Program Description
Conducting research is an important part of Graduate Studies. In order to provide undergraduate students who are interested in graduate studies with relevant training, this program provides an opportunity to work on a project with a clear research goal, under the supervision of a professor who is active at the forefront of their field of physics. It is an excellent introduction to research in physics, and gives undergraduates the opportunity to interact directly with professors, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows. This activity is supplemented by the summer student research seminar series, a weekly series of talks by faculty members about their latest research. If you are interested in pursuing graduate studies in physics at U of T, you should seriously consider making application to this program. Applicants must be registered in a university program, have completed at least 5 credits, and must be currently eligible to work in Canada.
Positions Available
The number of positions available will vary from year to year. They normally run for 16 weeks, but some flexibility may be possible in some cases. The student will be provided a stipend in the total amount of $10,000 paid in monthly installments of $2,500 over 4 months.
Application Procedures
Each applicant must submit to: reception@physics.utoronto.ca an electronic copy of the following documents by March 14, 2025.
- An up-to-date (i.e. including Fall session grades) transcript of your university records
- A brief (one page) description of your interests and goals in physics.
Each application package must be submitted electronically as a single PDF, assembled in the above listed order. Reference letters are not required.
Students with offers of award will be asked to submit their official transcripts.
Application Deadline
The deadline for applications is March 14, 2025. Late applications will be assessed if there are vacant spaces available.
Selection Process
Shortly after the application deadline, applicants will be put on a list in order of strength of application. The transcripts and description of interests will have equal weight. The top students on the list will be contacted, and provided an opportunity to select a position from the list of available positions based on their priorities for research and the supervisor(s) with whom they would like to work. Successful applicants are free to get in touch with individual professors to discuss their research in more detail. Once a position is selected, the name of the student will be posted to the list of available positions, so that other students will know that a position has been filled. Once the first set of students have been accommodated, a new set will be selected, and the process repeated. Since it takes a while to work through this process, some applicants may not hear from the Department for some time until a vacancy occurs and they are next on the list for an offer. If you do not hear from us by May 1, all of the positions have been filled, and your application has been declined for 2025.
If you are unsuccessful, some professors may be interested in hiring summer students outside of this program. These positions will be posted on the Department’s Employment Opportunities page.
For general information on the Physics Department at the University of Toronto, students are encouraged to consult our main departmental webpage.