Undergraduate Opportunities

Are you a highly motivated and enthusiastic undergraduate student looking for research opportunities within a dynamic laboratory? Join us!

Undergraduate students can apply to do research within the TCNLab as one of the following:

Undergraduate final year thesis (priority given to Physiology & Pharmacology)
Summer internship and funding opportunities (NSERC USRA, BrainsCAN Diversity, USRI, etc.)
Work-study student
Volunteer

To apply to the TCNLab, please review our on-going research topics conducted by project sponsors. The project sponsor is either a graduate student, post-doctoral researcher, or research associate. The project sponsor will be responsible for the day-to-day supervision and research training of the undergraduate student in the lab. If you find a project particularly interesting, please contact the project sponsor, and attach your CV as well as current transcripts. You can find out more about your project sponsor and their on-going research by clicking on their profiles here.

Requirements

To apply, please fill out our application form. Applications are reviewed by potential lab sponsors throughout the year, depending on their project needs. Lab members will be provided with all applications and will reach out to individual applicants for more details including a current copy of their CV and (unofficial) transcripts.

Please note:
PhysPharm students will receive a project description and will go through their program matching process.
Neuro students are encouraged to make their intention to complete their thesis by the end of June prior to September start.

E-mailing Lab Sponsors: Tips to Stand Out!

Please note that many enthusiastic undergraduate students are interested in joining the TCNLab, and that lab sponsors receive numerous requests to join their research projects. While we appreciate your interest, we cannot accommodate all applications. This section is to help you carefully craft an e-mail that will hopefully set you apart from the rest!

Tips:

Keep your e-mail succinct. Remember that all lab sponsors are busy and receive numerous e-mails. Your e-mail should be no more than 10 sentences.
Be specific. What is it that specifically that interests you in the project? What do you hope to learn? What excites you about the project?
Your goals! How will participating in this specific research project help you achieve your personal or career goals?
Previous Experience. Do you have any previous experience or certifications that are relevant or makes you stand out?
Avoid! Do not write a generic e-mail and send to each project sponsor. While we know that several of our projects are likely interesting to you, please tailor each e-mail. Generic ones are noticeable and lab sponsors all talk to one another.
The bottom line. If you cannot convey to a project sponsor why you want to work with them, your application likely won’t be successful. While your participation in research helps further a sponsor’s research project, the sponsor is also investing their time and energy in training you! They will want to make sure they are investing their time in a student who cares about their research project.

Funding Opportunities

First of all, we highly encourage our students to take all funding opportunities available to them as it helps build your CV and gives you financial compensation for your time in the lab. However, please note that most of the current and potential undergraduate lab members plan to apply for funding each year. For some funding opportunities, the lab can only put forward one applicant per principal investigator (PI). For the TCNLab, this means a maximum of two applicants: one for Tim Bussey and one for Lisa Saksida. Therefore, applying for funding is highly competitive and we are proud to have several successful applicants in our lab each year!

If you are a current lab member, please let your lab sponsor know ASAP that you are interested in applying for funding, and plan on getting your application package finished no less than two weeks prior to the funding deadline.

If you are not currently a member of the lab, please start reaching out to lab sponsors a minimum of two months prior to the funding deadline. It will take time for you to match with a lab sponsor and create an application. Remember that all lab members a extremely busy. In order for lab sponsors to be able to help you with your application and give their best possible feedback, it is essential that you begin early.

Please send the lab manager an email during the last week in November expressing which funding you are interested in apply for, ensuring that you have reviewed the eligibility criteria for each funding source. Students are then considered based on several factors including enthusiasm, future goals, academic year, etc., and are then selected to represent the lab by applying for a particular funding opportunity.

Links to Funding Resources:

What Will I Learn?

Working in a laboratory setting is an enriching experience. The following are some of the skills that you may learn, or further develop:

Background knowledge on your topic: scientific theory and literature.
Animal husbandry (Care & Wellness)
Cognitive behavioural testing: How do we assess cognition in rodents?
Collecting data: Extracting automated data (e.g., touchscreen, AnyMaze), handscoring behaviors, recording and playing video files.
Analyzing data: Statistics and graphing tools as well as online databases (MouseBytes.ca).
Use of touchscreen and/or neurotechnology: Genetic mouse models, optogenics, chemogenics, and fiber photometry.
Wet lab skills: Immunohistochemistry, tissue collection, and genotyping.
Pathology: Use of microscope and software for cell count analysis, etc.
Working collaboratively!
Presenting research in lab meetings and/or journal club.

Undergraduate

Graduate

Post-Doctoral