TLEF Grant Applications

The Science Centre for Learning and Teaching (Skylight) offers early internal feedback on potential submissions with the objective of assisting prospective applicants with the proposal development process. 

Skylight staff can help applicants connect with similar existing and/or proposed Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund (TLEF) projects (including cross-faculty applications), connect with support units such as CTLT, and provide pedagogical, technical, evaluation, project planning and/or budget consultation. If you are submitting a large TLEF, Skylight staff are also available to work with you on the LOI submission which is due mid-July. For up-to-date information on the TLEF please visit http://www.tlef.ubc.ca/application.

UBC and Skylight Important Dates for TLEF Applications

Please note: The 2025/2026 Large TLEF Transformation Projects funding round is a special call to support UBC Vancouver project teams interested in experimenting as part of collaborative clusters with the integration of Generative AI (GenAI) in teaching and learning contexts. Projects funded by this call will have access to a Large Language Model (LLM) Sandbox environment, some initial reference applications, and available incubator support for their project development provided by the Learning Technology Hub (LTHub). Approximately $1-million will be earmarked to support this Large TLEF special call. Further details about the special call can be found on the TLEF website.

Large TLEFs*Important DatesSubmit toNotes
Consultation on Letter of Intent (LOI)June/July 2024ashley.welsh@ubc.ca

Highly recommended.

Please contact Ashley if you would like feedback on your LOI.

Submission of LOIJuly 25, 2024 by 3pmhttps://apply.academic.ubc.ca/ 
Full proposal feedback deadlineOctober 3, 2024ashley.welsh@ubc.ca

Highly recommended.

Please contact Ashley if you would like feedback on your full proposal.

Full proposal deadlineOctober 17, 2024 by 3pmhttps://apply.academic.ubc.ca/ 
Results announcedDecember 2024  
Access to funding April 2025  

 

Small TLEFs*Important DatesSubmit toNotes
Full proposal feedback deadlineEarly November 2024ashley.welsh@ubc.ca

Highly recommended.

Please contact Ashley if you would like feedback on your full proposal.

Full proposal deadlineMid-November 2024https://apply.academic.ubc.ca/ 
Results announcedFebruary 2025  
Access to funding April 2025  

* Skylight Development Grants (up to $5,000 with matching funds from Departments) can be used as seed funding for TLEF proposals (e.g. for summer baseline data collection, beta testing of ideas in summer courses, piloting pedagogy and learning technology, etc.). Please visit the Skylight Development Grants page for details and dates.

Available Skylight Support

Proposal Development Support

The Skylight early internal feedback submission process invites faculty members, students and/or staff to receive feedback and support on the development of TLEF grant proposals. The areas we can provide advice and/or support include: 

  • Project idea development, including pedagogy and learning technology.
  • Helping with decisions on grant size (large or small TLEF).
  • Project plans:
    • needs analysis;
    • scoping;
    • timelines;
    • budgets;
    • resourcing (e.g. media services support, staffing decisions);
    • evaluation;
    • conversation facilitation.
  • Connecting project team with resources and support services across UBC and Dean’s office.
  • Providing feedback on proposal drafts including but not limited to budgets, timelines, pedagogy, learning technology and evaluation.

If you would like to receive early internal feedback, please contact Ashley Welsh, Faculty Liaison (ashley.welsh@ubc.ca), as soon as possible.

Project Partnership

Skylight may be available to partner with project teams. We have expertise in discipline-based education research methodologies and the scholarship of teaching and learning, qualitative and quantitative methods, evaluation for quality assurance, course design, pedagogy, learning technology-enabled pedagogy, instructional design, science communication, interdisciplinary science, learning analytics, and strategic planning. We also have experience facilitating and supporting the coordination of large projects and teams.

Please contact Gülnur Birol, Director of Skylight (birol@science.ubc.ca), to discuss possible partnerships.

Sample Proposals

Large TLEF: Development of cost-effective strategies for teaching, learning and assessment of scientific reasoning abilities in large face-to-face and distance education general science courses - Sara Harris, EOAS
 
Small TLEF: Animated worked examples in online homework - Georg Rieger, PHAS

Frequently Asked Questions, Application Tips, and More

1. Should I apply for a large or small grant? 

Skylight staff are available to help you think through this decision.

Large TLEF grants may be particularly appropriate for projects that:

  • Focus on large enrolment, multi-section course (re)development.
  • Require extended faculty engagement through course release.
  • Build from and/or scale-up previous small grant-funded work.
  • Cross departments and/or faculties.
  • Have anticipated project budgets that exceed $50,000 in total.
  • Large TLEF grant projects must align tightly with departmental priorities and curriculum plans. 

Small TLEF grants may be particularly appropriate for:

  • Proof-of-concept projects.
  • Prototype development.
  • Single course and/or course section (re)development.
  • Have anticipated project budgets up to $50,000 in total. 

Musqueam First Nation land acknowledegement

UBC Science acknowledges that the UBC Point Grey campus is situated on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm.

Learn more: Musqueam First Nation

Skylight: Science Centre for Learning and Teaching


E-mail skylight@science.ubc.ca

Faculty of Science

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