The Law Foundation of British Columbia has established a fund of $120,000 per year to support legal research in British Columbia. The purpose of the fund is to support legal research projects that “advance the knowledge of law, social policy, and the administration of justice”.
Who Can Apply
The Fund is open to:
- Members of the Law Faculties at Thompson Rivers University, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Victoria, as long as the application is submitted with the express approval of their Dean;
- Members of other faculties in British Columbia, as long as the research is law-related and the application is submitted with the express approval their Dean.
- Members of the legal profession in British Columbia who can demonstrate they have the background, interests and capacity to carry out legal research.
- Non-profit organizations with expertise in carrying out legal research.
Please note that a person who is a current recipient of a Graduate Fellowship from the Foundation is ineligible to receive a concurrent grant from the Legal Research Fund.
The Foundation seeks proposals for one-time legal research projects
To be eligible for funding, a project must fall within the Law Foundation’s legal research fund objectives of advancing the knowledge of law, social policy and the administration of justice.
The Law Foundation encourages applications where the proposed research could reasonably be expected to have a practical impact in improving access to justice for British Columbians. This could include, but is not limited to:
- Research which identifies legal needs in the context of access to justice;
- Research which identifies what works in addressing specific legal needs in the context of access to justice;
- Research which identifies practical pathways to improving access to justice;
- Research related to Family Law and access to justice;
- Research related to Indigenous Law and access to justice.
The Law Foundation encourages applicants and projects that reflect the diversity of British Columbia. The Law Foundation’s working definition of diversity is:
Diversity includes age, different abilities, socio-economic level, education, ethnicity, language, family, gender, marital/relationship status, race, religion, work experience, geographic size and location, and sexual orientation.
Grant Amount
The maximum amount available for each project is $20,000.
Call For Applications And Deadline
Coming soon
Application Process
Please submit an application through the Law Foundation’s online grants management system (SmartSimple) at https://lawfoundationbc.smartsimple.ca. If you have any questions about how to submit an application, please contact the Law Foundation before submitting.
Grants from the Legal Research Fund are decided by the Fellowships and Research Committee, and confirmed at the November Law Foundation Board of Governors meeting.
The application will ask for the following information:
- Name of project;
- Start and end dates for the project;
- Name of the principal researcher;
- Amount of request;
- Description of the proposed research;
- Need for and potential impact of the proposed research;
- Detailed budget, including rates of pay for students;
- If the grant is to be part of a larger research budget, the total amount of the research budget, the other funding sources, and whether those other funding sources are confirmed; and
- Plan for distribution of the research.
The application also requires the CV of the principal researcher, together with a list of publications, limited to major publications and/or presentations relevant to the application within the last five years.
Please send any questions you may have about the legal research fund to [email protected].