Eligible faculty members may apply for the NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA) program. Through these awards, you can receive a wage subsidy of $4,500 to hire an eligible student to work on research and development in your lab. Professors gain valuable help in furthering their research while supporting students in their learning.
The LFS quota for the NSERC USRA has been announced by the UBC Centre for Student Involvement and Careers (CIS&C). The Faculty of Land & Food Systems has FOUR (4) NSERC USRAs available for 2020. These awards can be held in the summer (May – Aug 2020), fall (Sep – Dec 2020) or winter (Jan – Apr 2021) terms.
The LFS internal deadline for the NSERC USRA is Friday March 6, 2020.
New this year,
- Supervisors are no longer required to hold an eligible and active NSREC grant. However, they must be faculty members who are authorized to independently supervise students deemed by their home institution. As part of UBC’s requirement, eligible faculty will need to continue holding an active NSERC grant from the Research Grant list. Faculties/Schools have the ability to endorse non-NSERC grant holders to apply for the award, on the approval of the Associate Dean or appropriate designate.
- Particularly important this year is that faculty members include a brief description of the expected quality of training (newly added criterion) for the student under “Outline of Student’s Role” in Form 202 Part II, as the CSI&C will return any applications to the faculty member if this information is missing.
Additional information about the program can be found on the Faculty and Staff webpage. Student eligibility information is available on the website. LFS evaluation criteria and process is available here .
Please contact LFS Undergraduate Student Research Awards lfs.nserc-usra@ubc.ca if you have any questions.