NSERC, CIHR & SSHRC Undergraduate Summer Research Award (USRA)

Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRAs) are meant to nurture your interest and fully develop your potential for a research career in health, natural sciences, engineering, social sciences or humanities. These awards are also meant to encourage you to undertake graduate studies by providing research work experience that complements your studies in an academic setting.

Value and Duration:

  • Value: $9,632
  • Duration: 16-week period

Kindly take note that the Tri-Agency contribution remains fixed at $6,000 per award, per student. Additionally, USRA supervisors are required to contribute a minimum top-up of $3,632 to the award stipend, resulting in a total award amount of $9,632.

Deadline:

The USRA Deadline is February 10, 2025, by/before 4 PM.

Eligibility:

  • Student must be a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada or a Protected Person under subsection 95(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada), as of the deadline date for applications at the institution.
  • NSERC requires that students be registered in a Bachelor’s degree program at an eligible university in at least one of the 2 terms immediately previous to the award. Therefore, undergraduate students who wish to hold an NSERC USRA in the Summer of 2025 must have been registered students in either Fall 2024 or Winter 2025, or both.
  • Students must have obtained, over the previous years of study, a satisfactory cumulative average of 70.
  • Students cannot have completed all their degree requirements.
  • Students may hold a maximum of three USRAs throughout their undergraduate career (regardless of the granting agency).
  • Students must have completed all course requirements for at least the first year of study (or two academic terms) of their bachelor’s degree.
  • Students are only permitted to hold one USRA for the summer and the USRA should not be held concurrently with another paid student position or summer research opportunity at Western.
  • More information regarding eligibility

Indigenous and Black Student Scholars

For NSERC only:

Institutions may continue recommending applications from self-identified Indigenous students beyond their allocation of awards.

New policy for Black student researchers: NSERC provides supplementary allocations for additional awards for Black student researchers.

Indigenous and black student researchers who are recommended for the USRA awards must self-identify and provide consent within the application form for this information to be shared with Western and NSERC. If this is not indicated on the NSERC form, they will be counted as part of the institution’s quota. NSERC will not accept replacement applications.

For CIHR and SSHRC:

With four allocations for CIHR USRAs and four allocations for SSHRC USRAs reserved for Black student scholars, it has been decided that a central lottery will determine the final decision for these spots.

Selection Process:

The selection process is done by the institution based on the following three criteria:

  1. Academic excellence
  2. Research potential
  3. Expected quality of the training and mentorship to be received.

Transcript:

A Western student can upload:

  1. an official transcript (optional), or
  2. a copy of the most current ‘Academic Record’

Western students must request the Academic Record from their Faculty/department; they cannot access it themselves.

NSERC provides more details on transcripts in “Instructions for completing an application – Form 202”.

More information regarding the transcript.

Supervisor:

  • Every student must be working under the supervision of a research-eligible faculty member who can oversee the project and obtain applicable certification approvals. Supervisors can hold grants from NSERC, CIHR or SSHRC, provided the research proposed for the USRA project falls within the selected agency’s mandate.(See: Selecting the Appropriate Federal Granting Agency)
  • Faculty supervisors are responsible for communicating clear expectations and guidance on the research project, including required training, anticipated outcomes, and outlining hours per week.

 Forms & Guidelines:

Concurrent Courses

  • A USRA recipient may take up to 2 courses concurrent to the USRA. Arrangements for ensuring completion of the USRA project outcomes are to be determined between the student and supervisor, particularly if the course(s) is during normal working hours.
  • USRA holders are not permitted to do thesis research during the term of the award.