Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Undergraduate
Student Research Awards Program (NSERC USRA)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
New This Year
Payments (updated February 8th, 2012):
- Effective May 2012, the Student Awards & Financial Aid Office (SAFA)
will be taking over the payments of student’s NSERC USRA scholarship
portion ($4500) to be coded and paid out in a lump sum through the Quest
system at the beginning of the 2nd month of each term, ie. February, June
and October. Note: Non-UW students must continue to be
paid on the Temporary Employment Authorization Forms for ALL amounts,
including the $4500, since they do not have a UW id and cannot be paid
through Quest.
- This means that Temporary Employment Authorization Forms/URI Forms submitted
to payroll should only include the supervisor top-up/URI amounts and not
the $4500 for UW students. Otherwise, the students will be double paid
this amount. (On the form the department still needs to indicate that,
"this is a scholarship and not salary, therefore benefits
are not applicable.")
- Elena Tabong in the GSO will be responsible for sending SAFA a complete
list of NSERC USRA UW students prior to the beginning of each term in
order for the payments to occur.
- Copies of the Temporary Employment Authorization Forms and URI Forms
must still be submitted to Elena and originals sent to Payroll.
1. Information
for Students
As a first step, students should be in touch with their NSERC USRA Department
Contact for general information about the program and how the application
and selection process works in their department. Also, students should look
up their department web site to view the current research that various faculty
members are undertaking. The students can then correspond directly with
those whose research interests them to inquire about the possibility of
holding an NSERC USRA with them.
For application timeline and process, please see
NSERC USRA Waterloo Timeline Calendar.
Please note that departments will set earlier deadlines.
If a student is accepting an NSERC USRA position, it is their responsibility
to inform the co-operative education center in a timely manner about their
intention to hold a USRA rather than seek employment through the co-op process.
back to top
2. Summary
University of Waterloo Internal Terms of Reference
The internal terms of reference are formulated to ensure that a process
is in place to reward outstanding students with research experience in each
NSERC-related Faculty and to enhance research intensity in an individual
laboratory and the department/school. The USRA program must be seen as a
mechanism to increase the pool of eligible students for NSERC postgraduate
scholarships.
Responsibilities of the Faculty Associate Dean of Graduate Studies:
- will have the ultimate authority to decide on who should be considered
to receive the NSERC USRA, and will forward the recommended applications
by email to Elena Tabong in
the Graduate Studies Office (GSO) by the deadline set by the GSO each
term
- will ensure that the deadlines are strictly adhered to as the GSO will
not accept applications after the deadline (deadlines are set before co-op
interviews take place in order to advise successful applicants that they
are being recommended before they engage in interviews)
- will decide how the awards will be allocated to each unit. Factors that
should be considered during the unit allocation process are: to provide
support to new Faculty members; and the number of USRA holders per Faculty
member
- will normally ensure that eligible students for this award will have
an average of 80% or higher during their last two years of study. (NEW:
Students can hold this award after completing only their 1A term, as long
as they will have completed at least 2 terms of study when holding the
award, and as long meet all other eligibility requirements, however this
would not be common.) When selecting students for awards, the Faculty
Associate Dean will assess the merit of each application on the basis
of the student's academic record and research aptitude.
- will urge the departments to advertise and bring together both co-op
and non-co-op candidates by the same deadline each term (university deadlines
will be made by the Graduate Studies Office)
- will help to promote the submission of applications from females as
well as aboriginal students
- will preserve ranking order within departments
- will ensure that the student’s role is specifically identified
in the proposed project description before the application is
forwarded to the GSO.
back to top
2.
Eligibility
For complete eligibility criteria please refer to NSERC’s
website.
Please note that NSERC identifies that applicants must have obtained a
cumulative average of at least second class (a grade of "B" or
"B-," if applicable) as defined by your university. However, in
order to ensure that top students receive this award the University of Waterloo
requires a higher minimum average than indicated by NSERC (minimum 80% over
their last two years of study for upper years or 80% averaeg in the terms
they have take thus far for students in 1B, 2A and 2B).
back to top
3.
