O'Brien Centre Summer Studentships (OCSS)

The O’Brien Centre Summer Studentships are meant to encourage students to undertake an experiential opportunity in a health research setting at the University of Calgary.

Terms of Reference

Any registered BHSc student in good academic standing is eligible to apply. Student are not eligible prior to the start of their program. Graduating students may apply for funding but may be given lower priority when funding is limited.

Awardees may only hold one summer studentship award per year. Students holding an OCSS award may not hold an award from any other summer studentship programs at the same time.

Awardees are expected to commit the majority of their time to their research project. In general, this would not permit students to undertake more than one course during the Spring/Summer terms (and may preclude registration in lab-based courses). Any coursework must have the approval of the supervisor. Students should discuss their intentions with their supervisors as early as reasonable.

The award may be held for a minimum of 2 months, and a maximum of 4 months during the period of May to August.

Eligible supervisors must hold a full-time faculty appointment (FTE or clinical) with the University of Calgary, possess a record of productive health-oriented research and have sufficient resources to support the research conducted by the student. The supervisor must be prepared to provide direct and continuous supervision and mentorship during the term of the award.

A supervisor may sponsor no more than 2 summer students per year through the consolidated summer research application portal.

Students will be awarded a stipend of $1,875 per month for the requested duration of the award.

Further details regarding payment of awards will be made available to successful applicants and their supervisors upon notification of award.

Applications for OCSS awards are made through the University of Calgary consolidated summer studentship application portal by the dates established annually, but commonly in early February.

Each application submitted through the consolidated application portal will be reviewed independently by several faculty reviewers to derive a composite score and rank.

Students and supervisors will be notified of the outcome by email. As there can be several rounds of offers, the timing of emails may differ among students.

All O’Brien Centre Summer Studentship awardees will be required to submit a poster in electronic format to Jennifer Logan by August 30th in the year of the award.

The poster must be submitted in pdf format. The poster should be 3' x 4' in either landscape or portrait orientation and the font size should not be smaller than 20pt. Posters should be e-mailed to Jennifer Logan at jljlogan@ucalgary.ca.

Awardees will be expected to apply to present their research findings at the annual BHSc Research Symposium. Presenters will be chosen by the organizing committee.

If the proposed research program involves human subjects, patient data, animals and/or biohazardous material, or other controlled data sources, it is the responsibility of the supervisor to ensure that the research has received the approval of the appropriate Institutional Ethics, Animal Care or Biohazards Review Committee, or similar.

Summer students must adhere to all University of Calgary regulations as they pertain to health and safety training, travel, and workplace safety, among others. For more information, visit the University of Calgary Risk Management website (https://www.ucalgary.ca/risk).

Students are required to register in RVST 598 for the duration of their summer research activities.


Undergraduate Summer Studentship Funding - 2024

A single application will be used for Alberta InnovatesPUREAlberta Children's Hospital Research InstituteLibin Cardiovascular Health Research Award, Diane Laflamme-McCauley Award for Cancer Research, Biomedical Engineering (BME), McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health, Alberta Cancer Foundation Summer Studentships, Brain CREATE, and the O'Brien Centre Summer Studentships

Deadlines

Award eligibility is automatically determined at application, based on your qualifications.  Applicants will be considered for all awards for which they meet the criteria; however, only ONE (1) offer of award will be made to successful applicants.

 


Recipients of the OCSS award are required to provide a research poster highlighting their research project (due to the BHSc office no later than August 31, 2024). 

The poster must be compiled in PowerPoint, be 3'x4' in either landscape or portrait setting and the font size should not be smaller than 24pt. Please be sure to acknowledge the support of your OCSS award by including a BHSc logo (provided to all recipients during the summer) on your poster. It is strongly recommended that students use the official University of Calgary poster template for preparing their poster.  

Posters should be e-mailed to Jennifer Logan. 

OCSS

Undergraduate Studentship Payments

Process for requesting undergraduate student payments (awards, studentships, and stipends)

Click here