Details at a Glance
Application Deadline: September 8th, 2024
- Location: UBC-Based
- Duration: 2 – 8 months depending on the project
- Eligibility: Open to active full-time UBC-V 4th-year undergraduate or master/PhD students (see details below)
Program Description
The ORICE Scholar Program is designed for students interested in enhancing their community-engaged research (CER) experience including research skill development, collaborative project design and implementation, peer leadership, and collective capacity building. The program runs from 2 to 8 months (please see current project pages for specific information) and is open to active full-time upper-year undergraduate students, masters, and PhD candidates at the University of British Columbia Vancouver campus.
This program offers a comprehensive experience that includes participation in bi-weekly in-person training workshops facilitated by ORICE staff and/or community guests to enhance skills and knowledge of community-engaged research. ORICE Scholars will provide leadership and guidance to undergraduate project teams on their assigned community-engaged research projects, which are co-defined with ORICE’s community partners. Moreover, ORICE Scholars are expected to liaise regularly with ORICE staff and project partners as the project tasks demand. ORICE Scholars will be provided access to shared workspaces and can work with ORICE staff to book appropriate venues for team meetings and workshops at UBC.
This is a unique opportunity to engage in experiential learning activities, gain valuable skills and knowledge through structured training and mentorship, and expand your capacity for collaborative research.
Current Projects
ORICE Scholar opportunities are available for the following projects:
Note: This position for this student team project has been filled.
Project Overview:
A foundational piece of desk research to complete in this project includes a review and analysis of current inclusion policies and related implementation mechanisms in Kenya, including information on how monitoring and evaluation are occurring and about the availability of public data. Inclusion policies about disability and mental health will be of primary interest for this project. This research will be important contextual information for the subsequent research that Basic Needs, Basic Rights (BNBR) plans to undertake on their organizational priorities and goals and will be necessary background information in the drafting of policy briefs and research dissemination.
The ORICE Scholar for this one-term engagementship (October 2024-December 2024) will participate in the ORICE Community Engaged Research training program, liaise with the community partner regarding team questions and schedule joint meetings, organize and (co)facilitate student team meetings to guide the research process, and meet regularly with ORICE staff to collaborate on the oversight the project milestones and deliverables.
The student team activities associated with this project will include project planning, related environmental scans and literature reviews, the investigation and analysis of Kenyan inclusion policies and mechanisms related to disability and mental health, research on monitoring and evaluation and data reporting.
Duration: 3 months starting in October 2024
Project Overview:
AFRIpads is interested in learning more about the direct impacts of employment at the individual and household levels for the workforce that is comprised of approximately 80% women. For a social enterprise that has made choices such as the development of the factory in a rural location, ensuring most employees are women and providing healthcare and pension benefits, AFRIpads is interested in learning more about the outcomes of these decisions and sharing them with policymakers and the business community in Uganda and beyond.
The ORICE Scholar for this two-term engagementship (October 2024-April 2025) will participate in the ORICE Community Engaged Research training program, liaise with the community partner regarding team questions and schedule joint meetings, organize and (co) facilitate student team meetings to guide the research process and meet regularly with ORICE staff to collaborate on the oversight the project milestones and deliverables.
The student team activities associated with this project will include a full review of previous study outcomes, project planning, literature reviews, research on impact metrics, research design, methodology reviews and the development of data collection tools. The intersections and disconnections between economic growth and social development will be examined through a critical lens that seeks to forefront African scholarship and methodologies.
Duration: 7 months starting October 2024
Project Overview:
This co-curricular opportunity is a collaboration between the UBC Human Rights Collective (HRC), which is part of the UBC Office of Regional and International Community Engagement (ORICE), and the global Scholars at Risk (SAR) Network. Students will engage in research and scholarly informed activism in support of SAR’s Scholars in Prison Project– which seeks to support and free wrongfully imprisoned scholars and students around the world. This year’s case will focus on imprisoned scholars in Iran and Belarus.
The ORICE Scholar for this two-term engagementship (October 2024-April 2025) will participate in select ORICE Community Engaged Research training program sessions, meet regularly with ORICE staff to develop and lead sessions for the student team building from an existing curriculum, and collaborate on the oversight the project milestones and deliverables. The ORICE Scholar for this project will also liaise with the community partner regarding team questions and schedule joint meetings.
The student team activities associated with this project are as follows: In semester one, students will spend time learning about their assigned scholar, with the goal of understanding the political, legal, and social contexts related to their imprisonment. They will engage in two forms of human rights research and produce two deliverables for SAR. The first will track key advocacy already undertaken by other stakeholders who have also advocated in these cases. Secondly, students will establish media monitoring protocols to aid SAR in their human rights monitoring and reporting. Both of these will be included in the scholars’ file at SAR.
Duration: 7 months starting October 2024
Project Overview:
Kamili Organisation is interested in undertaking an evaluation to understand the impacts of this training for selected nurses once they return to their home site. They would like to understand the facilitators, barriers and impacts the nurses experience when bringing their specialized knowledge to their practice site. The purpose of this evaluation is both to inform the current program and to develop evidence to influence policy at multiple levels/sites in Kenya.
The ORICE Scholar for this one-term engagementship (January-April 2025) will participate in the ORICE Community Engaged Research training program, liaise with the community partner regarding team questions and schedule joint meetings, organize and (co)facilitate student team meetings to guide the research process and meet regularly with ORICE staff to collaborate on the oversight the project milestones and deliverables.
The student team activities associated with this project will include a full review of program materials to date, project planning, literature reviews, environmental policy scans, research on impact metrics, evaluation design, methodology reviews and the development of data collection tools.
Duration: 4 months starting in January 2025
More Information
To be eligible for the ORICE Scholar Program, applicants must meet the following criteria:
- Academic Standing: Be an active full-time UBC Vancouver student with an average of 70% or above. Be a 4th-year Undergraduate or a Master/PhD student.
- Research Experience: Have previous applied research experience (community-engaged research [CER] is an asset)
- Peer Leadership: Have previous peer leadership experience to build upon.
- Time Commitment: Commit to approximately 6 hours per week for the duration of the program.
Applications are encouraged from students across all disciplines, including Humanities, Social Sciences, Physical and Applied Sciences, and Health Sciences.
The Scholar Program runs for 2 to 8 months. Please refer to the specific project pages for more information. ORICE Scholars are required to:
1. Project leadership: Scholars will be expected to work alongside the student cohort on the assigned project. This may consist of:
- Scheduling meetings;
- Developing research agendas;
- Co-facilitating skills development workshops;
- Maintaining project management oversight on the expected project deliverables;
- Fostering a cohesive and healthy learning environment;
- Responsible for ensuring all parties have the necessary information and ensuring inclusive communication.
2. Participate in CER Workshops and Meetings: Scholars must participate in bi-weekly workshops with other ORICE scholars, which will be facilitated by ORICE staff and/ or community guests. We encourage applicants to carefully consider their academic and professional commitments and ensure they can attend all associated workshops and meetings.
3. Meetings and communication: Scholars must be flexible and willing to meet with their respective community partners in unconventional hours (such as early morning and late evening) based on time zones to discuss aspects of the project regularly. Scholars are also expected to maintain a high degree of communication with ORICE staff and community partners throughout the project.
This opportunity includes a $1000 award per academic semester. The award will be disbursed upon the successful completion of the program requirements at the end of the semester and issued directly into the student's financial account.
Interested applicants should submit their applications by completing the application survey and attaching their curriculum by September 8th, 2024. Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an interview as part of the selection process.