Five new courses will give hundreds of undergraduate students an early introduction to research in the Faculty of Science.
The pass/fail credit courses developed by the faculty's Office of Undergraduate Research in Science will be available as of May.
The Faculty of Science has always worked to get undergraduate students involved in research, says Acting Dean Gianni Parise.
"Our students don't have to wait until graduate school to get into labs, out into the field and do actual research alongside our faculty, postdocs and grad students," Parise said."It's why so many science students chose to come to McMaster."
"With these new courses, students will be welcomed into our research community as early as the first term of their first year."
The new courses will give students the skills, experience, confidence and connections to join research groups and excel in third-year research project courses and the fourth-year senior thesis, Parise said.
"These new courses put students on a path where they can turn their interest in research into a lifelong passion that leads to pretty remarkable careers."
A game changer for undergrads
Parise travelled that path himself in the third year of his undergraduate studies in McMaster's department of Kinesiology.
Like many of his peers in science, he planned to go to medical school, he told a packed audience of undergraduates at the faculty's undergraduate research symposium.
But that was before he joined a research group.
"It was complete serendipity."
Parise went on to earn a Master's degree, then a PhD in exercise physiology, becoming a leading expert on the potential age-related impairment of muscle stem cells. He served as chair of the department, associate dean of the faculty, and acting deputy vice-president of Research for the university.
"All of that happened because I joined a research group in my third year of undergrad," he said.
"That experience transformed my life. We want as many students as possible to have similar opportunities."
Unique support for a new generation of change makers
The OUR, the first office of its kind at McMaster, is unique among science faculties at Canadian universities, comprising a team of faculty and staff connecting undergrads with research opportunities on- and off-campus.
These include a graduate student shadowing program, workshops, forums and colloquia, as well as one-on-one advising. It was launched in 2023 with the support of a grant from the Office of the Provost's Strategic Alignment Fund.
Last year, 430 students applied for 27 OUR Summer Research Experiences in McMaster labs, and 149 students applied for the grad student shadowing program.
"Research is how I have fun and I've been doing it for more than 30 years," Provost and Vice-president (Academic) Susan Tighe told the next generation of researchers at the symposium, where she delivered a guest lecture.
"Be curious," advised Tighe, an award-winning engineer and leading researcher on sustainable infrastructure. "Look at the world and ask, How could we do things better and how can I make a difference?'
"Research is driven by the desire to continually ask questions and search for answers."
These are the five new courses offered by the Office of Undergraduate Research in the Faculty of Science
- Science Seminar Course (Science 1SA1 AB) - students will attend six research seminars or colloquia offered by departments and schools in the Faculty of Science over the course of the academic year.
- Science Research Volunteers (Science 1SB1 AB) - students will volunteer for 20 hours during the academic year in a research area of a McMaster professor.
- Graduate Student Shadowing (Science 1SC1) - students in Level 1 Gateway programs will be mentored by a graduate student doing research for 12 hours in the fall, winter or intersession.
- Scientific Research Skills Workshop (Science 2SA1, 2SB1, 2SC1) - Students will get 12 hours of hands-on experiential learning, including workshops offered by departments and schools.
- Scientific Group Workshop (Science 2SG1) - Groups of five students will spend 12 hours working on a hands-on experiential research project under the supervision of a professor.
