The Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies (PWIAS) has launched a call for applications to fund new working groups to produce rapid publications in relation to COVID-19. The publications will be published on the PWIAS website prior to being submitted to academic journals, and will aim to influence policy decisions in different areas of society and levels of government. Applications must take an innovative, unconventional approach to understanding and addressing the challenges posed by COVID-19 and society’s response to it. We seek projects proposing to do interdisciplinary work that is not fundable by other sources and that aims to develop new conceptual approaches and recommendations drawing on knowledge from multiple disciplines, including Economics, Social Sciences, Mathematics, Data Science, Epidemiology, Public Policy, Ethics, Humanities, and Law.
Successful applicants will receive up to $10,000 per project. Working group members can include international scholars and non-academic participants, and must include at least one UBC faculty member who will be responsible for administering the award. Preference will be given to working groups that include non-academic participants, including those experienced in engaging decision makers at different levels of government. Award funds may be used for virtual meeting technology, organization and setup; compensation for a working group coordinator; compensation for a communications specialist to connect the group to media and decision makers; honoraria for non-academic working group members; undergraduate and graduate student involvement; knowledge mobilization to bring the conclusions of the publication to relevant audiences (e.g., hosting virtual townhall meetings or the creation of videos to be posted on the PWIAS YouTube channel); other eligible research expenses as per UBC policy LR2.
Application must be two pages maximum, and must include:
We encourage pre-submission enquiries. Please contact internationalprograms@pwias.ubc.ca.
Applications should be submitted to internationalprograms@pwias.ubc.ca and will be accepted on a rolling basis.