Visiting Scholar

All enquiries are sent to the CALS Administrative Assistant at cals@allard.ubc.ca.

Contact one of our affiliated members in advance to find out more on our Visiting Scholars Program and determine if the member is willing to accept your applications, and supervise you during your visit.

Set your anticipated arrival date well in advance. It generally takes seven months, after the application is received, to complete all paper work and processes.

Please read our guidelines for acceptance of visiting scholar (PDF), very carefully. Please acknowledge that you have read the guidelines, by signing the document, and returning the signed copy with your application package. It is important to understand our expectations from a visitor, as we do require a detailed research plan.

It is the sole responsibility of the applicant to secure a proper visa before coming to Canada. Therefore, find out the immigration process required to enter Canada as a Visiting Scholar.

After receiving the completed application, it is sent to the CALS Committee for review. (Hereinafter cited as the Committee).

The following are dates for application submissions and reviews:

Under special circumstances, the Committee will waive the review dates, but this is not guaranteed. Please contact the Administrative Assistant at cals@allard.ubc.ca to request an urgent review of your application.

Upon review of the application, you will be notified of Committees decision on your application. Please note we receive many applications each year, and not all applications are accepted in the Visiting Scholars program.

A letter of offer with the University’s terms and conditions will be emailed to you, within a month of acceptance in the program. Please review carefully, and sign your consent to the same, and return to the Administrative Assistant.

It generally takes six additional months to process all official paperwork for Visiting Scholars. Therefore, give yourself enough of time between applying for the program, and your intended arrival date to Canada.

If you do not hear from us after three months after returning your signed offer letter, please contact us to follow up.

Once all paperwork is processed by us, you will receive an email from us letting you know the next steps.

An invoice for the Visiting Scholars fee will be sent to you before your arrival. This fee is payable upon arrival.

When you arrive at Peter A. Allard School of Law, report to the Coordinator, HR & Operations, to confirm your arrival, process any paperwork (work permit and passport), if necessary, and pay your fee.

You will receive a welcome letter that includes Campus Wide Login (CWL) information, library card etc., and arrange for office space.

Upon arrival, the visitor will be given a tour of the building by either the CALS Administrative Assistant or the Coordinator, HR & Operations.

Guidelines For Centre For Asian Legal Studies (CALS) Visiting Researchers/Scholars

The following are guidelines for Visiting Researchers/Scholars to the Centre for Asian Legal Studies (CALS)

1. CALS accepts Visiting Researchers as follows:

1. Visiting Researchers who will collaborate with CALS members
2. Distinguished Researchers who can contribute to UBC and CALS, with the approval of the hosting faculty members
3. Other Researchers and Scholars whose research profiles are determined to be in the interest of CALS
4. Judges and practitioners who are recommended based on institutional arrangements and follow the regular applications procedure

Applicants in categories 3 and 4 are required to find an appropriate supervisor to supervise their research.

In order to facilitate a smooth immigration process, please note we require important funding information from you as follows:

​​​​​Government Funded Visitors:  

• Award Recipient - Information required about any awards you have received that will fund your stay in Vancouver.
• Continued Salary – A letter from your academic or government institution is required to verify that they will continue to pay you a salary while you are a visitor in Vancouver.
• Length of visit can be up to one year maximum

Self-Funded Visitors:

Visitors who are purely self-funded and not receiving salary or other forms of funding, must limit their visit to a maximum of 120 days.  This term cannot be extended.

Please note:

Considering the unpredictable nature of immigration procedures, we strongly suggest refraining from making any major commitments or plans until your immigration status is securely established.

2. All applicants are required to submit a research plan. In addition to the summary of research plan, applicants must submit the following:

• Research Objectives (state your research objective/goal to be achieved by the visit. Highlight any value and contributions of your research to the academia or for practice)
• A Literature Review (state briefly what kind of material you have read to prepare for your research)
• Timeline of Research (state the various stages and plans for progress)
• Prospective Research Outcomes (state the intended outcome of your research)
• Possible Avenue of sharing or publishing research outcomes (state how you plan to publish, share and present your research to the academia)

3. Before leaving UBC, all Visiting Researchers are required to submit a report on research outcomes.

4. All Visiting Researchers are required to contribute to and engage with the Allard community by giving a lunchtime talk, participating in a symposium, submitting blog posts or participating in class discussions.

5. All Visiting Researchers are required to share or publish their research outcomes in some form during or after the visit.

6. Visiting Researchers wishing to extend their visit at UBC, must submit a request to the Director of CALS with an explanation as to why an extension is required.  Extensions are provided at the discretion of the CALS committee members. Please remember that there is a two year maximum for all Visiting Researcher/Visiting Scholar appointments.