The Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA) program is administered jointly by Canada’s three research granting agencies: the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Through these awards, professors can receive a wage subsidy of $6,000 to hire a Canadian/ permanent resident undergraduate to work on research and development in their lab. Professors gain valuable help in furthering students’ research while supporting them in their learning.
These awards can be held in the summer (May – August 2026), fall (September – December 2026) or winter (January – April 2027) terms.
NSERC encourages qualified Black and Indigenous students to apply for this award. Specific award pathways have been established for Black and Indigenous students. Please visit the Black Student Researchers Pathway website or Indigenous Student Researchers Pathway website.
The internal LFS deadline for the undergraduate research awards (USRA) program is 5 pm, Friday February 13, 2026 (Deadline for students who self-identify as Black or Indigenous is March 13, 2026). The LFS evaluation criteria and adjudication process are available on the LFS Research Support website.
Program requirements
- As part of UBC’s requirement, eligible faculty for NSERC USRA 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.
- Work terms are required to be 14-16 weeks long. Under exceptional circumstances, students can work less than 14 consecutive weeks (prior approval from NSERC is needed).
- Full value ($6,000) of the award will be honored once application is approved by NSERC.
- For the student’s salary, BC’s minimum wage requirements must be met. In addition, supervisors are required to fund benefits (CPP, EI, WCB, BC EHT) amounting to approximately 10.47% of the monthly wage.
- The USRA research is a full-time activity (35 hours paid hours/week). Students are allowed to take a maximum of two (2) courses during the tenure of award. Exceptions to the course limit can be reviewed by NSERC on a case-by-case basis.
- CIHR USRA and SSHRC USRA are currently exclusively for Black student researchers.
Additional information about the program can be found on the Faculty and Staff webpage. Student eligibility information is available on Student Services website.
Please contact LFS Undergraduate Student Research Awards lfs.nserc-usra@ubc.ca if you have any questions.