uOttawa Summer School

uOttawa Summer School brings together advanced undergraduate (3rd and 4th years) and early master students in mathematics, life sciences, physics, computer sciences and chemistry enrolled in Canadian universities.
 
The objective is to expose students to a wide variety of scientific ideas in biology, physics, AI, mathematics and chemistry, highlighting topics that are not traditionally taught in undergraduate programs across Canada. The selected students will have the opportunity to learn new concepts, techniques, and ideas.
 
The summer school attendees will have the chance to meet fellow students from all over Canada and abroad. They will be have the opportunity to network with many uOttawa professors and graduate students, discovering more about their research and experience the life of a graduate student.

School Structure:

This scientific program is highly interdisciplinary: all courses lie at the interface of two or more disciplines and are led by a team of professors affiliated to different departments from the Faculty of Science of the University of Ottawa.

These are advanced mini-courses with duration of about 10 hours. They may require more engagement and homework than traditional undergraduate courses. For that reason, we encourage students to register in and complete two (maximum three) mini-courses from the list below:

• Genome Sequencing Technologies (Lecturer: Gilda Stefanelli, Biology)
• Reduced Models for Uncertainty Quantification (Lecturers: Diane Guignard, Math & Ionut-Gabriel Faras, UT Austin)
• Quantum Cryptography and Quantum Computing (Lecturers: Artur Mehta, Math & TBD)
• Ultrafast Molecular Dynamics (Lecturer: Michael Schuurman, Chemistry)
• A Protein Time Machine: Science Fiction Becomes Science Reality (Lecturers: F-X Campbell-Valois, CBS & TBD)
• Artificial Intelligence for Sciences (Lecturers: Francesco Gentile, CBS & Augusto Gerolin, Math, Physics & CBS)

In addition to the mini-courses, the following activities will take place during the afternoons of the Summer School:

Short talks: Keynote speakers will give short-talks on their research at the University of Ottawa. Possible topics include Artificial Intelligence and Ethics, Inclusive Innovation or Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. This will involve uOttawa Professor across different Faculties (e.g., Arts, Medicine, Telfer School of Management, Law and Engineering).

Information sessions and Graduate student life: One of the goals of the summer school is to motivate students to pursue their career in scientific disciplines and, in particular, to perform research. We thus plan to host information sessions about research funding opportunities for undergraduate and master students. Students attend the school will be in contact with graduate students in STEM.

Lab visits: Several activities will be organized in the afternoons and over the weekend. The aim of these activities is to foster interaction and collaboration between the students attending the summer school, as well as to give them a glimpse of the life of the Faculty of Science at the University of Ottawa. Potential activities include a trip to Gatineau park, a tour of Faculty of Science labs, a discussion with professors, a poster session with our graduate students, etc.
 

Application Procedure:

The application period will starts on February 15th 2024 and ends in March 31st 2024.

Students from PIMS member universities who are interested in attending the Summer School should apply by completing the application form, and paying the application fee ($25 CAD) using the link provided on the form. No refund will be provided for the application fee. A registration fee of 300 Canadian dollars will be charged to all accepted applicants; these fees are intended to cover the lunches and coffee breaks over the 10 days of the Summer School.

Selected students from outside Ottawa area will receive a scholarship covering travel and accommodation expenses. Students facing exceptional financial burden are encouraged to request application and registration fee exemption by writing to the organizing committee (summerschool@uottawa.ca). The application package must include an academic transcript and, if possible, a letter of recommendation written by a professor.

The selection committee will meet in April 2024 and the selected students will be notified via e-mail by the third week of April 2024 at the latest. Any 3rd or 4rd year undergraduate student as well as master students are warmly encourage to apply.

We recognize that despite the diversity of scientific communities and geographic provenance of the researchers that are part of this program, more needs to be done. The Summer School will thus enthusiastically encourages participation from every possible direction in this respect, most notably from groups that are not yet well represented in STEM areas.

The selection committee are committed to select students reflecting Canadian diversity. For more information and general inquires please write to summerschool@uottawa.ca