Two mechanisms organize our undergraduate research program: independent research courses (mostly from September-April), and a small number of scholarships for full-time summer research. Last year we developed the CSB Summer Research Awards to increase the capacity of our faculty to mentor undergraduate researchers. This represents a major initiative in the department that we intend to grow in the near future with funding from various sources, as well as through alumni donations.
If you would like to support these programs, we would be very grateful if you would donate by following this link: https://donate.utoronto.ca/csb.
Independent undergraduate research positions are available in >30 faculty research labs. This authentic research experience exposes students to demands of a knowledge-economy work place, such as applying cutting-edge techniques and equipment; synthesizing and critically analyzing data; collaborating with peers and teams; and reporting on research findings through oral and written communication.
Students who complete a fourth year research project can compete in our poster competition at the end of the school year; the best presenters (shown here) receive the F Michael Barrett Award. The award is named for Michael Barrett, a professor (now retired) who taught over 500 undergraduate students per year and administered some of our larger courses with great care and concern for our students.
Among U of T departments composed of bio-molecular research laboratories, CSB teaches the largest number of undergraduates. CSB has made significant strides toward enriching the undergraduate experience. We now have a suite of major and specialist programs with a strong focus on cell and molecular biology, genomics, and bioinformatics. In the last couple of years we developed disciplinary focuses for high-achieving students with interest in one of three major areas of cell and molecular biology that match major research topics in CSB.
Focus students are required to complete a subset of program courses, and will also be required to participate in a learning community for the focus. The learning community provides community-building, professional development and enriched academics for focus students. The focuses and learning communities are designed to enhance the educational objectives of our current programs and we will be exploring the possibility of adding new focuses in the future.