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URO and URSA Applications Open

OVPRI has announced the application process for the 2025 Undergraduate Research Opportunities (URO) and the Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA) programs, both of which are now open. The deadline to apply is Friday March 21 at 4 p.m. 

The URO program offers students a meaningful opportunity to participate in SRC activities and to benefit from working directly with a faculty mentor. Between May - August 2025, the student receives a paid position as an undergraduate Research Assistant working with a faculty member in The Creative School. The program is funded jointly by OVPRI and The Creative School and the total value of each award is $11,725.70

The program also offers the opportunity for projects to be featured during the university-wide URO Fall Showcase.

The USRA program* is administered jointly by Canada’s three research granting agencies: the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The award amount is $6,000 from the Agency plus the supervisor's contribution (top-up) and the duration of the award is 14-16 weeks on a full-time basis. 

*Note: there is no limit of NSERC USRA awards for eligible Black and Indigenous student researchers. TMU has a quota of 1 CIHR USRA and 3 SSHRC USRAs – exclusively for eligible Black student researchers. These will be adjudicated at the university-level.

How to Apply

  1. Students and supervisors connect. Some students may reach out to you about the program, but often we recommend that faculty members reach out directly to students who they consider would be strong candidates.
  2. The faculty member completes the Supervisor Form (external link, opens in new window)  and sends it to the student, for inclusion in their application package.
  3. The student completes the (google form)  Student URO/USRA Application (external link, opens in new window) , including uploading the Supervisor Form.

URO/USRA applications that are missing information or do not include the completed URO/USRA supervisor form will not be considered.

For more information, including eligibility criteria, the adjudication process, and payment information, please access:

For direct inquiries, please also contact Tannisha Lambert (lambert@torontomu.ca (opens in new window) ). To minimize the volume of inquiries, we kindly request that faculty members do not instruct students to contact Tannisha directly about this opportunity.