Registration and FAQs
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 (fall, winter, or summer). There is no time limit, students can combine hours taken across terms and academic years.
Students are expected to keep their own record of which webinars, training or events they attend. At the end of each term, a survey is sent for students to submit their hours. If qualified, SURE is added to your 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.
Students in SURE must complete 10 hours of training, from the following categories:
SURE 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.
Upcoming SURE Events
| Event | Date/Time | Location | Category | Registration |
| Introduction to USask's NSERC USRA Program - In-Person Session | Wednesday, December 6, 2023 | 4:30 PM | Arts 102 | NSERC USRA | Register Here |
| Introduction to USask's NSERC USRA Program - Virtual Session | Thursday, December 7, 2023 | 12:00 PM | Online | NSERC USRA | Register Here |
|
SURE How to Talk to a Professor About a Research Position - In-Person Session |
Tuesday, December 12, 2023 | 12:00 PM | Arts 104 | Communication | Register Here |
|
SURE How to Talk to a Professor About a Research Position - Virtual Session |
Thursday, December 14, 2023 | 4:30 PM | Online | Communication | Register Here |
A new research training program with the support of the College of Engineering and in collaboration with the Undergraduate Research Initiative designed for undergraduate and graduate students with a passion for natural sciences and engineering research.
This program provides training and mentorship from Dr. Niu to support students to develop their own research proposals.
Student proposals could become the basis for a student’s application for an NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Assistantship (USRA). Students who complete the program will also qualify for their SURE Co-Curricular Credit.
The program will require students to commit to 1-3 hours per week from August 15th – November 30th
More information here: students/undergraduate/undergrad-research-opportunities/research-training-program.pdf
Participation may be in-person or hybrid depending on student needs.
Applications Due August 10, 2023.
How to apply: Please prepare a letter with a maximum of 2 pages by replying to the following questions and submit it together with your resume to Dr. Catherine Niu at catherine.niu@usask.ca by August 10, 2023. For undergraduate students, please also CC your application email to Dr. Mandy Fehr, Coordinator of the Undergraduate Research Initiative at the Office of the Vice President Research of USask at mandy.fehr@usask.ca.
- Why are you interested in this research program?
- What specific areas in scientific and engineering research are you interested in? If you have a specific topic that you would like to research, please provide if possible.
- What expectations do you have for yourself through this program?
- Which meeting approach would you prefer, in person or by virtual meeting?
Training Resources
Communication is central to research skills. Please view Upcoming Events for communications sessions 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.
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.
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.
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.
|
Training |
Category |
Link |
|
Tri-Agency TCPSCore2 course on research ethics. |
Research management | |
|
USask Animal Care and Research Support: Animal User Training |
Research management |
Link to Animal Care and Research Support - includes links to ethics training |
| USask library course on academic integrity | Research management | |
|
USask Behavioural Research Ethics webinar |
Research management |
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.
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.
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.
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.
SURE previously recorded webinars are all available for viewing. Viewing past webinars can count 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.
- 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
Student Connection
The SURE program sponsors the Science, Research & Society Club.
Volunteers 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.
SURE supports a number of student social events throughout the year, including movie screenings, lab crawls, journal clubs, supervisor-student social events, SecretUSask and a student-led Discord channel amongst other ideas. Access to these spaces is via registration with SURE (see above).
SURE Symposiums
This annual event is open to all undergraduate students who are involved in a research, scholarly, artistic, or applied project for the summer or students who have research to share from one of their classes. Showcase and celebrate your work with the USask community!
This event aims to welcome undergraduate students from all disciplines to showcase their summer research. It is led by the Office of the Vice President Research with sponsorship from USask Career Services and RBC Future Launch and support from the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.
The SURE Summer Symposium 2023 takes place in-person at Convocation Hall on Thursday, August 31st from 8:30 am to 5 pm. Awards Ceremony begins at 3:00 pm.
Link to 2023 SURE Summer Symposium Program
| Time | Event |
| 9:00 AM | Opening Remarks |
| 9:30 AM | Session I |
| 11:00 AM | Break |
| 11:30 AM | Session II |
| 1:00 PM | Break |
| 1:30 PM | Session III |
| 3:00 PM |
Reception & Awards Ceremony |
SURE Symposium 2023
Fall 2023 SURE Symposium online (USask NSID required to view)
Winners:
Honourable Mentions: Jacob Pilon and Morgan Lehmann
Second Place (Tie): Hya El-Baroudy and Huzaifa Saeed
First Place: Ryan Chan
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 30th and December 7th.
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
Student Stories
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