The Centre for Computational and Digital Social Science, Humanities, and Creative Arts (CODI Centre) at the University of British Columbia invites proposals for its 2027 Student Fellows Program. Selected Graduate Fellows will receive a $5,000 stipend to support their research, and Selected Undergraduate Fellows will receive a $2,500 stipend to support their research.
The CODI Centre is an intellectual and pedagogical hub for cutting edge computational and digital scholarship across the Arts. Housed in the Faculty of Arts, the Centre promotes interdisciplinary scholarship within and between disciplines, focusing on how data and computation can advance our understanding of society, culture, language, and related areas within Arts research, and how data, digital technologies, and computation are shaping them in turn. We welcome applicants with varying experience who are interested in expanding their work in areas such as; archival, statistical, spatial, linguistic, philosophical, curatorial and creative projects.
Computational and digital scholarship at UBC is not one single thing, but seeks to bring together intersecting communities working at the nexus of data, technology, society, and culture:
- Research about society and culture: scholars use computational and digital methods to study social and cultural materials at scale or in close detail. Methods can include machine learning, natural language processing, corpus linguistics, text encoding (TEI), image and audio analysis, social network analysis, GIS and historical mapping, and digital archiving. Materials range from archival documents, literary and multilingual corpora, oral histories, and museum collections to digital trace data, spatial, audio, and images. Research also happens through creative investigation and making. Artists, authors, composers and communicators work with code, data, and digital media as material, producing generative and interactive art, data visualization and storytelling, games, sound, extended reality, visualizations and online exhibitions. Creative practice expands what and how technological materials transmit and conceal, and expands audiences and engagement.
- Computation and society, culture, and thought: as scholars analyze society using computational methods, data, algorithms, and technology are increasingly shaping our liberties. Researchers at UBC seek to understand how these technologies are impacting society and how they are shaped by society, including how they may be exacerbating or mitigating existing inequalities. Philosophers, historians, media theorists, and literary and cultural scholars ask what these systems assume about language, knowledge, and personhood, and whose histories they encode, and those that are absent. Scholars additionally work to propose ways to ensure data and algorithms are put to use toward broader social goods.
- Tools: computational and digital scholars adapt or build tools that enable research on social and cultural data, from encoding standards and annotation platforms to digital archives, mapping, and interfaces. These tools are best built in conversation with those carrying out the research, to ensure the tools meet the needs of those using them.
- Legal, ethical and cultural challenges: as access to social and cultural data grows and data on individuals become more granular, there are increasingly complex legal and ethical challenges involved with collecting, storing, and analyzing these data. Copyright, image rights, data sovereignty, Indigenous protocols for cultural materials, and the consent of communities represented in archives work alongside questions of privacy. Computational and digital scholarship at UBC includes those working to develop frameworks and standards to ensure the field, as well as society more broadly, embraces this moment on strong legal and ethical foundations.
We invite applications from graduate and undergraduate students in any Faculty of Arts department or program, including those new to computational and digital methods. Fellowship projects may take the form of research studies, creative works, digital archives and editions, maps, tools, or public-facing publications.
Fellowship Details
Our Graduate Fellows program (primarily PhD students but also exceptional Mater’s students are eligible to apply) provides $5,000 in research project support for up to 5 remarkable scholars from the Faculty of Arts at the University of British Columbia. Our Undergraduate Fellows program provides $2,500 in research project support for up to 5 remarkable scholars from the Faculty of Arts at the University of British Columbia
The 2027 Fellow program will begin January 1, 2027 and will end August 31, 2027. We encourage applications from those who are currently doing research in at least one of the four core areas listed above.
Research support will be awarded as a stipend, provided that this stipend clearly contributes to the advancement of the candidate’s research. Where stipends are not feasible, we can accommodate alternative payouts in the form of expense reimbursements. Funds may be used for research related expenses, including materials, data collection, computing, subject compensation, and select travel.
In addition to financial support, our Fellows will have networking and professional development opportunities, including co-developing a public research symposium with their cohort.
Terms for Centre for Computational and Digital Social Science, Humanities, and Creative Arts
- Attend a monthly meeting of the 2027 CODI Fellows Cohort
- Under the guidance of the Cohort Leads and CODI staff, work with the Fellows Cohort to develop a research symposium to be delivered in Spring or Fall 2027
- Attend seminars and other CODI events, whenever possible
- With the support of the CODI communications staff, contribute at least one public facing product (e.g., blog post, video interview, etc.) related to their research
- Submit a final report to the CODI Director summarizing their research and experience as a CODI Fellow by October 1, 2027.
How to Apply
Fill out an online application form using the above AIR link, which includes:
- A copy of your CV
- A research statement that describes the area of research you are pursuing through your program, how it relates to and advances the goals of CODI, and what scholarly perspective you bring to the CODI community (approx. 1000 words)
- For Graduate students, ensure your research supervisor is aware and supports your application – a confirmation email will be forwarded to your supervisor.
Application forms (and in the case of Graduate applications -your supervisor’s email address) must be submitted by 11:59pm PT on November 15, 2027.
Fellows will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Quality of research proposal
- Alignment with the vision of CODI and the areas as outlined above
- Potential as a scholar
- Diversity of scholarly perspective
CODI is strongly committed to diversity within its community and especially encourages applications from visible minorities, women, Indigenous/Aboriginal People of North America, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ and two-spirit persons, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas.
For questions about the Fellows program, please contact us at info.codi@ubc.ca