Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA)

What is an Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA)?

The Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA) are intended to cultivate and support research partnerships between undergraduate students and faculty members. There are 6 awards available to students in the Arts & Science Program, each worth $7,500. This amount is intended to provide for approximately 15 weeks of research-based activity over the summer term. Student award recipients agree to present their research in a poster session in the following academic year.

Why Consider a USRA?

Through an Undergraduate Student Research Award students can obtain meaningful summer employment; explore career opportunities in the research environment; investigate and learn more about an area of interest; gain valuable skills and experience; develop a positive working relationship with a faculty member.

Role of Faculty

It is the responsibility of the student to secure the agreement of a faculty member to supervise the research project. The faculty member may belong to any Faculty at McMaster. In past competitions, students who worked more closely with their proposed faculty supervisor in developing their research project had an increased likelihood of success in securing the award. Please note that the faculty supervisor must sign the application form before it is submitted.

Eligibility

To apply, students must:

  • Be a full-time undergraduate student currently enrolled in the Arts & Science Program
  • Be eligible to work in Canada
  • Normally have a CGPA and Fall/Winter Average of at least 8.0 to be considered
  • Preference will be given to level 2 and 3 students and students in level 4 of a five-year program.
  • Preference will be given to students who have not previously held a USRA at McMaster.

Evaluation Criteria

Applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

  • Clearly articulated student learning objectives
  • Clearly articulated process of how learning objectives will be met
  • “Richness” of research experience and/or “hands on” involvement of student
  • Involvement of faculty supervisor in the proposed research and student learning
  • Articulated connection to the student’s academic studies
  • Evidence of student’s preparation to undertake research
  • Overall quality and feasibility of the proposal
  • Academic record

2026 Arts & Science Recipients

Matthew Cianchetti

Faculty Supervisor
Dr. Rob Wilton

Research Project
Navigating Contradictory Public Policy: Understanding how Toronto’s Outreach Support Workers Respond to the Displacement of Homeless Encampments

Luisa Coskun

Faculty Supervisor
Dr. Giles Spence Morrow

Research Project
Looting at Pacatnamú: Monitoring the Detrimental Effects of Illegal Looting at the Archaeological Site of Pacatnamú, Peru.

Lilah Dagenais

Faculty Supervisor
Dr. James Gillett

Research Project
A Type of Institution: Understanding Global Student Mental Health within the University Environment

Ali Panju

Faculty Supervisor
Dr. Gita Wahi

Research Project
Associations Between Childhood Movement Behaviours and Adiposity in South Asian Children

Nicole Sia

Faculty Supervisor
Dr. Anastasios Papanastasiou

Research Project
Investigating the Determinants Impacting Gynecological Procedure Wait Times in Canada

Sofia Sikka-Patel

Faculty Supervisor
Dr. Stuart Phillips

Research Project
Progesterone and Muscle Protein Synthesis in Naturally Menstruating Females

