If you’re planning a PhD in Canada and have a strong academic and research record, the Killam Doctoral Scholarship at the University of British Columbia (UBC) deserves a place near the top of your funding list.
It is one of UBC’s most prestigious doctoral awards. For the 2027/2028 competition, the scholarship provides CAD $40,000 per year for up to two years, meaning a recipient may receive as much as CAD $80,000 over the normal award period. Approximately 25 Killam Doctoral Scholarships are offered each year to leading candidates in UBC’s Affiliated Fellowships competition.
The scholarship is also open to international students, which makes it particularly attractive if you’re hoping to pursue doctoral research abroad.
Killam Doctoral Scholarships
| Scholarship | Details |
|---|---|
| Country: | Canada |
| University: | University of British Columbia (UBC) |
| Scholarship name: | Killam Doctoral Scholarship |
| Program: | Eligible doctoral research programmes |
| Degree: | Doctoral / PhD |
| Tuition Amount: | Eligible UBC Vancouver Killam recipients who are Four Year Fellowship holders may receive additional tuition funding through the 4YF programme |
| Currency: | Canadian Dollar (CAD) |
| Scholarship Availability: | Canadian citizens, permanent residents and international students |
| Language Requirements: | Must satisfy the English-language requirements of the relevant UBC graduate programme |
| Eligibility: | Outstanding doctoral candidates meeting Killam and applicable Affiliated Fellowship requirements |
| Duration: | Up to 2 years |
| Intake: | 2027/2028 competition; award eligibility assessed as of September 1, 2027 |
| Study Mode: | Full-time study/research |
| Post Study Work Visa: | May be available to eligible international graduates under Canadian immigration rules in force at graduation |
| Application Deadline: | September 15, 2026 at 12:00 noon Pacific Time for the UBC Vancouver Affiliated Fellowships competition |
| Scholarship Status: | Open for 2027/2028 competition |
| Award Amount: | CAD $40,000 per year for up to 2 years — up to CAD $80,000 |
| Application Link: | Official UBC Killam Doctoral Scholarship page |
| Study Level: | Doctoral / PhD |
Important: UBC Vancouver and UBC Okanagan can have different competition procedures. The September 15, 2026 deadline above is the published UBC Vancouver Affiliated Fellowships deadline. Applicants should follow the instructions for their intended campus and graduate programme.
About Killam Doctoral Scholarships
The Killam Scholarship and Prize Programmes were established in memory of Canadian businessman Izaak Walton Killam, through the will and lifetime gifts of his wife, Dorothy J. Killam.
Their purpose is to encourage advanced education and research in Canada.
At UBC, the Killam Doctoral Scholarships are funded through the Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Fund for Advanced Studies and are regarded by the university as its most prestigious awards for graduate students.
This isn’t simply a scholarship for students with good grades. The Killam philosophy emphasizes intellectual distinction alongside character and the potential to contribute meaningfully to research or a profession.
Approximately 25 awards are offered annually to the strongest doctoral candidates in UBC’s Affiliated Fellowships competition.
Aim and Benefits of Killam Doctoral Scholarships
The main purpose of the Killam Doctoral Scholarship is to support exceptional researchers who demonstrate the potential to advance knowledge and distinguish themselves professionally.
For a doctoral student, its biggest benefit is substantial financial support while you concentrate on your research.
How much is the Killam Doctoral Scholarship?
The current UBC award is:
CAD $40,000 per year
for:
Up to two years
This puts the potential two-year value at approximately:
CAD $80,000.
There is another important benefit for eligible recipients at UBC Vancouver.
Killam recipients at the Vancouver campus also become Four Year Fellowship (4YF) holders and can receive additional tuition funding through the 4YF programme when eligible. UBC explains that the tuition award is applied against the student’s tuition charges rather than operating as a simple blanket tuition waiver. Funding interactions and limits apply when Killam and 4YF support are combined.
So if you’re an international applicant, don’t simply read “$40,000” and assume every tuition and living expense works identically for every recipient. Check the final funding package offered by your programme and campus.
Requirements for Killam Doctoral Scholarships
The Killam Scholarship is highly competitive, so eligibility is only the starting point.
Citizenship
The UBC Vancouver competition is open to:
- Canadian citizens
- Permanent residents
- International students
That means you don’t have to be Canadian to compete for the scholarship.
Doctoral study requirement
For the 2027/2028 competition, applicants must have completed no more than 24 months of doctoral study as of September 1, 2027.
