FAQs

We provide:

• Support to graduate students and postdocs in the Faculty of Arts interested in developing and finding funding for their own projects or internships.
• Paid internships with community partners that come to the Arts Amplifier seeking the expertise of Arts graduate students and postdocs.
• Training on topics like: grant writing, how to start consulting or freelancing, and strategies for telling your story successfully.

The Arts Amplifier is available year-round to all graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the Faculty of Arts. We help you to design your own collaborative public scholarship or engagement projects, and offer paid internships. The UBC Public Scholars Initiative accepts applications from PhD students across UBC once per year. They help a cohort of graduate students with public scholarship projects.

We provide services and support to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the Faculty of Arts including those in professional programs.

Our paid internship jobs are open to Arts graduate students in MA, MFA or PhD programs. Not sure if you’re eligible for the paid internships? Please email arts.amplifier@ubc.ca.

Nope! The Arts Amplifier is part of the Arts Co-operative Education Program, but as long as you are a graduate student or postdoc in the UBC Faculty of Arts, we’re here to help you.

Nope! We don’t supply funding. However, our Grants Editor can help you find and apply for external funding. The Arts Amplifier Grants Editor keeps a database of funding opportunities, and can work with you to find the best possible grant for your project. The benefit of this approach is that, after you graduate, you can tell a job search committee, “I secured $X of external funding from Organization Y for a Z-month project.”

A lot! As long as it’s not a research grant – so, no support for SSHRC grants, sorry. Our Grants Editor can provide you with recommendations on what grants are the best fit for your project, help you to craft a strong grant application, and edit your draft application. While she won’t write your grant application for you, she can help you to craft a strong application.

That’s like asking, “what does a dissertation look like?” It completely depends on your interests, expertise, skills, and network. We can support many different kinds of projects, from building a freelance business to developing a digital tool to staging an exhibition of creative work.

You can find examples of projects led by UBC Arts students and postdocs on our Success Stories page.

Public engagement usually involves connecting with a community partner or organization. The work you pursue depends on your interests, expertise, skills, and network. You can start by thinking about the kinds of skills you have or want to develop, the sectors or social issues that interest you, or what kinds of postgraduate pathways you’re curious about.

When finding a partner organization to work with, it is also important to consider how you can meet their needs and what funding opportunities are available to you depending on the nature and scope of your work. Want to learn more about public engagement? You can view a recording of our webinar “How to Start a Collaborative Public Project with an Off-Campus Partner”. You can also meet with one of our staff to brainstorm ideas by sending us more info about your interests using our dropping by our Office Hours. You can find examples of projects led by UBC Arts students and postdocs on our Success Stories page.

Please visit our paid internships page for a list of partners looking for part-time support from Arts MA, MFA and PhD students, as well as information on how to apply.

Our paid internships are around 250 hours, which is about two days per week for the summer semester. Because you design your own collaborative projects the time commitment can vary and will be based on the planning discussions you have with your partner organization.

No, not without your permission. For example, if you applied to a paid internship posting where you submitted your resume and cover letter, or we came across an opportunity we thought would be a good fit for you, we will ask you if you would like your resume sent to the employer.