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Summer Employment for Undergraduate Students  
 


Undergraduate Awards
Summer Employment

 

 

A significant number of summer employment opportunities for undergraduate students exist in the Department of Chemistry. Whether you are interested in graduate studies and would like to experience the world of scientific research before making a decision, or are just looking for a summer job, it is important that you plan ahead. Here are some different types of opportunities available and application deadline information.  

Application Deadlines are usually early in the Winter Term. 

Check this page often as information and application deadlines will be updated.

 

Summer 2013

 

Internal Opportunities

 

 

Click here for Casual hiring information

 

Name:  NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Awards (USRA)

Location of Tenure: Department of Chemistry, Queen's

Application deadline:  Friday, February 15, 2013

Application forms available at: http://www.nserc.ca/forms/formtable2_e.htm

Application form submitted to:  Main office, Dept. of Chemistry

Full award details at:  http://www.chem.queensu.ca/UG/NSERC.asp

 

Comments:  Every year, the Department of Chemistry is awarded  15-20 NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Awards (USRA). These awards allow undergraduate students to spend the summer (May 1st - August 31st) doing research in the Department of Chemistry under the supervision of a faculty member. Students must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada, and must be sponsored by a faculty member to apply for an award.

 

A typical application begins with the applicant (student) contacting faculty members whose research is of interest.  If the faculty member is amenable, the applicant and faculty member agree on a research project, and this forms part of the proposal.  The application form is available from the link provided above.  Internal applicants do not need to submit an official transcript.

 

NSERC USRAs are nationally sponsored awards.  As such, applicants can apply to complete summer work at other universities.  Applications from other institutions are welcome!

 

Poster
 
Name:  Summer Work Experience Program

Location of Tenure: Queen's

Application deadline:  TBA

Application forms available at: https://careers.sso.queensu.ca/home.htm

Application form submitted to: 

Full Award details at:  https://careers.sso.queensu.ca/student/services/employmentPrograms/SWEP.htm

 

Comments:  140-150 on-campus summer positions available. There are a number of positions  with the Department of Chemistry.  Please see the Career's website for more details.
 

Name:  NSERC USRA position available with Prof. Loock -Research Assistant (Fiber Optic Chemical Sensors)

Location of Tenure: Prof. Loock's lab, Department of Chemistry, Queen's

Application deadline: 

Application forms available at: http://www.nserc.ca/forms/formtable2_e.htm

Application form submitted to:  Main office, Dept. of Chemistry

Full award details at:  http://www.chem.queensu.ca/UG/NSERC.asp

 

Comments:  Additional information
 
Name:  Summer Work Experience Program with Prof. Stan Brown

Location of Tenure: Prof. Brown's lab, Department of Chemistry Queen's

Application deadline:

Application forms available at: https://careers.sso.queensu.ca/home.htm

Application form submitted to: 

Full Award details at: 

 

Comments:  Position details and applications available at

https://careers.sso.queensu.ca/home.htm
 

Name:  NSERC USRA position available with Prof. Mike Baird

Location of Tenure: Prof. Baird's lab, Department of Chemistry, Queen's

Application deadline: 

Application forms available at: http://www.nserc.ca/forms/formtable2_e.htm

Application form submitted to:  bairdmc@chem.queensu.ca

Full award details at:  http://www.chem.queensu.ca/UG/NSERC.asp

 

Comments:  Professor Mike Baird has a position for an NSERC USRA-eligible third year student. Types of research projects are outlined at http://www.chem.queensu.ca/people/faculty/Baird/index.htm
 

Name:  Six Summer Employment Opportunities Researching Asphalt Materials In Prof. Hesp's Group

Location of Tenure: Prof. Hesp's lab, Department of Chemistry, Queen's

Application deadline: 

Application forms available at:

Application form submitted to: 

Full award details at: 

 

Comments:  Students are required to show lots of energy and a curious mind. Basic skills in chemistry and/or related disciplines at the first and second year undergraduate level are required to obtain valuable work experience during the summer. Students will be supervised through regular informal discussions and weekly or bi-weekly formal meetings with Prof. Hesp and one of his graduate students.
POSITIONS 1-2: Students with background in basic chemistry are encouraged to apply for these positions which will involve the chemical analysis of asphalt cements aged to various degrees under Rolling Thin Film Oven tests and Pressure Aging Vessel tests. Students will have an opportunity to learn about advanced chemical analysis techniques (IR, NMR, Mass Spec, etc.). These positions will also investigate the slow absorption of oils from the asphalt cement into various aggregates.

POSITIONS 3-4: Students with backgrounds in either basic chemistry or material science are encouraged to apply for these positions. The projects will involve the advanced dynamic and static rheological characterization of the aged asphalt cements with instruments such as a dynamic shear rheometer (TA Instruments AR2000ex), nano indenter (CSM Instruments NHT^2), and materials test system (MTS 810).
POSITIONS 5-6: Students with backgrounds in either basic chemistry or material science are encouraged to apply for these positions. The projects will involve the failure characterization of recycled asphalt pavement specimens in a materials test system (MTS 810) with the aid of digital image correlation (DIC) tools. The applicants should be familiar with basic computer methods and programming skills involving Maple and/or Mathlab. 

