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UBC Psychology faculty receive federal funding to advance their research
July 9, 2025
UBC Psychology researchers are among the more than 9,700 scholars and projects across Canada who received new funding from the Government of Canada, as part of its ongoing investment in advancing knowledge and innovation.
This investment is part of a series of major investments in federal research funding, announced today by the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, through a suite of research programs administered by the three federal research granting agencies—the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).
“These researchers aren’t just imagining the future—they’re building it. Their work covers topics such as pandemic readiness and cutting-edge technology, and it reflects the Government of Canada’s commitment to driving innovation, strengthening the economy and tackling the challenges that matter most to Canadians. With this support, we’re empowering the talent that will shape a more resilient, inclusive and globally competitive Canada.”
Honourable Mélanie Joly
Minister of Industry, Government of Canada
2024 SSHRC Grants
These investments will fund a number of psychology projects including the building of a large collaborative research network in social sciences to exploring if people keep certain political beliefs after they change their religion to understanding how combining different proven methods can help people develop better emotional and social skills.
UBC Psychology researchers who received funding through SSHRC’s Insight and Partnership Grant program
Dr. Susan Birch | Insight Grant
Project: Changing lives by changing minds: Enhancing social emotional competence by combining multiple evidence-based approaches
Dr. Kiley Hamlin | Partnership Development Grant Project: Building a Network of Networks in the Big Team Social Science
Dr. Kristin Laurin | Insight Development Grant
Project: Actual and perceived political residue after religious switching: Implications for secularization
Dr. Joan Ongchoco | Insight Development Grant
Project: The missing self in time: Studies in perception, action, and decision-making
Partnership Grants Partnership Grants provide support for new and existing formal partnerships over four to seven years to advance research, research training and/or knowledge mobilization in the social sciences and humanities. This is done through mutual cooperation and sharing of intellectual leadership, as well as through resources as shown by cash and/or in-kind contributions
Insight Grants Insight Grants support research excellence in the social sciences and humanities. Funding is available to both emerging scholars and established scholars for research initiatives of two to five years.
Insight Development Grants Insight Development Grants support research in its early stages and enable the development of new research questions, as well as experimentation with new methods, theoretical approaches and ideas. Funding is available to both emerging scholars and established scholars for research initiatives of up to two years.
By advancing our understanding of how stress shapes cognition, how we process and organize experiences, and how different forms of learning occur, these investments will drive scientific breakthroughs and deepen our knowledge of the brain and human behaviour.
UBC Psychology researchers who received funding through NSERC Discovery Research Program
Dr. Kalina Christoff Hadjiilieva | Discovery Grant Project: Investigating spontaneous thought using precision fMRI
Dr. Kiley Hamlin | Research Tools and Instruments Grant Project: Urgent upgrade of UBC Centre for Infant Cognition
Dr. JoelleLeMoult | Discovery Grant
Project: Understanding how Stress Biases Cognition
Dr. Joan Ongchoco | Discovery Grant Project: From the Continuous to the Discrete in Mental Life
Dr. Catharine Rankin | Discovery Grant
Project: Determining and Differentiating the Mechanisms of Forms of Non-Associative Learning
The NSERC Discovery Grants program The NSERC Discovery Grants program supports ongoing programs of research with long-term goals rather than a single short-term project or collection of projects. These grants recognize the creativity and innovation that are at the heart of all research advances. Discovery research is the driving force behind Canada’s most groundbreaking scientific and engineering achievements and is NSERC’s largest area of investment.
NSERC Research Tools and Instruments Grants The NSERC Research Tools and Instruments grants foster and enhance the discovery, innovation and training capability of university researchers in the natural sciences and engineering by supporting the purchase of research equipment.