All undergraduate students conducting course-based or faculty-led research projects at the University of Saskatchewan (or interested in doing research now or in the future) are welcome to take part in SURE: Student Undergraduate Research Experience. Students taking co-op or internship positions are also welcome to join. 

Note: all students at USask conducting research must be supervised, and all research must be pre-approved (if required) by the relevant ethics committee.  Do not start a research project or conduct any research unless you are approved and supported to do so. Scholarly and artistic research projects may be completed independently if they meet ethics standards for that discipline.

Students who register in SURE will be eligible to receive co-curricular credit by completing a minimum ten hours of training, webinars, or events supported or delivered through SURE each term (fall, winter, or summer). Students keep their own record of which webinars, training or events they attend. At the end of each term, they submit their hours and, if qualified, SURE is added to their co-curricular record.

SURE also partners with the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for the annual Summer Symposium, and with the USSU to support the Undergraduate Research Symposium.

Please email undergraduate.research@usask.ca with questions. 

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Students in SURE must complete 10 hours of training, from the following categories: 

Communication: 2 hours minimum

Research ethics, safety, management and analysis: 2 hours minimum

Professional Development/Entrepreneurship: 2 hours minimum

The remaining 4 hours can be chosen to respond to the student's experiences, disciplinary needs, and to focus on any areas with need support or improvement. 

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Remember: all research conducted at USask must be supported via a supervisor or within a course-based research experience. Scholarly and artistic projects may be completed independently if they meet the ethics criteria of that discipline. 

• SURE tracking sheet

SURE now uses an ongoing registration format. By signing up, you agree to receive emails from the SURE program. You may unsubscribe from our email list at any time. 

We also recommend following the Undergraduate Research Initiative on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. Find those links here.

Join SURE: Student Undergraduate Research Experience! 

• Register Now!
• Unsubscribe

Welcome to SURE fall 2022! 

Communication is central to research skills. See above full program list for upcoming communications events or go to our YouTube channel for past webinars on communications. 

USask Library: The University of Saskatchewan Library Student Learning Services has a large number of upcoming and past/recorded webinars on research, communication and citations which are all eligible to go towards your SURE credit. Pick those that suit your needs! 

Writing Workshops

Research Workshops

Citations Workshops

Research Excellence and Innovation offered series of six online webinars and four live in-person Lunch and Learn events around Entrepreneurship in summer 2022. Recordings can be found on our YouTube site. 

• Entrepreneurship past seminars

USask Safety Services training is eligible for SURE credit. The most common safety training for students includes: Covid-19 training, Biosafety training, Laboratory Safety, WHMIS 2015, and Safety Orientiation for Employees. All Safety courses qualify for SURE credit under Research Management.

Go to Safety Services training

Research Ethics: both human and animal research ethics training is eligible for SURE credit. Students actively working in human or animal research must take training. All ethics training goes under Research Management.

There are a number of past and upcoming SURE webinars on Professional Development. See Summer 2022 link below to view, or click below on our YouTube channel to view past events! 

USask Career Services offers many student-focused services, from career assessment (knowing your strengths/personality type to career readiness competencies) to one-on-one career planning (resumes, cover letters, practice interviews), through to professionalism in your online persona (LinkedIn and more) and career fairs, to connect you with potential employers. All USask Career Services events and activities qualify toward your SURE co-curricular credit under Professional Development. Take advantage today!

Go to Career Services website. 

The SURE program pulls from multiple units across campus to offer a wide range of suitable options for your SURE co-curricular credit. Some of these events are organized by the Undergraduate Research Intiative. Others (see below) are offered by USask library, Canadian Hub for Applied and Social Research (CHASR), USask Safety Services, USask Ethics, Tri-Council Ethics (TCPS Core 2), Research Excellence and Innovation, Career Services, and many more! Past SURE webinars can be watched for EQUAL CREDIT.

SURE previously recorded webinars are all available for viewing. Viewing past webinars can count equally toward your SURE 10 hours for co-curricular credit. Follow the links below to SURE playlists on YouTube, where you can also subscribe and be notified when we add new videos.