In recent years summer students in Prof. Hesp lab have been able to present their research at national (Moncton, New Brunswick; Montreal, Quebec) and international conferences (Washington, DC; San Antonio, Texas; Laramie, Wyoming; Lima, Peru).

If interested please contact Prof. Hesp directly by e-mail (simon@chem.queensu.ca) and apply through the SWEP https://careers.sso.queensu.ca/home.htm and NSERC http://www.chem.queensu.ca/UG/NSERC.asp websites.
 
Name:  Chemical Inventory Assistant (2 positions)

Location of Tenure: Department of Environmental Health and Safety, Queen's

Application deadline: 

Application forms available at:

Application form submitted to:  Mary Pople, Environmental Health & Safety

 

Comments: The Department of Environmental Health & Safety is looking to hire two students who are currently enrolled in the chemical engineering, engineering chemistry, or chemistry programs, to conduct a physical chemical inventory of research and teaching laboratories during the summer months.  The applicants must have strong interpersonal skills as well as excellent written and verbal communication skills.  Excellent lab safety skills are required, especially with the safe handling of chemicals.  Basic data entry skills are a requirement. The candidates must be able to work independently.  Current WHMIS certification is a requirement. 

Primary Responsibilities:

-physical inventory confirmation

-apply bar codes and scan into a chemical inventory database

-chemical data entry verification and/or research chemicals that are unknown to the database

-other duties assigned by the Director of Environmental Health & Safety or delegate
 

External Opportunities
Name:  CREATE Training Program in Bionanomachines (CTPB)

Location of Tenure: 22 locations across Canada

Application deadline: 

Application forms available at:

Application form submitted to: 

Full award details at:  http://bionano.ca/en

 

Comments: The NSERC-sponsored CREATE Training Program in Bionanomachines offers research stipends for undergraduate summer research projects who conduct research in one of 22 related laboratories across Canada. Bionanomachines is a young and developing field that aims to understand how biological machines function at the molecular level, and to harness their power for applications in health, chemistry and physics.

 
Name:  Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto

Location of Tenure: Ontario Cancer Institute, Sunnybrook & Women's College Health Sciences Centre and the University of Toronto

Application deadline:  February 6, 2012

Application forms available at: http://medbio.utoronto.ca

Application form submitted to: 

Full award details at: http://medbio.utoronto.ca

 

Comments:
 
Name:  University of Toronto Centre for Global Change Science Summer Internship Programme

Location of Tenure:

Application deadline: 

Application forms available at:

Application form submitted to: 

Full award details at:  CGCS Summer 2012 Poster

 

Comments:

 
Name:  International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience

Location of Tenure:

Application deadline: 

Application forms available at:

Application form submitted to: 

Full award details at: 

 

Comments: http://iaeste.sa.queensu.ca/ 
You must be 3rd year or graduating no later than spring 2012 to participate. Open to students in Applied Science, Sciences or Technical Sciences.
 
Name:  Dalhousie Research in Energy, Advanced Materials and Sustainability (DREAMS)

Location of Tenure: Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Application deadline:  January 25, 2012

Application forms available at: http://dreams.irm.dal.ca/ApplicationUndergraduate.htm

Application form submitted to: 

Full award details at:  DREAMS.irm.dal.ca

 

Comments: 

 
Name:  Reactive Intermediate Student Exchange

Location of Tenure:

Application deadline: 

Application forms available at:

Application form submitted to: 

Full award details at: 

 

Comments:  http://www.risecanada.ca/
 
Name:  Inorganic Chemistry Exchange

Location of Tenure:

Application deadline: 

Application forms available at:

Application form submitted to: 

Full award details at: 

Comments:  http://web.uvic.ca/~lisarose/ICE.html 
 

Name: Summer Research Internships in Germany

Location of Tenure: Germany

Full award details at:  http://www.daad.de/rise/en

Application Deadline:  January 31, 2012

Comments: RISE (Research Internships in Science and Engineering) gives undergraduate students in the fields of biology, chemistry, engineering, geology and physics the chance to spend a summer working with German doctoral students on research projects. To learn more about RISE, visit http://www.daad.de/rise/en or email rise@daad.de

 
Name:  DREAMS (Dalhousie Research in Energy, Advanced Materials and Sustainability) an NSERC CREATE program

Location of Tenure: Dalhousie

Application deadline: 

Application forms available at:

Application form submitted to: 

Full award details at:  DREAMS.irm.dal.ca

Comments: additional information
 
Name:  TRIUMF 2012 Summer Research Award

Location of Tenure:

Application deadline:  January 20, 2012

Application forms available at:

Application form submitted to: 

Full award details at:  http://www.triumf.ca/studentaward

Comments:  http://www.triumf.ca 
 
Name:  IRIC Next Generation Internship Awards

Location of Tenure: Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) of the Université de Montréal

Application deadline:  March 2 2012, at 5 pm

Application forms available at:

Application form submitted to: 

Full award details at:  http://iric.ca/EtudierIRIC/bourses_EN.html

Comments:  This internship award program offers students a unique and enriching opportunity to be part of one of IRIC’s 29 research team working to advance science in the area of cancer research in a variety of complementary disciplines (e.g. systems biology, molecular biology, immunology, biochemistry, bioinformatics). Our interns have the possibility to interact with recognized scientists, to work among graduate students, and to learn from our innovative approach to research and training that strongly encourages collaboration and creativity.