It's important that Visiting Faculty hold an official appointment at UBC when the visit is for an extended time period.
To make a visiting appointment, please review our documentation checklist page.
Visiting professor, associate professor, assistant professor and lecturer
Visiting Faculty appointments are provided to academics visiting a UBC campus. These appointments are made only when appointees hold continuing appointments or have emeritus status at other universities or institutions to which they expect to return. All paid visiting faculty must have an appointment. For those that are unpaid we normally recommend an appointment if the visit to campus is one month or more.
Visitors’ appointments will normally be listed by the rank which they hold at their home institutions, or by an appropriate equivalent rank, preceded by the word “visiting”. These positions are normally held for a maximum of 2 years. For more information, please review Policy AP4 – Faculty Term Appointments
Please refer to the appointment checklist for visitors for the list of documents that must be submitted to Faculty Relations.
These appointees are not eligible for pension and benefits. Visitors are encouraged to make private arrangements for benefit plans and insurance coverage.
Visiting Researcher/Scholar
Individuals who are visiting students fall under the Visiting International Research Student (VIRS) category handled by UBC Student Services.
Self-funded researchers who are not students and do not hold an academic rank at another institution may hold a Visiting Scholar appointment at UBC. The researcher should be provided with a letter of invitation (use the Visitor-unpaid template on the faculty offer letters page) which they will need to present to the immigration officials when requesting entry into Canada.
Visiting scientist
Visiting scientists are usually researchers who do not hold an academic appointment elsewhere but are currently employed in a non-academic position, who are coming to work in our labs temporarily. It is expected that such appointees will return to their positions. These positions are normally held for a maximum of 2 years.
These positions can be paid or unpaid.
Please refer to the appointment checklist for visitors for the list of documents that must be submitted to Faculty Relations.
These appointees are not eligible for pension and benefits. Visitors are encouraged to make private arrangements for benefit plans and insurance coverage.