest and area of research. Send an e-mail (including your research plan and current curriculum vitae) to a faculty member working in your area and ask if they might be willing to act as your faculty sponsor. Faculty sponsors will be required to provide you with an email or letter indicating their willingness to serve as a faculty sponsor for your visit and an approximately 250 word statement describing the benefits of your visit to the Allard School of Law and their ongoing research and collaborations.

Faculty members receive many more requests for sponsorship than they can accept, so please limit your enquiries to faculty members where there is a definite research link and a possibility of research collaboration.

Application Form and Supplementary Materials

Once you have secured a faculty sponsor, please complete the Visiting Faculty / Visiting Scholar Application Form (PDF)  and send it to the address indicated on the form. In addition to the application form, please include the following supporting documents:

  • current curriculum vitae (including name, position, and contact information of 2 referees)
  • letter from the Dean/Department Head/supervisor on letterhead indicating continuing academic appointment
  • copy of e-mail or letter from an Allard School of Law faculty member confirming their willingness to act as the faculty sponsor and detailing the benefits of your visit to the Allard School of Law and the faculty member's research and international collaborations
  • a detailed research plan
  • a copy of the photo page of your valid passport

Deadlines

Applications are reviewed three times a year in February, June and October. Please submit your application by the 1st day of the month (February 1st, June 1st and October 1st) to be considered during that month's review of applications. We will notify you on receipt of your application. If your application is accepted, we will mail a letter of invitation to your office address.

The Allard School of Law is not able to accommodate all visiting scholar applications.

Fees

There is no application fee at present for the invited visitor program.

Effective May 15, 2015, visitors will be charged a program fee of $300 per month. Full payment of fees is due upon arrival.

General Information

Office Space

The Law Library and other libraries on campus have lots of open-table and open-carrel workspaces that are available to the public. The Allard School of Law has a limited supply of shared office space for Visiting Faculty and Scholars that may be available, subject to demand. Please indicate in the application form whether you would like shared office space. Visiting scholars should be aware that they are not provided with administrative support during their visit. UBC provides free, secure WiFi to all invited visitors at its Point Grey campus.

Duration

Visits can be from six months to one year.

Public Events

All visitors are welcome to attend the many public events at the Allard School of Law, including speaker series, Faculty Colloquium, lectures, and other events. Please go to the Allard School of Law Events calendar for a listing of upcoming events.

Foreign Academics and Visitor/Work Visas

Once you have received a letter of invitation from the Allard School of Law, please contact the nearest Canadian Immigration Office in your home country to determine what visas and/or work permits are required. Immigration information is available on the UBC website and though Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

If we are required to process an Offer of Employment number on your behalf, please let us know well in advance.

Please note that faculty and staff at the Allard School of Law will not provide any assistance on immigration and work visas nor are they able to answer questions regarding visitor immigration status or visa requirements. It is the visitor's responsibility to ensure that he/she is legally entitled to be a visiting faculty or visiting scholar at UBC. A visiting appointment is always subject to the approval of Citizenship and Immigration Canada .

Accommodations

Visitors are responsible for finding their own accommodation. UBC provides information on on-campus housing options.

Contact Information

Please direct any questions about the application process to visitingscholars@allard.ubc.ca.

Peter A. Allard School of Law UBC Crest The official logo of the University of British Columbia. Urgent Message An exclamation mark in a speech bubble. Arrow An arrow indicating direction. Caret A month-view page from a calendar. Caret An arrowhead indicating direction. Contact A page from a rolodex. Facebook The logo for the Facebook social media service. Information The letter 'i' in a circle. Instagram The logo for the Instagram social media service. Instagram An arrow exiting a rectangle. Linkedin The logo for the LinkedIn social media service. Mail An envelope. Minus A minus sign. Telephone An antique telephone. Play A media play button. Plus A plus symbol indicating more or the ability to add. Rss The logo for the Reddit social media service. Rss A symbol with radiating bars indicating an RSS feed. Search A magnifying glass. Twitter The logo for the Twitter social media service. Youtube The logo for the YouTube video sharing service.