Prospective students
Your program, projects, and contacts at UBC depend on whether you plan to come to UBC to do research and earn a salary as an employee or whether the research is part of your educational program as a student at your home institution.
VIRS is the approved program for international students who want to engage in full-time research at UBC under the supervision of UBC faculty member. If you meet the eligibility requirements and do not wish to take courses at UBC, consider applying to the VIRS program.
For students interested in also taking coursework or receiving compensation for research, consider other UBC options outlined here:
Helpful acronyms
- LMIA: Labour Market Impact Assessment
- IRCC: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, formerly known as Citizenship and Immigration Canada
- International Undergraduate (bachelor's) students
- Taking courses and doing research: Visiting Students (VISI) through Non-Degree Studies
- Taking courses and doing research: Visiting Students (VISI) through Non-Degree Studies
- International Graduate (master's or PhD) students
- Taking course and/or doing research: Visiting International Students (VISI) through Graduate Studies—see “Other Visiting Students”
- Taking course and/or doing research: Visiting International Students (VISI) through Graduate Studies—see “Other Visiting Students”
- Canadian Citizens/Permanent Resident, Graduate (master's or PhD) students
- Taking course and/or doing research: Visiting Students (VISI) through Graduate Studies
- Taking course and/or doing research: Visiting Students (VISI) through Graduate Studies
- Non-students
- Research-only, salaried: Contact the Human Resources team within the hosting academic department—see Faculty Relations
As a student applicant, it's your responsibility to identify, contact and get approval from a UBC faculty member who will be your VIRS supervisor. Identify a potential supervisor who best matches your research interests and academic background.
UBC's Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies website hosts a database of UBC professors and their research interests, and lists which are available to host VIRS students.
Search through faculties offered at UBC to help identify your potential supervisor.
If you are a VIRS applicant who is registered in a PhD program at a recognized institution, you might be eligible for the Joint Doctoral Research Scholar designation. To qualify, students must:
- Be registered in a PhD program at a recognized institution or at UBC
- Be registered at UBC as a Visiting Graduate Student or Visiting International Research Student, if not already a registered PhD student at UBC
- Have faculty co-supervisors of their doctoral research program at each university, which are formally approved by the appropriate individual/office at each university
Joint Doctoral Research Scholars will be eligible to obtain a confirmation letter from Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies to validate that their doctoral thesis research was co-supervised by a UBC faculty member and that they attended UBC as a Joint Doctoral Research Scholar as part of their doctoral studies at another university. Read more.
To be considered: 1) Check if you are eligible for VIRS 2) Complete the JDRS request form 3) Apply for VIRS and upload your completed JDRS request form to your application.