Student Section

How to Apply to SURE

1. Plan to attend to the SURE Information Session (see date above).
2. Review available projects on the SURE Projects tab (menu on left).
3. Contact the supervisor(s) of projects in which you’re interested to discuss your interest in the research, and the anticipated research tasks and deliverables for the project.
4. If you and the supervisor tentatively agree that you should apply to the project, proceed to the Online Student Application form (below).
5. Students may submit a maximum of 3 applications. If a student qualifies for more than one project, it is assumed that they wish to work on all projects equally and thus may be placed in a project at random. Therefore, should the supervisor and student agree to work together, the supervisor should rank only one student and the student should apply to only one project.
6. Please submit a new application form for each project you apply to. Once the Online Student Application has been completed and your transcript uploaded, please save a copy and email it to your prospective supervisor along with a copy of your Official University Transcript (McGill students may submit their unofficial Minerva transcripts). External students will be asked to submit an official transcript if they are selected.
7. We anticipate a high level of participation in this program, and we therefore recommend that you discuss your candidacy with potential supervisors well ahead of the deadline. Note: Application packages (i.e., application form and transcript) are to be submitted to your intended supervisor via email.
8. SURE, and NSERC USRAs will be awarded on a competitive basis and award decisions will be based on CGPA and academic credentials.
9. Second Round:  There will be a second round in March for those that have already applied.

Application Notes

• Please complete one application per project.  Please ensure to print/save to PDF so that you have something to email the professor(s).
• Requests to cancel already submitted projects cannot be accommodated after 4pm on January 30th, 2024.
• Please note that if you have not heard from the supervisor, please go ahead and submit the online form.
• Students are allowed to apply for 3 projects only - 1 form per project.
• The application form is open until the end of day, January 30th, 2024.
• If you forgot to save the application, please send the automatic response confirmation email to the supervisor along with a copy of your transcript. Please do not resubmit a new form.

Application Form

ALL APPLICATION FORMS ARE NOW CLOSED

McGill student application form   
(McGill students must apply with their McGill email address. Applications received with hotmail/gmail/etc will automatically be deleted without notification.)

Non-McGill student application form

Canadian Forest Sector Workforce Diversity undergraduate supplements 

Value: $5,000 

Information on this supplement can be found on the NSERC website. 

Students who are working on qualified projects should send an email to sure-info.engineering [at] mcgill.ca (SURE )Program. 

Program Details & Eligibility

1. Eligibility:
   • Year 0 students are not eligible as they have only completed freshman courses.
   • Year 0 students with transfer credits will need to speak to the supervisor to see if their background is sufficient to work in the lab.
   • Year 1 students should have completed at least two academic terms at McGill at the time of starting the SURE Project.
   • CEGEP students should have completed at least two academic terms at McGill at the time of starting the SURE Project.
   • All students must have a CGPA of 3.0 or higher.
   • Students must have a Canadian bank account
2. The program is also open to May 2024 (Winter 2024) graduates. There are additional eligibility requirements For NSERC USRA awards described on the NSERC webpage.
3. Participation in the SURE program will be recorded on continuing McGill students’ transcripts as one of FACC 351-354 – SURE Experience. This gives continuing McGill students an official record of their participation in the SURE program. Supervisors and SURE participants must complete a Confirmation Form at the end of the program, confirming that the student has completed the SURE program.
4. SURE awards are full time awards with a typical engagement from students of 35 hours weekly for 16 weeks. A vacation request may be accommodated by the supervisor if not in conflict with any SURE events and if the student will make up the missed time. Students’ research schedule should be completed during reasonable business hours each day.  
5. Students cannot hold both a SURE position and an Internship position or have the SURE position count concurrently for co-op work term credits in the Materials, Mining, and Software Engineering programs during the summer term.   

Important information for International students

International McGill students:

• International students need a work authorization.
• A Canadian bank account is required.
• There are many ways for international students to meet the work authorization requirement: through a study permit authorizing them to work, a work permit, or a work permit exemption.
• In order to ensure that you meet the requirements to work, please contact International Student Services as they can provide more information about this. Please also consult their Work & Permits page.

External applicants:

External applicants: Students external to McGill, both Canadian and international, can apply. If selected, non-McGill students will be expected to obtain the appropriate visa documents and insurance found at Citizenship and Immigration Canada. They will also be required to register at McGill as an Undergraduate Research Trainee (UGRT). 

A Canadian bank account is required. 

Please visit the following website for more information about immigration status, health insurance and UGRT registration at McGill: https://www.mcgill.ca/student-records/trainees

SURE Projects

SURE Events 2024

Supervisory Experience Program
Session 1: Introduction to Effective Mentoring

Date: April 30, 2024
Time: 4:00pm-6:00pm
Location: Room 279, Macdonald Engineering Building
Audience: SURE mentors
Description: This session will introduce evidence based best practices in mentoring and supervising, present case studies for practice and discussion, and help participants to establish an action plan.