Canadian Hub for Applied and Social Research- CHASR. If you're conducting social science research, past webinars offered by CHASR may help! Training in mixed methods design, survey design, NVIVO, triangulation, program evaluation, GIS, social network analysis, SPSS, and more. Any of these past recorded webinars can count towards your SURE credit, under Research Management.

CHASR YouTube Site

NOTE: if you are taking training in Python, Matlab, or any kind of coding or analytical program used in your discipline, those training hours can count towards Research Management in the SURE program. Take note of your training hours in these programs and count them towards SURE credit!

Mitacs training

Mitacs is a Canadian federal program to support students for industry and employment. Their extensive training curriculum combines in-person and online events. All Canadian postsecondary students may access this training for free. 

Mitacs courses surround eight unique course bundles, each consisting of an online, self-paced course and its corresponding instructor led sessions. The course bundle themes include: 

• Networking skills 
• Project and time management 
• Reconciliation and EDI 
• Communication skills 
• Career planning 
• R&D management 
• Leadership skills 
• Writing and presentation skills

To register for a specific course, visit their EDGE portal. EDGE

Links to Undergraduate Research YouTube channel and other past webinars below:

• Communication
• Social media for researchers
• CHASR: Research Analysis
• How to Get Involved in Undergraduate Research
• Research Data Management
• Professional Development
• Entrepreneurship
• Publishing Research
• Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Research
• Developing Good Habits
• Jeff Perera Gender of Success and Failure
• SURE program full playlist

The SURE program sponsors the Science, Research & Society Club.

VOLUNTEERS TO LEAD ARE WELCOME! 

Open to SURE participants and the wider campus community, this club aims to engage students in STEM and research across campus in two ways:

• to create a safe space for students to discuss, analyze and question research articles, science concepts and ideas;
• to explore the human aspects of science by having conversations about topics like imposter syndrome, representation in STEM and research and EDI (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion).

All registered SURE students will recieve updates, and events will be posted on PAWS. 

Registration is OPEN for the fall 2022 Symposium! 

SURE Symposium 2022

Summer 2022 SURE Symposium online (USask NSID required to view)

Winners: 

Honourable Mentions:  Jesse Adrian Amanda Ewen Morgan Lehmann Tessa Lester Vanessa Brown

Third Place: Mykyta Shvets

Second Place: Leah MacFarlane

First Place: Chi Vu

SURE Research, Scholarly and Artistic Works Fall 2021 Symposium

Research Acceleration and Strategic Initiatives is pleased to announce our new SURE (Student Undergraduate Research Experience) RSAW (Research Scholarly and Artistic Works) Fall 2021 Symposium. This fall Symposium complements the SURE summer Symposium and the USSU Spring Symposium as an additional campus-wide symposium open to all undergraduate students in all disciplines.

Details: The Symposium was held online via Canvas between November 30^th and December 7^th. 

Symposium Winners: 

Honourable Mentions:

Katie Sofko: Changes in Tibial Articular Cartilage T2 Relaxation Time with Load – An in vivo Repeatability Study (authors Sofko KG, Elebute I, Cui L, Bzowey N, McWalter EJ) Engineering

Kayley Lawrenz: The Experience of COVID-19 in Rural Saskatchewan Long-term Care Homes (with Ivy Myge, B.A., Rebeca S. Pereira, BA., & Paulette V. Hunter, Ph.D.) Health Sciences

Yash Tendulkar: Experiences Supporting Videoconference Visits During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Rural Saskatchewan Long-term Care Homes (Supervisor Dr. Paulette Hunter) Health Sciences

Award winners: Second Place (three way tie)

Alina Sami: The Role of APOBEC3C Deoxycytidine Deaminases in Somatic Mutagenesis (supervisor Dr. Linda Chelico) Health Sciences

Cindy Li: Design and synthesis of inhibitors for Glucocerebrosidase, a top biomarker and therapeutic target for Parkinson’s Disease (with Dr. Chris Phenix  Morshed Chowdhury) Physical and Life Sciences

Norah Ridley: An exploration of documents' privacy leaks (with Enrico Branca and Natalia Stakhanova) Computer Science and Math

Top Award: First Place

Leah Houseman: "It’s a Violation of My Freedom”: Getting Informed, Social Media, and Face Mask Use in Canada (Supervisor Dr. Scott Thompson) Social Sciences and Business

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