Undergraduate Summer Research | Biomedical and Molecular Sciences | School of Medicine

Applications for both NSERC USRA and USSRF for 2025 must be submitted as a single PDF by email to bhsc@queensu.ca by Friday, February 14th @ 4pm.

General Information

DBMS has an allocation of 4 NSERC USRA and 5 USSRF fellowships. We will be adjudicating all applications as a single group. Therefore, only one application per supervisor+student combination will be accepted. Supervisors may submit applications with multiple students, but supervisors will only be awarded one fellowship per year. Our committee will only consider applications from supervisors with appointments in DBMS.

You will find a listing of DBMS Faculty and their research interests at: Biomedical and Molecular Sciences Faculty

If the research program is NSERC-eligible, then please use the NSERC application process. Only submit a USSRF application if the research is not NSERC-eligible. Information about NSERC-eligible research can be found here.

All applications will be ranked according to the same criteria (student academic excellence, student aptitude and interest in research, the research plan, the quality of training, supervisor's recommendation of student) and the top 9 will be forwarded to the VPR for funding. If fewer than 5 USSRF applications are within the top 9, then the remaining USSRF fellowships will be awarded to the top-ranked NSERC applications.

NSERC USRAs: Institutions may recommend applications from self-identified Black student researchers for USRA’s beyond their allocations of awards (akin to the current process already in place for Indigenous students).

NSERC USRA

The NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Awards (USRA) provide undergraduate students the opportunity to work in a research lab during the summer. Details of the program, including eligibility can be found on the NSERC website.

Supervisors are not required to hold an active grant when applying to supervise a USRA student. There are no restrictions on who can supervise a USRA student, provided the university deems the Queen’s faculty member eligible to supervise students, but our committee will only consider applications from supervisors with appointments in DBMS.

To maintain an efficient, fair, transparent, and equitable process to both the applicants and the sponsoring principal investigators, the following guidelines are provided:

Eligibility

NSERC USRA Eligibility

Application Process

Eligible students are first required to find a principal investigator who will sponsor their NSERC USRA application. The NSERC USRA website includes general information for students and fellows regarding the application process.

Students:

Complete NSERC Form 202 – Part I.
Generate a pdf of an up-to-date unofficial transcript (if you are a Queen’s student).
Briefly describe laboratory/research experience and future research-based goals.

Sponsoring Principal Investigator:

Complete NSERC Form 202 – Part II, and submit online and download a copy to include in your PDF to our office.
For the Description of the Project in Part II, please be sure to write for non-experts, clearly define abbreviations, limit jargon, and clearly state a scientific rationale and hypothesis.
Provide a statement verifying that you have the funding to provide the supervisor portion of the fellowship.
Provide a brief description of the research aptitutde of the student. Refer to the USSRF application (further below on this page) for details.

Evaluation Criteria

The following criteria will be considered when evaluating and ranking the applications:

Academic excellence of the student applicant.
Home institution of student applicant (ie. Queen’s or external).
Laboratory/research-related experience and career goals of student applicant.
Proposed Project.

*Incomplete applications or those for which guidelines have not been followed will not be considered.

Review Committee

The review committee will be comprised of three members of the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences who will review and rank the applications, one of which will chair the review committee.

How to apply

NSERC has prepared tutorial videos to summarize the process of applying for a funding opportunity. These videos provide an overview and general guidance only. For more detailed information, read the appropriate sections in the individual description and specific instructions for the program to which you are applying.

USSRF

The Undergraduate Student Summer Research Fellowship (USSRF) provides an experiential learning opportunity for undergraduate students enrolled in a Bachelor’s degree program at Queen’s (at the time of application). The program is intended to provide students with meaningful opportunities to engage in discovery-based learning and to develop research and presentation skills and is not limited to any one discipline. Full details on the USSRF can be through the Queen's Vice Principal Research website.

Eligibility

Queen's students registered in a Bachelor's degree program at the time of application.

Application Process

Eligible students are first required to find a principal investigator who will sponsor their USSRF application. Follow the instructions on the DBMS USSRF Student and Supervisor application forms to create a single PDF file. Note that we are using a modified application form. Do not submit the form that can be found on the Queen's Vice Principal Research website.

Student Application Form

Supervisor Application Form

Instructions:

Student: complete the personal information sections, provide a copy of your unofficial transcript and complete the description of laboratory/research experience and future research-based goals

Supervisor: complete the description of the proposed research project, outline the student's role and describe the expected quality of the training and mentorship to be received. Provide a description of the research aptitude of the student. Combine the student and supervisor parts (including student's unofficial transcript) as a single PDF file and email it to bhsc@queensu.ca.

Review Committee

The review committee will be comprised of three members of the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences who will review and rank the applications, one of which will chair the review committee.