This rule deserves attention if you have already started a doctorate.
If you transferred directly from a Master’s programme into a PhD without receiving the Master’s degree, special rules apply when calculating your months of study.
Academic and research strength
Simply meeting the 24-month requirement doesn’t make someone a strong Killam candidate.
The underlying Affiliated Fellowships competition is merit-based. UBC’s published evaluation information emphasizes research ability and potential, including the quality of the proposed research, methodology, significance of the work, previous research training and achievements.
Think of your application as answering:
What makes this person capable of becoming an exceptional researcher?
Your proposal, academic history and previous research contributions should work together to answer that question.
Is the Killam Doctoral Scholarship Available to International Students?
Yes.
UBC explicitly lists international students among those who can be considered for the Killam Doctoral Scholarship.
But there is an important eligibility detail for the current competition.
UBC states that students eligible for the Canada Graduate Research Scholarships – Doctoral (CGRS-D) competition are not eligible to be considered for Killam under the applicable rules. UBC Okanagan specifically notes that international students registered in a PhD programme at UBC as of September 2026 are now eligible to apply to CGRS-D and directs applicants to check the CGRS-D rules carefully.
This is why you should check your individual funding route instead of assuming every PhD applicant follows exactly the same application path.
Interview Date, Process and Venue for Killam Doctoral Scholarships
UBC does not currently publish a general Killam Doctoral Scholarship interview date or interview venue for the 2027/2028 competition.
Selection takes place through the Affiliated Fellowships-Doctoral competition rather than through a separately advertised Killam interview process.
Graduate programmes first review and rank applications before forwarding their strongest candidates to UBC’s Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for further consideration.
Therefore, you shouldn’t wait for a public “Killam interview date” before applying.
If your graduate programme requires an interview as part of admission or its internal assessment, the programme should communicate those arrangements directly to you.
Application Deadline
For the UBC Vancouver 2027/2028 Affiliated Fellowships-Doctoral competition, the published deadline is:
September 15, 2026 at 12:00 noon Pacific Time
Don’t treat that as permission to start your application on September 14.
Graduate programmes can have internal procedures, and you may need documents, references and programme-specific information before the university-wide deadline.
If you’re applying as a prospective student, contact your intended UBC graduate programme early and confirm which process applies to you.
Application Deadline
The application deadline for Killam Doctoral Scholarships 2027: Funding, Eligibility and How to Apply is September 1, 2027.
Applicants should submit all required materials before this date and verify any last-minute changes through the official scholarship source.
Deadline verification: Check the official scholarship source for the latest country-, program-, university- or round-specific deadline.
How to Apply for Killam Doctoral Scholarships
This is the part where applicants sometimes get confused.
You don’t normally submit a completely separate application labelled “Killam Doctoral Scholarship.”
At UBC Vancouver, Killam recipients are selected through the Affiliated Fellowships-Doctoral award competition. The top eligible doctoral candidates in that competition can receive Killam Scholarships.
Here’s how to approach it.
Step 1: Find an eligible UBC PhD programme
Start by identifying the doctoral programme that matches your research interests.
Don’t choose a programme simply because Killam funding exists. Your research fit, academic preparation and potential supervisory environment should come first.
Step 2: Check your admission requirements
International applicants should carefully check:
- Academic qualifications
- Degree equivalencies
- English-language requirements
- Research requirements
- Required transcripts
- References
- Programme deadlines
- Supervisor requirements, where applicable
Admission to a UBC doctoral programme and scholarship consideration are related but not necessarily identical processes.
Step 3: Check your Killam eligibility
For the 2027/28 competition, confirm that you will have completed no more than 24 months of doctoral study by September 1, 2027.
You should also determine whether your circumstances put you into the CGRS-D route because that can affect Killam consideration.
Step 4: Prepare a strong research proposal
Don’t treat your research proposal as paperwork.
UBC’s published evaluation criteria place substantial emphasis on research ability and potential. Reviewers consider matters such as whether your research questions are focused and feasible, whether your methodology is clearly explained, and whether the proposed research could make a meaningful contribution.
A strong proposal should make three things easy to understand:
What are you investigating?
How will you investigate it?
Why does the research matter?
Avoid making the proposal complicated merely to sound academic. Clear thinking usually reads better than unnecessarily complicated language.
Step 5: Build evidence of research potential
Your proposal isn’t evaluated in isolation.
