Funding

Make the most of the financial resources available to you as a UBC student.

The Department of Linguistics has various funding opportunities for all graduate students including internal and external awards, scholarships, and research funding. New applicants to our MA and PhD programs will automatically be considered for any UBC-based funding, and don’t need to apply for this separately.

MA Program Funding

While there is no guarantee of MA funding, students in the Linguistics MA program typically receive a funding package of $25,500 for the first two years of their MA program. The funding package may consist of any combination of internal or external awards, teaching-related work, research assistantships, graduate academic assistantships, or other campus work.

MDS-CL Program Funding

Students in the Master of Data Science in Computational Linguistics will have access to a variety of funding options including bursaries and scholarships. For a comprehensive list of tuition and financial aid information, please visit the Master of Data Science website.

PhD Program Funding

All full-time PHD students will be provided with a minimum funding package of $25,500 for each of the first five years of their program. The funding package may consist of any combination of internal or external awards, teaching-related work, research assistantships, graduate academic assistantships, or other campus work. UBC Linguistics is committed to guaranteeing all current PhD students into this promised funding level.

Program Funding Requirements

Students in either the MA, MDS, or PHD programs must meet two major requirements to receive this level of financial support:

  • Students must make satisfactory academic progress. Failure to maintain academic good standing will result in a loss of funding.
  • Students must apply for Teaching Assistantships (TAs) and Research Assistantships when these job ads are posted. Additionally, you must demonstrate a concerted effort in your applications for internal and external awards. Failure to apply for these opportunities will result in a loss of funding.

*Please review each award carefully before applying, certain restrictions may apply.

Awards

There are various internal and external awards available to graduate students in the Department of Linguistics. Please note that international students can only apply for Affiliated Awards, whereas Canadian citizens and permanent residents are eligible for SSHRC and NSERC awards, in addition to certain Affiliated Awards.

Department Internal Awards

The department has a Graduate Student Job Interview Fund, which intends to support graduate (MA and PhD) students who are interviewing for academic or non-academic positions by providing funds associated with the purchase of professionally appropriate clothing or accessories for job-interview purposes.

  • Students can apply to the fund once during their graduate program
  • At the time of application, the student must already have a job interview scheduled (incl. interviews at major conferences, such as LSA, MLA)
  • Interviews for academic as well as non-academic (e.g. industry, “alt-ac”) jobs, permanent or temporary, are eligible
  • A maximum of $300 per student can be requested
  • Support will be in the form of a grant; it does not need to be repaid
  • However, recipients who are successful in obtaining a full-time position are encouraged to make a donation to the Edna Dharmaratne Award in Linguistics (an annual prize “to be awarded to a current graduate or undergraduate student in the department who demonstrates academic merit and financial need”)

As of February 2023, the Graduate Research Initiative Prize is being re-assessed. Updated details will be posted here once available. Please contact ling.grad@ubc.ca in the interim if you have any concerns related to this award.

An award of $1,000 is offered annually by alumni, faculty, students, and staff of the UBC Department of Linguistics in honour of Edna Dharmaratne for students in the Department of Linguistics who have achieved good academic standing and demonstrated volunteerism. Financial need may also be considered.

External Awards

Affiliated Awards

Research Proposals

For certain awards, you will be requested to submit a research proposal with your application. Below, we’ve included a few samples of successful research proposals from UBC Linguistics students.

*This proposal did not adhere to the formatting and length requirements, and was therefore truncated by Graduate Studies before being passed on to the adjudication committee.

Here are some additional guidelines that we’ve created to help you write your research proposal:

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