Undergraduate Research at Smith Engineering • Full time during the summer or part time during the semester • Possible at any point, but more typical for third and fourth year students • Get paid as undergraduate research assistant or conduct the research as an undergraduate research thesis for credit
• Your faculty supervisor and/or experienced members of the research group will train you • Examples include assisting with experiments, ield work, collaborating with industry, data collection and analysis, writing code, running simulations or developing models.
• Electrical & Computer Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Mechanical & Materials Engineering offer a "4+1" Accelerated Master's where students start a research program during undergrad and finish a Master's degree one or two terms faster: contact their undergraduate assistants for details.
Why conduct research as an undergraduate? • It’s exciting! Help to solve the world’s pressing challenges, advance the state of the art, develop better models, new device prototypes, or entirely new capabilities. • It’s a great way to find out if research and graduate school is right for you. • Many undergraduate research assistants learn to use advanced equipment, software and techniques in high demand by employers. • Diversify your professional skills. • It will give you a significant advantage when applying later for graduate school or for research-oriented positions in industry.
How does it work? 1. Find supervisor: All undergraduate research projects require a faculty supervisor. Start by identifying professors who conduct research that you find interesting — use the links on our undergraduate research page: 2. Contact supervisor: Talk to these faculty members about your interest in research under their supervision, e.g., after class or during office hours, or email them to express your interest in undergraduate research and to find out if they have funding and time to supervise you (attach your transcript). 3. Funding: About half of undergraduate research positions in Smith Engineering are allocated through the NSERC USRA1 and Queen’s USSRF2 programs, but many professors also have funding for undergraduate research positions at other times of the year. Department
USRA/USSRF deadline
Mathematics and Statistics
22-Jan
Civil Engineering
9-Feb
Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy
9-Feb
Mechanical and Materials Engineering
15-Feb
Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering
15-Feb
Chemical Engineering
16-Feb
Electrical and Computer Engineering
19-Feb
Robert M Buchan Department of Mining
26-Feb
1
Undergraduate Student Research Awards
Also check the undergraduate research page for additional funding programs.
2
Undergraduate Student Summer Research Fellowships
Questions? Feel free to email Vera (vmk@queensu.ca).
DOWNTOWN KINGSTON