The Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies International Roundtable Discussions
Big Ideas. Space to explore them. The Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies will host six International Roundtable Discussions each year for scholars from the international community and Canada to come together in the pursuit of knowledge in an interdisciplinary environment. The objective of the Institute’s International Roundtable Discussions is to engage in fundamental research and idea exchange that can prompt advances in science and society, and have a significant impact on the discovery of solutions to important problems.
The broad-ranging themes for 2012-2013 are: “Life”, “Time” and “Re-imagining the University”. The Institute expects that at least three of the International Roundtable Discussions will examine some aspect of these themes.
The Institute also welcomes applications unrelated to the themes.
The Institute will fully fund the accommodation, meals and meeting venue for up to ten international and national scholars in Vancouver, Canada at the University of British Columbia (UBC) for four to ten days, and partially fund additional participants.
Objectives of the International Roundtable Discussions:
• To foster novel approaches towards engagement in fundamental research and idea exchange that may prompt advances in the sciences and humanities and have a significant impact on knowledge.
• To foster problem solving among the world’s brightest scholars.
• To allow scholars, community leaders, artists and others to come together from different disciplines to explore a pressing social, health, economic or other problem or research question, creating the foundation for new innovative research.
• To encourage roundtable discussions focusing on various aspects of timely and important broad themes.
• To foster exceptional collaborative research between international scholars and UBC scholars.
Criteria:
• All roundtables are open to scholars around the world to submit proposals for roundtable discussions that can explore creative and innovative ideas that will make significant contributions to knowledge.
• The roundtable must offer a unique opportunity for collaboration among scholars. The Institute will not fund meetings that would have otherwise happened, such as annual meetings.
• The application must describe how the proposed roundtable will create a coherent forum for creative curiosity and the exchange of ideas that can lead to new discoveries.
Requirements:
• International scholars are eligible to apply, as are Canadian scholars. At least one principal investigator must be a university professor. Participants may include community activists, artists, policy makers and others involved in the research collaboration.
• Completion of the attached application, setting out in a succinct, non-technical manner: the context, research objectives, and the anticipated outcomes, contributions and follow up collaboration (one page maximum); the structure of the roundtable discussions; and a list of likely participants and where they are from (one page maximum).
• There are two specified periods during which all roundtable discussions will be held. For the coming academic year, the dates are May 1 to 10, 2013 and October 16 to 26, 2013.
• Proposals must include one event of public interest open to the UBC community and broader public.
• The Institute will provide all venues for the International Roundtable Discussions, accommodation for up to ten participants for up to ten days, and all meals in connection with the roundtables. It will also cover meals for an additional ten scholars from UBC or elsewhere, up to 20 participants in total, including faculty, graduate students, and post-doctoral scholars.
• Participants must cover their own travel costs; however, if one of the principal investigators is a UBC tenure-stream or tenured professor, the proposal can include up to $10,000 in travel costs for the international participants.
The Institute’s Expectations:
• Roundtables will generate creative thinking and significant research outcomes.
• The public event at UBC organized by the roundtable principal investigators should advance knowledge in an area of public interest.
• The International Roundtable Discussion must afford opportunities for UBC graduate students and post-doctoral fellows to participate in some of the deliberations.
• Principal investigators are required to submit a report within 60 days after the end of the roundtable. The post-event report criteria include a summary of how the roundtable objectives and outcomes have been achieved, and an outline of any plans for future collaborative work, in a form that allows the Institute to communicate the actual contributions and impact of the roundtables to the public.
The Institute’s International Adjudication Committee selections will be announced one month after the application deadline.
Deadline: September 15, 2012 for Roundtables from May 1 to 10, 2013 or October 16 to 26, 2013, January 15, 2013 for Roundtables October 16 to 26, 2013 and May 1 to 10, 2014
