Nserc

[cdawso23]

How does NSERC, and more specifically USRA work exactly? Do you get matched up with a supervisor or do you need to find one, get them to agree and then fill out the forms?

 

Also, would this occur in the summer or during the school year?

 

Thanks!

[treejuice1]

You need to approach potential supervisors that have an NSERC grant. They need to agree to take you on as a summer student and then you fill out your part of the application (really trivial stuff, takes 2 seconds) and your supervisor fills out the rest. The application deadline for USRAs varies between schools, but it's generally early in the winter semester and you work over the summer

[NewfieMike]

my NSERC USRA supervisor never had an active NSERC grant when I worked with him (3 consecutive summers)

[treejuice1]

Did you apply through another professor or did they just not care? My supervisor also doesn't have an NSERC grant but I had to apply through someone else that does

[cdawso23]

You need to approach potential supervisors that have an NSERC grant. They need to agree to take you on as a summer student and then you fill out your part of the application (really trivial stuff, takes 2 seconds) and your supervisor fills out the rest. The application deadline for USRAs varies between schools, but it's generally early in the winter semester and you work over the summer

 

How do you find someone that has a grant? Is there a list somewhere?

[thatonekid]

my NSERC USRA supervisor never had an active NSERC grant when I worked with him (3 consecutive summers)

My supervisor didn't have an active NSERC grant either. It wasn't a big deal.

[NikiFM]

The NSERC USRA is 40 hours of research a week for 16 weeks in the summer. You get about $5500 dollars which seems like alot but broken down its less then minimal wage. I have been told by every professor it is very prestigious and looks great on a resume. You usually have to seek out a supervisor, both you and him both have to fill out forms and hand it in to your university. Your form is just basic info and your official transcript while his form is usually details about the research you'll be doing. The prof doesn't need an NSERC grant usually you can apply through one prof with the grant and work in anothers lab if the two profs agree upon that. Who gets the award is mostly ranked on GPA of the applicants I believe so I'd imagine some universities are more competitive than others. This application usually takes place in February and you find out late March. I did one last summer and while it was a positive experience it wasn't nearly as much fun as my usual job of teaching swimming and didn't pay nearly as well. But I found out I didn't really like research, which was good to know. So if you like research or want to try it definitley apply, but if you don't like research it can make your summer a drag.

Ps. If you plan on doing one next summer try to write your MCAT this summer, I did both my studying for the MCAT and 40 hours of research a week and found it stressful and felt horribly unprepared compared to my peers when I went to write it.

[cdawso23]

The NSERC USRA is 40 hours of research a week for 16 weeks in the summer. You get about $5500 dollars which seems like alot but broken down its less then minimal wage. I have been told by every professor it is very prestigious and looks great on a resume. You usually have to seek out a supervisor, both you and him both have to fill out forms and hand it in to your university. Your form is just basic info and your official transcript while his form is usually details about the research you'll be doing. The prof doesn't need an NSERC grant usually you can apply through one prof with the grant and work in anothers lab if the two profs agree upon that. Who gets the award is mostly ranked on GPA of the applicants I believe so I'd imagine some universities are more competitive than others. This application usually takes place in February and you find out late March. I did one last summer and while it was a positive experience it wasn't nearly as much fun as my usual job of teaching swimming and didn't pay nearly as well. But I found out I didn't really like research, which was good to know. So if you like research or want to try it definitley apply, but if you don't like research it can make your summer a drag.

Ps. If you plan on doing one next summer try to write your MCAT this summer, I did both my studying for the MCAT and 40 hours of research a week and found it stressful and felt horribly unprepared compared to my peers when I went to write it.

 

 

Thanks everybody for the responses! So would I just need to find a prof whos work I was interested and see is he/she would take me on?

[liverpool]

Try the search function, there's been tonnes of threads on this