Undergraduate Research

Undergraduate Computer Science students are encouraged to become involved in research. The four major opportunities are as follows:

Undergraduate Student Research Awards:

Undergraduate students with first- or second-class averages in their Computer Science can apply for a one semester, full-time paid position as a resarch assistant in a faculty member's research program. To have a "first-class average", you need to have a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of at least 80%, and have a "second-class average," you need at least 70%. For details on calculating your CGPA see the University of Regina website on Awards / Scholarships / Average / Averages / GPA.

This program is primarily funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the federal government's main way of funding academic research in science and engineering. For details, see the NSERC-CRSNG website and search for the USRA program. Additional funding for the USRA program is provided by the University of Regina Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research (FGSR) and faculty member research grant funds.

Students interested in the program should contact the Honours Coordinator or the Program Coordinator, or else directly contact faculty members based on the research areas of the faculty members. The competitive application process requires transcripts of marks, letters of recommendation, and writing a description of a research project. The deadline to apply for an USRA award for any of the following spring/summer, fall, or winter (a year later) terms is typically the end of January.

General information about a previous competition was given by FGSR here. Contact Grad.Funding@uregina.ca for equivalent information about the next competition.

Honours Seminars:

Undergraduate students in the Honours program (see Undergrad Program / Honours Program) present seminars on topics of interest in Computer Science. Students are welcome to perform original research in prepartion for such seminars. For more information, please contact the Honours Coordinator or the Program Coordinator, or else directly contact a faculty member based on the research areas of faculty members.

Directed Reading Courses:

Undergraduate students with an interest in research sometimes take directed reading courses, typically numbered 49x but occasionally numbered 39x or 29x. These courses are usually offered to students in the Honours program (see Undergrad Program / Honours Program). Since these courses require extra effort from faculty members, they are only available in case where a willing faculty member can be identified.

Participate in Research via the Participant Pool:

Undergraduate students are eligible to directly participate in research related to the concepts they study in Computer Science. Typically, students act as experimental subjects in experiments conducted by researchers at the University of Regina. Students receive bonus marks for eligible courses that they are taking. For more information, see the Research / Participant Pool section of the website.