School of Engineering Science

Visiting Scholar is a non-stipendiary position for persons with significant academic, technical, industrial, literary, or artistic qualifications whose work may benefit from collaboration with the School of Engineering Science.

Visiting scholars are expected to be in residence at SFU for at least one semester and no longer than one year.  They will enhance the research environment of the school by participating in the SFU academic community and, where relevant, in wider community activities by attending lectures, workshops, and colloquia as well as making at least one public presentation in relation to their field of activity or original research.

The School of Engineering Science will only host visiting scholars who are nominated by a faculty member and approved by the School Director. When nominating a visiting scholar, please email the following information to enscdsec@sfu.ca.

1. The scholar’s name, institutional affiliation, contact information and CV;
2. A short description of how the scholar’s research interests and/or expertise are relevant to the School of Engineering Science;
3. A proposal for at least one public presentation during the term of his or her residency;
4. A proposed list of activities the scholar will engage in during his or her term of residency.

Please note that the nominating faculty member will be responsible for overseeing the activities of the visiting scholar, introducing him or her to any necessary contacts within SFU, organizing and promoting the public presentation, providing access to a shared office space in a relevant academic unit, and, if necessary, obtaining funding for the activities listed above.

Visiting scholars will be expected to arrange their own travel to SFU.  Those from outside Canada must arrange for all required immigration documents.

The David Bensted Visiting Fellowship supports short and medium term visits to SFU Engineering Science by leading researchers from around the world. The opportunity for university and industrial researchers to talk and work with such visitors provides another creative spark in the B.C. technical community. 

Bensted Visiting Fellows collaborate on research with members of the School of Engineering Science at Simon Fraser University. In addition, they:

• give the David Bensted Lecture, a public lecture suited to a general technical audience;
• give the David Bensted Research Seminar delivered to students, faculty and industrial researchers;
• are available for discussions with members of the broader technical community, both within and outside Simon Fraser University.

The endowment that funds the David Bensted Visiting Fellowship was established with the generous support of several donors. It is to the advantage of everyone in the technical community to make this endowment grow, and additional donations from other corporations or individuals are very much welcomed.

Terms of Reference (Under Revision)

The David Bensted Visiting Fellowships may be awarded to outstanding researchers to facilitate their visits to the School of Engineering Science at Simon Fraser University. A recipient shall be termed a "Bensted Visiting Fellow". All recipients of the Fellowship must be recognized as outstanding researchers in their area, ones who would enrich the School and the technical community by their presence.

The minimum length of visit and appointment as a Bensted Visiting Fellow shall be two weeks, and the maximum length shall be two months. Depending on length of stay and availability of funds, there may be more than one such visitor in an academic year. An individual may be appointed as a Bensted Visiting Fellow more than once; however, successive appointments shall be separated by at least four years.

In recognition of the initial donor, the National Wireless Communications Research Foundation, the recipients of the Fellowship during the first five years will be researchers in wireless communications. Subsequently, the recipients may be in any area of research that is of interest to members of the School of Engineering Science.

The David Bensted Visiting Fellowship will be funded from the annual proceeds of an endowment. The initial contribution to this endowment was $225,000 from the National Wireless Communications Research Foundation. It is to the advantage of the community to make the endowment grow, and subsequent donations from other corporations or individuals are encouraged. If no Visiting Fellowship is awarded in a particular year, the proceeds will be reinvested in the endowment. As the endowment grows and more funds become available, the maximum length of appointment may be extended to three months.

Administration

Proposals for individual Fellowships shall originate with members of the School of Engineering Science. The members shall submit their proposals to a review committee consisting of the Director of the School of Engineering Science as chair, two tenured or tenure-track members of the School and the Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science. The two tenured or tenure-track members review committee shall be appointed annually by the Director of the School, and, for the first five years, those members will have telecommunications as their primary research area.

There is no annual date for submission of the proposals, and new proposals may be considered at any time, provided there are uncommitted funds sufficient for the request. Proposals will not be considered for visits beginning more than one year in advance of the proposal date.

The Bensted Visiting Fellowship is a grant-in-aid. The award will consist of two components: reimbursement of costs for economy travel to and from Burnaby and a per diem allowance. The latter is intended to defray living expenses, and does not require receipts. The per diem amount shall be $150 and the total award shall be no more than $10,000. Both of these figures are subject to occasional review to ensure they retain their value in the face of inflation.

The Bensted Visiting Fellowship may be held concurrently with other grants intended to support travel, provided that they cover other sets of costs.