Previous Arts & Science USRA Recipients

Student
 Faculty
 Project
Adriana Bozzo Dr. Mat Savelli Psychiatrization of Students: Examining Teacher Discourse Around Student Mental Health and the Role of the Classroom as a Diagnostic Setting
Liam Feldman Dr. Greg Flynn ‘The Weather Made Me Do It’: Applying the Criminal ‘Necessity’ Defense to Climate Activism
Nimrat Kalirai Dr. Cansu Ekmekcioglu LLMs as Shopping Decision Support Tools: How Perceived Platform Affordances Shape the Shopping Experience
Graeme Lavrence Dr. Suleiman Igdoura Investigating the Role of mTORC1 and mTORC2 in Lysosome Biogenesis in Neurodegenerative Lysosomal Storage Diseases
Vivian Vuong Dr. Meredith Vanstone Optimizing Indirect Patient Care to Improve Access to Family Medicine
Sunil Wijeysundera Dr. Megumi Harada Math in Context: A Pedagogical Exploration of Multidisciplinary Approaches to Teaching Mathematics
Student
 Faculty
 Project
Natalie Chu Dr. Charu Kaushic Exploring the Role of the Vaginal Microbiome and Antigen-Presenting Cells in the Regulation of Female Reproductive Health
Lina Eltom Mohamed Dr. Brian W. Timmons Advancing Health Research Inclusivity: An Exploration of Strategies to Engage Hamilton’s Black Community in Movement Behaviour Research
Ekta Mishra Dr. Michel Grignon and Dr. Byron Spencer Trends in Canadian Mortality: A Study of Age, Period and Cohort Effects
Aliana Niezova Dr. Dilyana Mincheva Local Feminist Archiving and Purple-Washing: Shaping ‘Herstory’
Karina Tavernese Dr. Brenda Vrkljan Roads Less Traveled: A Comprehensive Exploration of Ageing and Out-of-Home Mobility in Niagara-on-the-Lake
Riley Wilson Dr. David Ogborn Gaming Nature’s Networks: A Digital Lesson in the Mycelial
Student
 Faculty
 Project
Amanda Dam Dr. David Ogborn Artistic Live Coding of Computational and Educational Concepts
Zachary Gan Dr. Travis Kroeker Confronting the Anthropocene: An Exploration of Climate Change through Ecological Philosophy and Poetry
Rana Guler Dr. Ki’en Debicki A New ‘Mission’ Statement: Analyzing the Role of Grounded Normativity in Generating Anti-Colonial Relationships to Knowledge and Research in the University
Serena Habib Dr. Aly Bailey and Dr. Meridith Griffin Exploring Lived Experiences of Non-Normative Bodies in Physical Cultures
Sydney Szijarto Dr. Tracy McDonald Soviet Scars: Russian Collective Memory as it Informs Modern Pro-Democracy Activism
Jennifer Zhu Dr. Christine Swintak Reflections and Projections: Mapping Narratives of Political Fear and the Speculative Other in Popular Sci-fi Films
Student
 Faculty
 Project
Dalton Bath Dr. Johannes Steizinger Evaluating Hegel’s Economic Proposals
Anthony Cherubini Dr. Mat Savelli An Examination of Syrian Refugees’ Social Integration in Canada: Impacts of Mental Health and Discriminatory Environments
Bohm Kim Dr. Bruce Newbold Well-Being Support for Refugee Youth during the Pandemic: Insights from the Perspective of Key Informants
Sydney Potts Dr. Mat Savelli Behavioural Technologies and Pathological Identities: A Critial Analysis of Dialectical Behavioural Therapy
Noah Ripstein Dr. Daniel Coren Dementia at the Intersection of Ethics, Neuroscience, and Law
Maya Verma Dr. Teresa (Terry) Bennett The Family Check-Up: Implementing a New Family-Centred Ecological Model within Autism Services
Student
 Faculty
 Project
Tessa Bray Dr. Mayu Nishimura Perceiving Music as a Visual Experience
Andrew Dissanayake Dr. Noam Soreni Investigating Ethnic Disparities in Child and Adolescent Mental Health within the Greater Toronto Area
Ryan Edwards Dr. Jenna Rajchgot Classifying Kazhdan-Lusztig Ideals through the Combinatorics of Simplicial Complexes
Evin Huang Dr. Matthew Woolhouse Knowledge of the Twelve Lü on Expectations of Melodic Conformity
Morghen Jael Dr. Philip Savage A Content and Discourse Analysis of the CBC’s Audio and Video Storytelling at the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Torin Pracek Dr. Arthur Sweetman Union Status, Labour Market Outcomes, and COVID-19: Are Canadian Unions Good for Workers in Times of Crisis and Recover?
Ryan Tse Dr. Beth Marquis Social Media in a Physically Distant Time: The Relationship between Youth, Social Media, and Society during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Audrey Wu Dr. Daniel Coren Evaluating Individual Ethical Obligations in the COVID-19 Pandemic
Student
 Faculty
 Project
Meghan Bird Dr. Mat Savelli Narratives of Mental Illness in Contemporary Young Adult Fiction
Luke Brenton Dr. Paul Andrews Exemplar Priming and Lifetime Depressive Symptomology
Mateusz Faltyn Dr. Ryan Van Lieshout Machine Learning to Predict Psychiatric Diagnoses
Nicole Strader Dr. Robert Henderson Pedagogical Differences in Urban and Rural Integrated Curricular Programs
Yimeng Wang Dr. Yana Stainova Academia, Oppression, and Spaces of Healing: How Community-Building Art Forms Communicate Knowledge
Student
 Faculty
 Project
Maanvi Dhillon Dr. Karen Bird Experimentation and Reform in American Local Elections
Hannah Feldman Dr. Mat Savelli Gender and Communication on Online Parenting Forums
Jessica Gut Dr. Nancy Bouchier Narrating the City: An Exploration of Literary Representations of Hamilton
Anna Lindsay-Mosher Dr. Reza Samavi Using Machine Learning to Understand Police Violence in Ontario
Lily Martin Dr. Paul Andrews Testing an Adaptationist Model of Rumination in a Sample of Clinically Depressed Patients
Myfannwy Pope Dr. Vanessa Watts Interest-Based Media Discourse Analysis on Indigenous-Canadian Resource Management Negotiation
Student
 Faculty
 Project
John Cyfko Dr. Ranil Sonnadara The Role of Observational Learning in the Acquisition of Complex Motor Skills
Mahmood Haddara Dr. Beth Marquis The Effectiveness of Canadian Soccer Coaching Education in Improving Player Performance and Experience
Marco Handa Dr. Hans Boden Research Project in Knot Homology Theories
Tianqi Lei Dr. David L. Clark  Can the University Stand for Peace?: Freedom of Expression, Protest and Dissent
Sadie Neufeld Dr. Louis Schmidt Temperament and Technology-Based Intervention of Preoperative Anxiety in Children
Avery Qurashi Dr. Susie O’Brien A Taste of Our Own Medicine: Conceptions of “Nature” Within Naturopathy
Hailey Wright Dr. Patrick Bennett Neural Processing of Face Perception