Research Starts

Date: May 1, 2024

SURE Orientation

Date: May 3, 2024
Time: 1:00pm-2:00pm
Location: Room G-10, Macdonald-Harrington Building
Audience: SURE participants
Description: The SURE Orientation will feature an overview of the program, given by Prof. Kietzig, and speeches from two previous SURE participants. This will be a great opportunity for you to ask questions about the SURE program and meet your fellow 2024 SURE participants.

Framing Your Research Question with the Entrepreneurial Mindset (EM)

Date: May 6, 2024
Time: 3:30pm-4:30pm
Location: Room 232, Leacock Building
Audience: SURE participants
Learning Outcomes:

• Describe how the 3Cs of EM can be applied to research, emphasizing the connections between research opportunities, research plan, and research impact.
• Use the technique of connecting a broad statement to a specific claim to help formulate a research question.
• Use mind mapping to help identify open questions in your research project and collect information needed to understand your research opportunity.
• Identify key stakeholders for your research project and describe their interests.

Thriving in a Research Environment

Date: May 8, 2024
Time: 1:30pm-2:30pm
Location: Room 26, Leacock Building
Audience: SURE participants
Learning Outcomes:

• Describe how goal setting is important for achieving and tracking actionable progress in research, emphasizing the connections between getting from a research question to making research progress and ultimately impact.
• Use the technique of connecting broad statements to specific requirements to establish an achievable goal.
• Practice using the SMART goal framework to set and achievable goal.

Skills for Time Management Workshop

Date: May 14, 2024
Time: 4:00pm-5:00pm
Location: Room G-10, Macdonald-Harrington Building
Audience: SURE participants
Description: Feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day? In this workshop, you will learn strategies to organize your priorities, increase your productivity, and effectively manage your time.

Building Resilience in Research

Date: May 16, 2024
Time: 4:00pm-5:00pm
Location: Room G-10, Macdonald-Harrington Building
Audience: SURE participants
Learning Outcomes:

• Describe the importance of resilience skills for achieving research goals, including resilience skills you already use.
• Use the technique of assertiveness to think ahead and develop unexpected and creative solutions to problems.
• Practice assertiveness using role play in at least two situations, and provide feedback for peers.
• Reflect on personal strengths and challenges in self-advocacy, and a support system for continued growth and success.
• Identify growth areas related to resilience and a plan for self-directed learning and practice in these areas.

Using the Entrepreneurial Mindset (EM) to Drive Effective Data Visualization

Date: May 22, 2024
Time: 4:00pm-5:00pm
Location: Room G-10, Macdonald-Harrington Building
Audience: SURE participants
Learning Outcomes:

• Understand the importance of identifying opportunities relevant to research and business goals from data collected and analyzed throughout the research process.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of different types of data visualizations.
• Learn key data visualization principles and techniques behind creating effective and meaningful visualizations.
• Demonstrate the ability to communicate insights from data visualization to stakeholders and using those insights to drive informed decisions.
• Recognize ethical considerations that are relevant to data gathering and data visualization.

Maximizing the Impact of Your Research

Date: May 24, 2024
Time: 10:00am-11:00am
Location: Room G-10, Macdonald-Harrington Building
Audience: SURE participants
Learning Outcomes:

• Describe the potential impact of your research, including listing key results and identifying the groups most interested in those results.
• List a variety of options for sharing undergraduate research, including both traditional academic venues (conferences, journal articles) as well as venues for reaching audiences outside the academic context.
• Identify the venues that might be most appropriate for sharing your own work.
• Prepare a dissemination plan for your research, which includes information on the audience you would like to reach, as well as the message you would like to share with each audience.

How to Pitch Your Research Workshop

Date: July 11, 2024
Time: TBD
Location: Online
Audience: SURE participants
Description: Workshop 1, offered in collaboration with Andrew Churchill and McGill's Teaching and Learning Services, will focus on effective message development.

How to Pitch Your Research Workshop

Date: July 18, 2024
Time: TBD
Location: Online
Audience: SURE participants
Description: Workshop 2, offered in collaboration with Andrew Churchill and McGill's Teaching and Learning Services, will focus on effective message delivery.

Supervisory Experience Program
Session 2: Reviewing the Mentorship Experience

Date: August 6, 2024
Time: 4:00pm-6:00pm
Location: Room 279, Macdonald Engineering Building
Audience: SURE mentors
Description: Participants will assess their experience as a mentor, review challenges and identify strengths, and establish their professional development plan for the future.

