NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Assistantships (USRA) for the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences (IKBSAS)
Objectives
The objectives of the Undergraduate Student Research Assistantship (USRA) program are:
- to stimulate interest amongst undergraduates in research in the natural sciences and engineering and
- to encourage students to pursue graduate studies and then a research career in these fields.
http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Students-Etudiants/UG-PC/USRA-BRPC_eng.asp
This document clarifies application and adjudication procedures for these awards within the IKBSAS. This policy puts the benefit to IKBSAS students with aptitude in research in NSERC-funded areas as the highest priority. Benefit to supervisors of these students is secondary.
This procedure document will be available on the UBC O Barber School Research website, and in hard copy from the UBC Okanagan Career Services office and the Assistant to the Associate Dean, Research of the IKBSAS.
Eligibility
Students must have completed all the course requirements of at least the first year of university study with a cumulative average of at least 83 ( A- at UBC) on all courses taken, and must be full-time students according to the UBC Vancouver definition (registered in 4 courses) at the time of the application.
Students can apply to work with any tenured or tenure-track Barber School faculty member who holds an NSERC grant of any kind, or who applied for an NSERC Discovery Grant in the previous November and is awaiting results of the competition.
Students may hold only one NSERC-USRA Award during their undergraduate program at UBC Okanagan.
Application procedure
Students wishing to apply must contact a faculty member who agrees to supervise them. Students should select their potential supervisor carefully because they will not be allowed to change supervisors once awarded the USRA. If the faculty member is not currently funded by NSERC but has applied for a Discovery Grant in the current competition, then the student must also submit a letter from a faculty member who would be willing to supervise the student should the student’s first choice supervisor fail to be awarded a Discovery Grant.
NSERCHoldersapplicants2011rev3
Faculty members can support the applications of several students. However, a faculty member must support applications from only the number of students that he/she can afford to hire. By supporting the application, the faculty member is committing to hiring the student for at least 16 weeks and topping up the salary should the student be awarded a USRA. Faculty members will not be allowed to pick and choose amongst successful applicants.
The student is responsible for accessing and completing Part I of Form 202, available on the NSERC website (http://www.nserc.ca/forms/pdf/F202-1_e.pdf), and for submitting official transcripts.
* Please note: unofficial UBC/UBCO transcripts will be accepted with the application; successful students will need to submit UBC/UBCO transcripts later.
OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTS ARE REQUIRED WITH THE APPLICATION from all other universities.
The student must then forward Part I, his/her registration number, and the transcripts to the proposed supervisor, who will complete Part II of Form 202.
For completing the forms, go to NSERC Online Services to register and create your login. You will be guided to have your Form 202 (Part 1) created and the NSERC online system will give you a reference number that you send to your supervisor for completing Form 202 (Part 2).
In addition, the IKBSAS requires:
- a 250-word statement from the student describing how the USRA would benefit their career and their interest in research to be signed off by the potential supervisor
- the potential supervisor will provide a separate reference letter clearly outlining the project and its goals, the role of the student in the project and the academic and research potential of the student in addition to completing Part II of Form 202.
- No other reference letters will be required.
What is the difference between NSERC-USRA and Barber School URA
The student submits the complete application package to the supporting secretary by the published deadline.
Deadlines
The IKBSAS will accept USRA applications once per year, for work during the summer term. The submission deadline will be in late January or February and will be displayed on posters and emailed to faculty and Heads.
2012 NSERC-USRA competition deadline:
Monday, February 6, 2012, 4:30pm, UNC325
Career Services, Deanna Simmons, University Centre, UNC 325
http://www.ubc.ca/okanagan/students/careers/services/jobs/nserc.html
Selection Committee
The selection committee will include one faculty member from each NSERC-supported Barber School discipline and Human Kinetics. Selection procedures for these representatives will be decided upon by each Unit. Names of representatives will be forwarded to the Associate Dean, Research, by the Heads by January 15th each year. Each representative will serve a two-year term, with half of the committee turning over each year. The Associate Dean, Research or designate will chair the committee.
Role of the chair
The chair will ensure that all applicants meet NSERC’s criteria, chair meetings of the committee, prepare the spreadsheet of scores, and cast the deciding vote in the case of ties. Otherwise, the chair will not vote. The chair will then provide the list of final rankings to the supporting secretary. In the case of conflict-of-interest(s) involving the chair, the chair will leave the room and the meeting will be run by a designated substitute chair appointed from the committee.
Role of supporting secretary
The supporting secretary will receive the applications, check that the application packages are complete, make appropriate numbers of copies, and distribute them to committee members. In order that students who have transferred to UBC O are not disadvantaged, the secretary will work with the registrar’s office to convert marks from other institutions to percentage marks. The supporting secretary will inform students and their supervisors, by email, of the outcome of the evaluation of their applications.
Evaluation procedure
Applications will be screened initially by each discipline or Barber School Unit before being forwarded to the Committee for review.
Each member of the committee will evaluate all applications except those for which s/he has a conflict of interest. A committee member is in conflict with any application from a student who proposes to work with him/her or to work on a project on which the committee member is a collaborator.
Applications will be distributed to committee members at least 7 days prior to the selection meeting.
Each committee member will apply the two selection criteria: academic record and research aptitude.
Scores must be based solely on materials in the application package; committee members must not provide or consider additional information on applicants because this would disadvantage any applicants who are not known by the committee members.
Preference will be given to upper level students, but outstanding 2nd year students will be considered.
Meetings
There will be a preliminary meeting prior to the distribution of the applications. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the procedures for scoring the applications. There will be no discussion of the merit of individual applications at this meeting; however, there will be a general discussion about how to evaluate applicants from different programs. Once distributed, all application packages will be considered confidential.
A second meeting will be held within two weeks of the application deadline. The chair will distribute the compiled list of rankings showing the mean and standard deviation of all rankings. Discussions at this meeting will be limited to slight adjustments to the order of the ranking. In particular, applications with high standard deviations will be discussed, with the opportunity for reviewers with outlying scores to change them. The role of representatives from disciplines is to clarify any discipline-specific points of discussion, not to act as advocates for students in that discipline. Committee members will leave the room during discussion of an application for which they have a conflict of interest. A vote will be taken to approve the final ranking. The chair will not vote except to break ties. Any discussion of individual applications is confidential.
The committee will vote to confirm the list of aboriginal applicants/awardees.
Announcement of results
Results will be announced no later than the beginning of March. Then the supporting secretary will contact all students and supervisors by email with the results of the competition. Except under exceptional circumstances, students awarded a USRA will not be allowed to change supervisors from the one listed on their application. If any student chooses to not accept a USRA, then the next student in the ranking will be offered the award. Students may not hold both a USRA and a Barber School Undergraduate Research Award at the same time. If a student is awarded both, s/he will be allowed to choose between them without penalty once the results of both competitions are announced.
If a supervisor who was not funded at the time of the competition was not successful in receiving a Discovery Grant, then the back-up supervisor and the student will be informed that the back-up supervisor will supervise the student.
Procedure approved by IKBSAS Faculty Council Feb 19, 2007; revisions December 2009; revisions December 2010; December 2011
Last reviewed 
3/12/2012 3:31:56 PM
