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Research Opportunities

UBC Chemistry Undergraduate Summer Research Awards

The Department of Chemistry is pleased to offer summer research opportunities for outstanding undergraduate students. These awards are meant to stimulate interest in research in chemistry, and to provide opportunities to gain research experience in an academic setting. Two types of awards are available, USRA and SURS, with differing eligibility and application procedures.  The normal duration of these awards is 16 consecutive weeks with students working at UBC from the end of April or the beginning of May until approximately the end of August. Projects in all areas of chemical research are available. Applicants are encouraged to browse the Departmental website, particularly under the "Research" and "Faculty" links, to familiarize themselves with the breadth of research opportunities available. Students are also encouraged to contact specific faculty members whose research may be of particular interest, and inquire about appropriate summer projects.

For more information about deadlines, eligibility, and application procedures please click here.

Pfizer Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF) in Synthetic Organic Chemistry

Application Deadline has past for Summer 2011

The Pfizer Global Research & Development division of Pfizer Inc sponsors summer research fellowships for undergraduate chemistry majors. Each award provides $5,000 with a minimum of $3,500 to go directly to the student in support of full-time summer research. Up to $1,500 may go to the academic department to provide supplies and equipment for the research project. Fellowship recipients spend the summer between their junior and senior years working on their own campus with a faculty mentor. Students must have obtained at least an 80% average in the past two years. The culmination of the program is a visit to a PGRD research site by the recipients and their mentors in the fall for an award ceremony, and to report on the results of their independent research projects in a poster session.

Inorganic Chemistry Exchange (ICE)

Contact Person: Prof Laurel Schafer
Application Deadline for Summer 2014 is November 1, 2013
Application Forms are available from the ICE Website:  http://web.uvic.ca/~lisarose/ice_student_info.html

Applications must be submitted electronically to Dr. Laurel Schafer at  .

ICE is a summer student exchange program for undergraduate students in chemistry, who will have completed the equivalent of two or three full years of study as of the end of the school year in which they apply. Successful applicants will be awarded summer employment in the research group of an ICE group member at one of the participating institutions (not their own), and a small travel allowance. The ICE Network is a collection of scientists at eleven institutions in Canada, whose research embraces the study of inorganic chemistry. The research interests of the individuals in the group vary substantially: there's a whole periodic table out there! All group members are committed to providing dedicated undergraduate students with opportunities to carry out original research and gain hands-on experience in the use of modern synthetic and instrumental techniques for the study of inorganic materials and reactions. At the end of the summer, all ICE scholars and their advisors get together for a two day conference that focuses on both science and social activities. 

Reactive Intermediates Student Exchange (RISE)

Contact Person:  Prof Pierre Kennepohl
Application Deadline for 2014 is 5pm on November 14, 2013

Full application package includes:
1. RISE Application Form

2. A copy of your current academic transcript (an unofficial transcript is fine);

3. A letter of reference
Submit to: Prof Pierre Kennepohl by e-mail: 

The Reactive Intermediates Student Exchange (RISE) is Canada`s largest summer research exchange program in the chemical sciences. It affords summer research scholarships to undergraduate students who will have completed the equivalent of two or three full years of study toward a BSc degree in Chemistry, Chemical Biology, or Biochemistry as of May, 2011. Every year, usually one qualified candidate from the host universities are awarded RISE Scholarships, which provides them with employment as a summer research assistant in the laboratory of a RISE participant at another institution. A highlight of the program is the annual RISE Conference held at the end of each summer, where the RISE Scholars gather with their supervisors at one of the host institutions to present their summer research. In the summer of 2011 the conference will be held in Regina, hosted jointly by the Universities of Regina and Saskatchewan. [www.risecanada.ca]