University of Toronto Undergraduate Research Awards: UTEA & USRA

• Registered in a bachelor’s degree program at the time of application and in at least one of the two terms immediately before holding the award:
  • For UTEA: must be registered at the University of Toronto; students registered at other universities are not eligible. 
  • For USRA: may be registered at any university in Canada. 
• Graduating (i.e. 4th year) students may hold an award in the summer term immediately following the completion of their undergraduate program, as long as they have not started a graduate program.
• Must have obtained a cumulative average of B- or higher. Exception letters may be considered.
• May already hold a bachelor’s degree in any discipline and be studying towards a second bachelor’s degree.
• For UTEA: Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or international student with valid visa for the full summer term are eligible.
• For USRA: Canadian citizen or permanent resident. International students are ineligible for USRAs.

Part-time students are eligible for USRA. Part-time students are only eligible for UTEA if they only need a part-time course load in their final term to complete their degree requirements.

Students are ineligible if they:

• Are currently enrolled in an undergraduate professional degree program (e.g., M.D., D.D.S., B.Sc.N.).
  • Exception: does not apply to CIHR USRAs (students in the HLS field and who self-identify as Black)
• Hold higher degrees above Bachelor’s.
• Are currently or have at any time been enrolled in graduate studies.

A faculty member can hold a maximum of two UTEA awards per year.

There is no limit on the number of USRA awards a faculty member can hold.

A supervisor must be:

• A full-time faculty member:
  • For UTEA: whose primary employer is the University of Toronto (i.e. campus-based)
  • For USRA: who holds an academic appointment at the University of Toronto (i.e. campus- or hospital-based)
• A principal investigator (PI) on an active Tri-agency grant or has a pending/recent Tri-agency application at the time of UTEA/USRA application.

A student may only hold one award – either UTEA or USRA – per year and cannot concurrently hold any other equivalent summer research award.

A student may hold a maximum of three awards – any combination of UTEAs or USRAs – throughout their university career with priority given to first-time applicants.