Allocation
For the 2012-2013 year, the University of Waterloo received an allocation
of 134 awards. The Graduate Studies Office does not hold
any awards in a reserve; all of the awards have been allocated out to the
Faculties. Should a Faculty have difficulty in using up their allocation,
the Faculty Associate Dean is to notify Elena
Tabong so the awards can be re-allocated to another Faculty.
Emphasis of this program should be to reward exceptional applicants only.
Departments are strongly encouraged to be proactive in notifying outstanding
students of this award (e.g. refer to students on the Dean’s Honour
List). It is recommended that departments also encourage professors to take
on only one student in a term. It is ideal to identify outstanding students
interested in this program and then identify appropriate research professors
who have an NSERC grant. Efforts should be made to encourage female
and Aboriginal students to apply.
back to top
4. Marks
and Transcripts
Departments must use transcripts in order to check eligibility and rank
the students accordingly. (At the time of application, an unofficial UW
transcript can be uploaded and an official transcript will only be required
if the student is being recommended for an NSERC USRA, at which time Elena
Tabong will send one to the student. For non-UW students, official transcripts
are required at the time of application.) According to the University of
Waterloo’s criteria a student qualified to hold a scholarship should
have a first-class standing (80%+) over their last two years of study for
upper years or 80% average in the terms they have take thus far for students
in 1B, 2A and 2B. Departments are strongly encouraged to reward their best
students.
Note: If the department/unit chooses to recommend a non-Waterloo student
for one of their quota, the student must provide the department with an
official transcript from their institution (the department must forward
the transcript to the GSO).
back to top
5.
Financial Responsibility
Once applications are submitted to the Graduate Studies Office, the GSO
reviews the applications and recommends students for the award. Final approval
comes from NSERC after the students have begun their tenure. It
is the responsibility of the Faculty and/or department/school to ensure
that the students meet the minimum eligibility requirements. If the student
is deemed ineligible by NSERC after the student has already begun the award,
the Faculty or department/school will be responsible for reimbursing the
funds received from the NSERC USRA to the University of Waterloo. At present,
this amount is $4,500 per term (for a full 16-week duration).
NSERC requires that all award holders receive a supplement of at least
25% of the value of the award. NSERC’s present value of the award
is $1,125 per month, to a maximum of $4,500
over a four-month period. The minimum permissible supplement per
month is $281.25, which gives the student an income of at least $1,406.25
per month during the course of his/her award. Supervisors are encouraged
to pay any supplement above this minimum.
Although the supervisor is required to have an NSERC grant, the supplement
does not have to be paid from the grant account. If the supervisor wishes,
he/she could contact Co-op to find out if they could receive the URI supplement
in order to have it replace what they would have paid from
their own account or may use it to enhance the supplement
they are going to pay.
back to top
6.
Student Awards Payments
Please follow the procedures listed below for student award payments.
back to top
7. Travel
Students coming to the University of Waterloo from another university
may request a travel allowance. NSERC will provide an allowance (as deemed
reasonable by NSERC’s Finance Division) for ground transportation
costs to and from your residence and your point of departure (e.g., airport,
train station, bus station). The student must apply to the Graduate Studies
Office for the allowance using a “Travel Advance and Settlement Claim”
document which can be obtained at the department. Appropriate documentation
such as boarding passes, receipts, etc. MUST accompany the application.
Travel claims must be submitted no more than one month after the completion
of the USRA work term . Further details may be found on NSERC’s
website.
back to top
8.
Application Timeline
Please refer to the NSERC
USRA Waterloo Timeline Calendar for details and deadlines.
back to top
9.
Application Reminders
- Please advise supervisors that if they are unsure of what their PIN
or grant application numbers are, that they can send me an email to confirm
before submitting the application. Otherwise, the application will have
to be released back to the supervisor for correction delaying the process.
- The student's role MUST be clearly specified as part of the proposed
project (it is the responsibility of each Faculty Associate Dean to ensure
that this requirement is met before the application is submitted to me
in the Graduate Studies Office).
- No signatures will be required now that the application is completed
on line, however the application still needs to go through the proper
channels and be approved by the department chair and Faculty Associate
Dean of Graduate Studies. When the department sends the recommended applicant(s)
by email to GSO, this is confirmation that they have been approved.
