What are Science Undergraduate Research Awards?
Research can be an important and enjoyable part of an undergraduate experience, and can also be helpful in deciding whether to pursue research as a career. A fund initiated and sustained by an endowment provided by the estate of the late Eva Moody allows the Faculty of Science to provide a number of competitive awards each year to undergraduate students who want to do research during one academic term.
The awards are directed at undergraduate students who wish to carry out a research project under the supervision of a (research-stream or teaching-stream) Faculty Member in Science at UVic. Only one application will be accepted from a single supervisor in each competition. The expectation is that the student would work full-time on the project for at least three months over one academic term, prior to continuing undergraduate studies in a subsequent term. The awards are not intended to support a student working part-time, or for research outside the term during which the student is to be engaged in their research project.
Who is eligible for an award?
To be eligible for a SURA, a student, at the time of application, must:
- be registered as a full-time student for a bachelor’s degree in the Faculty of Science at the University of Victoria in the current Winter Session. For detailed information regarding eligibility criteria for incourse scholarships, please refer to this web-link: https://www.uvic.ca/registrar/safa/in-course-scholarships/index.php
- have completed at least 30 units of course credits toward a B.Sc. degree by the end of the Fall term prior to submitting an application,
- intend to continue full-time undergraduate studies in the term immediately following the research project,
- have a cumulative GPA of 6.0 or higher for all courses completed at the time of application.
A student registered in graduate studies or holding a higher degree in the natural sciences is not eligible for a SURA.
In principle, a student can concurrently apply for an NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award, BC Cancer Studentship, BIOCAN Rx Studentship, or other research award and a SURA; however, a student cannot hold other research awards in that competition year starting in May. Students applying to other similar awards with questions concerning SURA’s eligibility should contact their home department.
A student may take up the SURA in the up-coming Summer (May-Aug) term, or in a term during the following academic year: Fall (Sep-Dec), or Winter (Jan-Apr); tenure may start in a term acceptable to both the student and their supervisor.
Value of awards
The SURA will provide up to $4,000 to the student for the research project, and the supervisor of the project must at least match this contribution. The amount of the award will be related to the length of the student’s research project.
Where can the research project be carried out?
The awards are available for projects carried out in any of the six units of the Faculty of Science at the University of Victoria: the Departments of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Statistics, Physics and Astronomy or the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences.
The student holding the award must work under the supervision or co-supervision of a regular Faculty Member in the Faculty of Science, who must hold an external (to UVic) research grant. If co-supervised, both supervisors must be specified in the application.
How and when do you apply?
To apply for this award, the student and proposed supervisor must complete the “Science Undergraduate Research Award” SURA application and submit to biology@uvic.ca by Friday February 19, 2021.
Information and application can be found here:
https://www.uvic.ca/science/biology/home/news/current/science-undergraduate-research-award-sura.php
