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Do you have a research project an undergraduate student could work on over the summer? Submit your project for the Undergraduate Research Awards (URA) program by Monday, December 3.

The URA program is a university-wide student competition run by the Office of Research Services (ORS) that allocates awards to students working on summer research projects under the supervision of University of Ontario Institute of Technology faculty members. These awards include:

• The university’s Student Training Assistantship in Research (STAR) award.
• Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA).

Note: NSERC makes additional USRA awards available to qualified Indigenous students. Self-identified Indigenous students are strongly encouraged to apply.

Students who apply for an award need to know which core faculty members are hiring an undergraduate student, and the available projects. All tenured and tenure-track faculty members interested in supervising a student through this program between May and August 2019 must complete and submit the Project Summary Form as a PDF to the Office of Research Services by Monday, December 3. ORS staff will confirm receipt of all forms submitted.

Note: Only answer Yes to the question: Are you eligible to supervise a NSERC USRA? if you hold one of the grants listed in the NSERC Research Grants document. Please double-check your eligibility before answering this question.

Once all project summaries are received, ORS will post projects, application instructions and program details on the . Students will also receive application instructions to their UOITnet email.

Note: An electronic signature is required at the bottom of the Project Summary Form. By inserting your electronic signature, you agree to all terms and conditions of the URA program and the individual award your student may receive. If you do not have an electronic signature, selecting the Sign here box on the form will open a dialogue box that will guide you through the process of creating one.

Application process

The competition opens to students in December. On their applications, they may identify up to two possible projects they are interested in.

Students must obtain their prospective supervisors’ signatures on the application form prior to the application deadline of Monday, January 21. A signature from the faculty member endorses the student to work with them if offered an award. Please do not sign the student’s application form if you do not feel the student will be a good fit for the research project.

By submitting a research project to the competition, you agree to:

• Make yourself available to students to discuss project roles and responsibilities.
• Supervise the successful award recipient selected by the Faculty Selection Committee.

Program timeline

Program launch: Student Research Connections Days – November 27 and 28

ORS staff will hold two information sessions to present the program (including application

instructions, eligibility criteria, deadlines, and selection criteria) to undergraduate students.

North Oshawa location:

• When: Tuesday, November 27 from 5 to 6 p.m.
• Where: Science Building, Room 1240

Downtown Oshawa location:

• When: Wednesday, November 28 from 5 to 6 p.m.
• Where: Bordessa Hall, Room 524

Please encourage your undergraduate students to attend.

Student application deadline - Monday, January 21

Students submit applications to ORS. Detailed application instructions and forms will be sent to all undergraduate students’ UOITnet email addresses.

Selection process - February/March

Student applications are sent to each faculty for the selection of award recipients. Each faculty is responsible for selecting its successful applicants through an internal selection process. Selection is based on student merit as determined by the selection committee and the award guidelines. Students can apply to any two projects they are interested in, regardless of their home faculty. The internal Faculty Selection Committee, when deciding on award recipients will evaluate all students equally regardless of their faculty of origin. If a student from another faculty is selected to receive an URA, the award will come from the supervisor’s faculty allocation.

Awards confirmed and student contracts finalized - March

ORS is notified of the award recipients, reconfirms eligibility and finalizes award details.

NSERC USRA application - May

Successful NSERC USRA recipients and their supervisors must complete and submit a separate application to NSERC, due in May 2019.

Student Research Showcase - August

Successful award recipients will present a poster at the Student Research Showcase in late August. All undergraduate student researchers are also encouraged to participate.

For more information, contact studentresearch@uoit.ca.