- Normally, if a student from another department/Faculty is applying for
a USRA, the award will come from the department to which the supervisor
belongs
- Holders of these awards are not permitted to take courses during working
hours throughout the term of their award unless special arrangements to
make up the time have been made with the supervisor. In particular, students
are not permitted to do thesis research during the term of the award.
- Although the NSERC scholarship and required supplement have always been
considered scholarship and not salary, the university strongly encourages
supervisors to increase the minimum supplement from $281.25/month to $310/month
(at 35 hours/week) bearing in mind the minimum wage, which affects student
employment. If supervisors are not able to financially support this increase,
the departments are encouraged to see if they have the funding to support
the difference. Consequently, if the additional increase in funds cannot
be managed, then students in this situation may only be expected to work
30 hours/week. *Supervisors can apply for the UW-URI program through Co-op.
- Please encourage your students to consider applying for an Industrial
USRA, particularly those who are not chosen for your department’s
allocation of USRAs at the university.
back to top
Additional
Guidelines
Program Regulations
The regulations governing the USRAs are posted on NSERC’s
website in the Program Guide for Students and Fellows.
Incentive for Aboriginal Students
NSERC continues to encourage aboriginal students to pursue university studies
in the natural sciences and engineering. Any aboriginal student who meets
all the program’s eligibility criteria and is recommended by an eligible
Canadian university for a USRA will not be counted in that university’s
quota.
USRA Location of Tenure
- USRAs Held Away from “Home” University
Students can hold a USRA at any eligible Canadian university, not
only the one at which they are registered. NSERC encourages mobility
of students at the undergraduate level. USRAs can be used to allow
students to expand their background training at other institutions,
as well as provide the department/school with the opportunity to offer
a similar experience to students from elsewhere.
Students must apply to the institution where they would like
to hold the USRA. Students must comply with the internal
selection criteria of that institution and be selected by that university
to hold one of their quota of awards. The proposed supervisor must
be a faculty member at the university where the student will hold
the USRA.
- Industrial USRA
The USRA program offers students the opportunity to work on a challenging
research project in either a university or an industrial environment.
Industrial USRAs are not counted as part of the university’s USRA
quota; there is a separate quota for them. The program overview
can be found online.
Please encourage your students to consider
applying for an Industrial USRA, particularly those who are not chosen
for your department’s/school’s allocation of USRAs at the
university.
- Work Site of USRA Holders
Students holding university USRAs may spend a maximum of 25 per cent
of their time at a company location during the term of the award.
- Working Hours of USRA Holders
NSERC expects USRA holders to work approximately the same hours on average
and have the same working conditions, etc. as other university employees.
If other staff members at the university work 35 hours per week on average,
then the USRA recipient should too.
back to top
Supervision
of USRA Holders
Supervisor’s Eligibility
In order to ensure that they obtain a research experience in the best possible
research environment, students holding USRAs at universities must be supervised
by faculty members holding active NSERC research grants.
The supervisor may be the principal investigator or the co-investigator
of the grant. A list of eligible NSERC grants appears at the end of this
document. Researchers holding only Research Tools and Instruments, and/or
Infrastructure Grants are not eligible.
Supervisor’s Rights and Responsibilities
The supervisor has the responsibility to ensure that the student is properly
supervised at all times (especially during field work) and appropriately
trained in research techniques and safety methods. He/she also has the right
to set working hours and assign tasks. Should the student’s performance
not match expectations, the supervisor is expected to take appropriate steps
to explain matters and retrain the student. If, after a reasonable time
period, the student’s performance has not improved, the supervisor
may, in consultation with the Faculty Associate Dean, and the Graduate Studies
Office, decide to terminate the work term.
Co-supervision
NSERC allows USRA students to work under the supervision of two NSERC grantees
as long as they work on a “genuine” research project allowing
them to be exposed to all aspects of the research process. However, students
must not move between laboratories on different projects over the 16-week
period since this would dilute the value of the experience. One
NSERC grantee has to be designated as the student’s official supervisor.
