The LFS Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies Office administers the following Postdoctoral competitions
Killam Postdoctoral Research Fellowship
The Killam Scholarship and Prize Programmes were established in memory of Izaak Walton Killam through the Will of his wife, Dorothy Johnston Killam, and through gifts made during her lifetime. Their primary purpose is to support advanced education and research at five Canadian universities and the Canada Council for the Arts.
The UBC Killam Postdoctoral Research Fellowships are provided annually from the Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Fund for Advanced Studies and are available for most fields of research. It was Mrs. Killam’s desire that those selected to receive fellowships: “be likely to contribute to the advancement of learning or to win distinction in a profession. A Killam scholar should not be a one-sided person… Special distinction of intellect should be founded upon sound character.”
The number of new awards offered each year presently varies between three and five.
Annual Value: $60,000
Award Status: Closed. Applications for 2027-28 will open in the fall of 2026.
Internal LFS deadline: October 2026
Click here for past complete application and nomination details, as well as detailed eligibility requirements.
Please submit application and supporting documentation to Kelli Kadokawa, Manager, Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies, LFS, kelli.kadokawa@ubc.ca.
Killam Postdoctoral Fellow Research Prize
The Killam Postdoctoral Fellow Research Prizes are awarded annually for excellence in research. Established in 2011, the Killam PDF Prize is in memory of Izaak Walton Killam and his wife, Dorothy Johnston Killam, who together created the Killam trusts. Two prizes in the amount of $5,000 each are awarded to fulltime Postdoctoral Fellows at UBC in recognition of outstanding research and scholarly contributions while at UBC.
Nominations for the Killam PDF Prize are made to the Dean’s Office of their appointing faculty, and faculties submit their nominations to the PDFO. Eligibility, procedures, deadlines and evaluation guidelines.
Award Value: $5,000.00
Award Status: Open
Internal LFS deadline: Wednesday, November 19, 2025 Please email Kelli Kadokawa ahead of this deadline to express your interest in applying.
Deadline for units to submit nominations to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies: December 3, 2025
Please submit application and supporting documentation to Kelli Kadokawa, Manager, Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies, LFS, kelli.kadokawa@ubc.ca.
UBC Awards and Funding
The University of British Columbia offers and administers programs that provide financial help to Postdoctoral Fellows. Some of these funding opportunities are external to UBC, however others can be applied to a UBC PDF appointment.