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FAQ

What CGPA does a student need?

3.00/4.00 - no exceptions

How do I select a student(s) to work in my lab?

  • Academic record,
  • Research aptitude, and
  • Expected quality of the training to be received
    For those students that are selected to receive an NSERC-USRA, Form 202 has been updated to include a section titled “Expected Quality of the Training to be Received”.

I hold an NSERC grant. Can I guarantee that my student will receive an NSERC-USRA?

No, since NSERC-USRA is based on CGPA and students must be either a Canadian or Permanent Resident.

I do not have an active NSERC grant.

Supervisors do NOT need to hold an active grant; however, they must be authorized to independently supervise students.

  • At ƻԺ this means a proposed supervisor must have held, currently holds, or has applied for an Eligible NSERC GRANT.
  • As always they must ensure that their research project be in the natural sciences or engineering fields and is therefore supported by NSERC.
  • Details and general guidelines for the eligibility of subject matter can be found at and has been updated to provide greater clarity in determining the eligibility of applicants’ proposed research. As an additional reference, an contains examples of eligible and ineligible research
  • A valid grant number is not required, but supervisors will still need to fill in a six-digit number for the form to be valid. (simply use 123456)

Should students apply directly to NSERC?

No, as the SURE awards and NSERC USRAs will be administered by the Faculty through the ƻԺ Engineering Student Centre. There will only be one internal application process for both programs as the selection of the NSERC USRAs and other SURE awards are conducted together as a single competition.

Can I hire a Year 0 student?

U0 students at the time of the application deadline are not eligible to apply for the SURE award or the NSERC USRAs. However, professors are welcome to recruit U0 students outside of the SURE program.

How many positions can I offer?

Professors are limited to a maximum of 5 positions (the Faculty may limit the number of positions awarded per supervisor.). If a student qualifies for more than one project, it is assumed that they wish to work on all projects equally and thus may be placed in a select project at random. Therefore, should the supervisor and student agree to work together, the supervisor should rank only one student and the student should apply to only one project.

How many applications can a student submit?

Students can submit 3 applications.  

Is SURE a full-time or part-time program?

SURE positions are full-time positions (minimum 35 hours, maximum 40 hours per week) for the entire 16 weeks, e.g., SURE participants should not be registered for any summer courses.  

Can a student ask for vacation?

A vacation request may be accommodated if not in conflict with any SURE events and if the student will make up for the missed time. Students’ research schedule should be completed during reasonable working hours each week.

Can I hire a non-ƻԺ student?

Yes, you can as long as they meet the SURE Program requirements.  Please note that students must have a Canadian Bank account to be eligible for SURE.   

I would like to hire an International student.

International students are required to have: 

  • A work authorization.
  • A Canadian Bank account to be eligible for SURE.
  • Non-ƻԺ students studying at another university who are accepted to the program will have to submit transcripts, and submit a to ugrt-info.engineering [at] mcgill.ca
  • Non-ƻԺ International students may need additional visas and other documentation; please consult the
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