Co-supervision by a non-NSERC grantee is not accepted.
back to top
Initiatives
and Incentives in combination with the USRA Program
NSERC encourages the exposure of undergraduate students to as many natural
sciences and engineering-related experiences as possible. Universities are
encouraged to explore innovated ways of using the USRA program in combination
with other initiatives. Should your department/school be considering other
mechanisms, please contact Elena Tabong in the Graduate Studies Office as
soon as possible so she can contact NSERC to obtain further information.
Below are some examples of initiatives that can be combined with the USRA
program:
Shad Valley
Unique among summer programs for youth, the Shad Valley program combines
entrepreneurship with sciences and technology. USRA holders may interrupt
their research project for the month of July to work as a Program Assistant
(PA) at a Shad Valley campus. Information about Shad is available on its
website.
The university will continue to pay the NSERC portion of the award to
students during the time they are working for Shad. The research supervisor,
who must pre-approve the interruption, is not expected to pay the 25%
top-up during the interruption. While the students are working as PAs,
Shad will pay them a $1,500 top-up. Award holders may work as a PA for
the Shad campus located at the university of tenure of their USRA or another
campus. NSERC will not, however, cover travel costs from one campus to
another.
Canadian Collaborative Research Experience for Undergraduates
The Canadian Collaborative Research Experience for Undergraduates program
provides undergraduate women in Computer Science and Computer Engineering
the opportunity to gain research experience with a female faculty member
for a summer internship. The program awards $3,500 to each student to
supplement an NSERC USRA. Opportunities exist to hold the award at a different
university than the student attends. Details about the application process
are available online.
RISE Canada Program
RISE (Reactive Intermediates Student Exchange) is a summer student exchange
program for undergraduates in the chemical sciences who will have completed
the equivalent of two or three full years of study by the end of the school
year in which they apply. Successful applicants will be awarded summer
employment in the research group of a RISE group member at one of the
participating institutions (not their own), plus a small travel allowance.
Further information on this program can be found online
(Students participating in this program at a Canadian university may concurrently
hold an NSERC USRA).
Radian Biophysics Awards
Two qualified aboriginal USRA holders will be selected each year by the
Biophysical Society of Canada to attend the Herman R. Branson Summer Mini-Course
in Biophysics (assuming program funding approved). For further information,
please contact Cathy Morris or Jenifer
Thewalt.
NSERC – CMS Math in Moscow Scholarships
NSERC and the Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS) are pleased to announce
that they will offer three scholarships each year to support Canadian
undergraduate students registered in a mathematics or computer science
program to attend a semester at the Math in Moscow program. Further information
can be found online.
Environment Canada Atmospheric and Meteorological Undergraduate
Supplements
These supplements provide financial support to high-calibre students
working toward degrees in the atmospheric or meteorological sciences or
related fields. They are available only to students awarded a USRA in
a university or industry. Further information and application procedures
can be found on the NSERC
website.
back to top
NSERC
Research Grants
Holders of the following types of grants are eligible to supervise USRA
holders for the 2012-2013 competition:
Grants Programs
- Collaborative Health Research Projects
- Discovery Grants (Individual, Group and Subatomic Physics (SAP) Project,
Northern Research Supplements)
- Special Research Opportunity (SRO)
- CRYSTAL (Centers for Research in Youth, Science Teaching and Learning)
- CREATE (Collaborative Research and Training Experience Program)
Partnerships Programs
- Collaborative Research & Development Grants (CRD)
- Idea to Innovation Program (I2I) replaces the Technology Partnerships
Program
- NSERC/Canada Council for the Arts New Media Initiative
- Research Partnership Agreements (RPA)
- Strategic Network Grants (SNG) formerly called Research Network Grants
- Strategic Project Grants (SPG)
- Engage Grants Program
- Innovation Frontiers
Chairs and Faculty Support Programs
- Chairs in Design Engineering (CDE)
- Chairs in Environmental Design and Engineering (CEDE)
- Chairs for Women in Science and Engineering (CWSE)
- Industrial Research Chairs (IRC)
- Northern Research Chairs Program (NRCP)
- University Faculty Awards (UFA)
Canada Research Chairs
Canada Excellence Research Chairs
back to top
Questions about the NSERC USRA process?
Contact Elena Tabong in the Graduate
Studies Office.
*information last updated December 15, 2011