Relevant academic training, previous research experience and achievements can also demonstrate your potential as a doctoral researcher.
If you have publications, conference presentations, research projects, a strong thesis or other meaningful scholarly contributions, present them accurately and in context.
Step 6: Complete the appropriate doctoral funding application
At UBC Vancouver, Killam is part of the Affiliated Fellowships-Doctoral competition.
UBC states that applicants to the Canada Graduate Research Scholarships – Doctoral competition are automatically considered for Affiliated funding, while the top eligible doctoral candidates in the Affiliated competition can receive Killam funding.
Because eligibility routes can differ according to student status, citizenship and campus, follow the instructions issued by your graduate programme rather than relying on a generic application guide.
Step 7: Check whether you qualify for criteria-based Affiliated awards
The Affiliated Fellowships competition contains both unrestricted and criteria-based awards.
UBC asks candidates who qualify for criteria-based awards to identify the relevant award numbers and submit the required checklist to their graduate programme. For the current competition, the published checklist deadline is also September 15, 2026 at noon PT.
Step 8: Submit early
Don’t aim for 11:55 a.m. on deadline day.
Give yourself time to check:
Research proposal → transcripts → references → eligibility → programme requirements → application submission.
A technical problem shouldn’t be the reason a strong doctoral application misses consideration.
How Are Killam Scholars Selected?
The scholarship is not awarded randomly among eligible students.
Killam candidates emerge from the Affiliated Fellowships competition, where graduate programmes review and rank applications before forwarding their strongest applicants to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.
Academic excellence matters, but research potential is especially important.
A competitive application should therefore demonstrate a clear trajectory:
Strong academic preparation → credible research experience → excellent doctoral proposal → potential for meaningful scholarly contribution.
Is Killam a Fully Funded PhD Scholarship?
It’s reasonable to describe Killam as major doctoral funding, but international applicants should be careful with the phrase “fully funded.”
The core Killam award provides CAD $40,000 annually for up to two years. Eligible UBC Vancouver recipients can also receive tuition funding through the Four Year Fellowship structure.
Your PhD may last longer than two years, however.
Before accepting an offer, ask your graduate programme for a clear breakdown showing:
Killam funding + tuition support + programme funding + assistantships/other support + funding after the Killam period.
That gives you a much better picture of what studying at UBC will actually cost.
Advice for International Applicants
If you’re applying from outside Canada, don’t begin with the scholarship form. Begin with your research fit.
Identify the UBC department where your research belongs. Study its PhD admission requirements. Investigate potential supervisors where the programme expects applicants to do so.
Then build your funding strategy around the PhD application.
Also remember that Killam is extremely competitive. Approximately 25 scholarships are offered annually, and they go to top doctoral candidates in the Affiliated Fellowships competition.
Apply confidently, but don’t depend on Killam as your only funding possibility.
Final Advice
The UBC Killam Doctoral Scholarship 2027/2028 is an excellent opportunity for students with serious research ambitions.
The headline benefits are impressive:
CAD $40,000 per year. Up to two years. International students can be eligible. Approximately 25 awards annually.
But the strongest applications will go beyond grades.
Your research proposal needs to demonstrate that you understand the problem you’re studying, have a credible way of investigating it and have the potential to contribute something meaningful to your field.
For the UBC Vancouver competition, keep September 15, 2026 at 12:00 noon PT clearly marked. More importantly, contact your intended graduate programme before that date to confirm the exact application route that applies to your circumstances.
Scholarship values, eligibility rules and deadlines can change. Always check UBC’s official scholarship and graduate-programme pages before submitting an application.
StudyFinder Scholarship Details
Killam Doctoral Scholarships 2027: Funding, Eligibility and How to Apply
Review the key scholarship information below, including eligibility-related requirements, funding, study details, deadline, and application information.
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| University | University of British Columbia (UBC) |
| Program | Doctoral Research Programmes |
| Study Level | Doctoral / PhD |
| Degree | PhD |
| Currency | CAD |
| Scholarship Availability | International Students |
| Language Requirements | University Language Test |
| Duration | 2 Years |
| Intake | September |
| Study Mode | Full Time |
| Application Deadline | September 15, 2026 |
| Scholarship Status | Open |
| Award Amount | CAD $40,000 per year for up to 2 years — up to CAD $80,000 |
Use the official application link to check the provider's latest requirements and submit your application.