SURE Poster Presentation

Date: August 19, 2024
Time: 10:00am-2:00pm
Location: SSMU Ballroom, University Centre
Audience: SURE participants, SURE mentors, and SURE supervisors
Description: Join us at the 2024 Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering (SURE) Poster Presentation to see the research our students have done over the summer! All (SURE) participants will present their summer projects in a competition for a series of prizes.

Frequently Asked Questions
 

The SURE experience

Young minds at McGill Engineering can rub shoulders with some of the world's leading thinkers through paid summer internships at McGill labs and research institutes. SURE gives Faculty of Engineering undergrads an opportunity to learn the finer points of graduate work, or eventual careers in research.

Research Scholarships

2023 IRIC Next Generation Awards

The IRIC of the University of Montreal has recently launched the 2023 IRIC Student Recruitment Event. Open to undergraduate and graduate students with a strong interest in cancer research, this event offers a unique opportunity to discover the various opportunities offered by the researchers of our institute.

Application deadline:  March 6th, 2023, 10am (Montreal time)

Recruitment Event Flyer

Mackey-Glass Summer Bursary 2023 

Established in 2021 by previous students and current and former colleagues, in honour of Dr. Michael Mackey and Dr. Leon Glass. Awarded by the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences in association with a Selection Committee in the Department of Physiology to support an undergraduate student pursuing summer research in the quantitative life sciences in the Department of Physiology.

Professors Glass and Mackey were full-time faculty members of the Department of Physiology while they pursued their theoretical research in haematology (Mackey) and in cardiology (Glass). Both Profs. Mackey and Glass have been exceptional teachers, mentors, and friends not only to their students, but also their colleagues, peers, and the McGill and international communities in general. Both remain active in research.

Further details can be found on the Mackey-Glass website.

Please send your inquiries to michael.guevara [at] mcgill.ca (Michael Guevara's email address.)

Deadline:  Monday, March 27, 2023 at 5:00PM. 

INRS - Institut national de la recherche scientifique

Our undergraduate summer internships allow you to discover the world of research. You will put your knowledge into practice. You will participate in innovative and exciting research projects within an interdisciplinary team.

For internships scheduled between May and August 2023, the application period will close on February 1, 2023, at 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time, Canada).

Further details can be found on the INRS website.

Deadline: You can submit your application by February 1, 2023, 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time, Canada) by filling out the online form. Please that online forms are in French.

Questions can be sent to joanie.lavoie [at] inrs.ca (Joanie Lavoie)

University of Toronto Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP)

The annual Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) in astronomy & astrophysics at the University of Toronto is a unique opportunity for undergraduate students in astronomy, physics or engineering to prepare for a career in scientific research.

Students work with astronomers from the Dunlap Institute or the or the David A Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics depending on their research interest, choice of research project, or supervisor.

SURP offers students an opportunity to work at the leading centre for astronomical research in Canada, at the leading research university in the country.

The program typically runs from May to August. Throughout the program students have the opportunity to:

• Experience what a career in research is like by independently conducting a project related to on-going astronomical research at U of T
• Collaborate with U of T astronomers
• Improve their research writing and communication skills
• Learn about research being conducted at U of T
• Participate in U of T public outreach

SURP is open to students who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents. If you are not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and would like to apply, you must:

• be a full-time student at the University of Toronto; or
• be a full-time student in a Canadian university and have an off-campus work permit; or
• have a work permit allowing you to work with the University of Toronto

University of Toronto application.

Deadline: Applications received on or before Monday January 31, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. EST will receive full consideration. Please note that applications submitted later than January 31 will be accepted on a rolling basis via email until all positions are filled.

As an example of the kind of work done by SURP students, please review the research posters from SURP 2022.

If you have any further questions, surp [at] astro.utoronto.ca (email the SURP committee.)

CSA Group Undergraduate Research Scholarship

CSA Group is committed to engaging students and young professionals, the future leaders of our society, in the world of standards development. Standards have an enormous impact on safety and the environment and are vital to the global competitiveness of industry. CSA Group’s Undergraduate Research Scholarship supports undergraduate students in the pursuit of novel research related to standards. The research is to be conducted over a summer term under the direct supervision of an academic advisor. Undergraduate degree students studying at a publicly-funded, accredited Canadian college or university in their second year of study or higher are eligible to apply.

Scholarships are valued at $5,000. Award duration is for 16 weeks (May to August).

The research can be conducted in any field (e.g., engineering, social sciences, health sciences) and must include standards as a central component of the research. The research may investigate aspects of an existing standard or may explore an area for future standards development. The topic does not need to be related to an area where CSA Group already has standards.

Deadline to apply: January 31
Notice of award: March 15
Award Acceptance: April 1

Eligibility and the application form can be found on the CSA Group website.

Previous SURE Prize Winners