Visiting Scholar Program

The ScholCommLab’s Visiting Scholar Program invites faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students (enrolled full-time at an accredited institution) to work on a joint research project during a research stay at either of the lab’s two locations in Ottawa and Vancouver, Canada. Applications for funded stays are now closed, but we encourage researchers with existing funding to apply.

Visiting scholars will have the opportunity to work with both ScholCommLab directors and the ScholCommLab’s international and interdisciplinary network of bibliometric and scholarly communication researchers and experts. To facilitate the work, visitors will have access to a range of data (e.g., Web of Science, Altmetric, Twitter), tools, and methodologies (e.g., for data collection and analysis), and will be given visiting scholar or visiting graduate student status at either the School of Information Studies at the University of Ottawa or in the Publishing Program at Simon Fraser University.

Collaborations are welcome on any topic related to scholarly communication, but especially on areas related to current ScholCommLab projects, such as:

Collaborations between the visiting scholar and the ScholCommLab are expected to extend beyond the research stay in Canada and aim at publishing results in a co-authored journal article, conference publication, or dataset or at submitting a grant application to fund future collaborations. We recommend a duration of the research stay between one and six months but are flexible regarding the length of the program.

Application Process

The ScholCommLab is accepting applications to the visiting scholar program on a rolling basis. Applicants are encouraged to contact us with questions about the suitability of their proposed program (contact@scholcommlab.ca).

To apply, please complete this application form, which will ask you for the following information:

  • Contact information
  • Email
  • Name
  • Current institution
  • Current position
  • Degree
  • Proposed start date (estimated; we will find a suitable date together)
  • Proposed length of visit
  • Preferred location:
    • uO (w/ co-director Stefanie Haustein)
    • SFU (w/ co-director Juan Pablo Alperin)
    • Both locations (for visits of 2 months and longer).
    • I am flexible and would work in either Ottawa or Vancouver.
  • Title of proposed research project
  • Short abstract of proposed research project (max. 300 words)
  • Database, data sources, and tools required for project
  • Required funding:
    • I need funding for my travel to and from Ottawa/Vancouver.
    • I need a stipend for my stay in Ottawa and/or Vancouver.
    • I have access to other sources of funding for the research stay.
    • If no funding is available, I would like to be considered for one of the unfunded positions.

Select applicants will be asked to submit a longer research proposal that includes research objectives and questions along with an outline of the proposed methodology, data and software needed for the project. Please cite relevant literature and highlight any of our own previous related projects in submitted proposals.

Successful applicants will be given a desk in a shared space including internet and online library access. Funding may be available to present results of the collaboration at agreed upon conferences.

Visa Requirements

Selected applicants from outside Canada must obtain a valid visa and/or work permit for the research stay. Some support may be available for visa and/or work permit applications from the University of Ottawa and Simon Fraser University. For information on the visa application process for your country, please refer to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s website: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/immigration-citizenship.html