 

Student
Faculty
Project
Stephanie Bertolo Dr. Jim Dunn Hamilton Neighbourhoods Study Follow Up
Sutina Chou Dr. Karen Bird Through the Glass Ceiling, Over the Glass Cliff?
Benjamin Feldman Dr. Rob Wilton Geographies of Enounter in Augmented Reality
Rachel Guitman Dr. Amanda Ricci Gendered Bodies in Post-World War Two Canada
Ann Mills Dr. Louis Schmidt An Investigation of ‘Willpower’ and Self-Regulation in Preschool Children
Thipiga Sivayoganathan Prof. Anju Joshi  Social Participation and Resiliency within Hamilton’s Aging Community

 

Student
Faculty
Project
Matthew Jordan Dr. McKenzie Wang Maxwell’s Equations and the Eerie One-ness of Math and Physics
Henry Krahn Dr. Travis Kroeker Sojourning the World: Christian Existentialism and a Life Well Lived
Clare MacDonald Dr. Nancy Bouchier A History of Churches Formed by Immigrants to Hamilton
Jonah Nadler Dr. Paul Andrews The Role of Personal Illness Models and Rumination in Treatment Preferences for Depression
Emily Power Dr. Jim Dunn The Effects of Social Mix on Residents’ Experiences of Social Inclusion/Exclusion in Toronto’s Regent Park Public Housing Community
Alex Recio-Greenwell Dr. Eugenia Zuroski Mexican Literature and Identity
Spencer Williams Dr. John Maclachlan Exploring the LEED Certification System in the City of Hamilton
Student
Faculty
Project
Duncan Chambers Dr. Brian Baetz Permaculture Design in Hamilton’s Commercial Urban Agriculture
Liam Crummey Dr. Dennis Hong First Nations Access to Bariatric Surgery
Varun Puri Dr. Juliana Tobon Developing an e-Mental Health Program for Early Stage Interventions at the Youth Wellness Centre
Joshua Ruf Dr. Beth Marquis The Reevaluation of Self After Romantic Relationship Dissolution
Jennifer Scora Dr. James Wadsley Effects of Turbulence on the Rate of Star Formation in Cold Gas Clouds
Student
Faculty
Project
Matthew Jordan Dr. Deirdre Haskell Statistical Sampling of VC Density for Definable Sets in the P-Adics
Victoria McKinnon Dr. Ranil Sonnadara The Efficacy of Video-Based Training in Orthopaedic Surgical Residents’ Education
Rabea Parpia Dr. Allison Sekuler The Effect of Aging on Perceptual Learning
Ana-Maria Qarri Dr. Karen Bird Critical Actors in Visible Minority and Immigrant Political Representation
Abraham Redda Dr. Jeffery Donaldson Canadian Literature and the Empathetic Imagination
Saad Syed Dr. Michael Surette The Cystic Fibrosis Airway Microbiome: Exploring Polymicrobial Communities from Double Lung Transplant Patients
Student
Faculty
Project
Asha Behdinan Dr. William Scarth A Benefit-Cost Analysis of Short-term Medical Trips to the Dominican Republic
Andrew Case Dr. Peter Widdicombe St. Francis of Assisi as alter Christus
Stephen Clare Dr. James King Authors and their Journeys: Biographical Studies
Sean Conley Dr. Matt Valeriote Algebra, Logic, and the Constant Satisfaction Problem
Rachel Eikelboom Dr. Beth Marquis The Art of Hearing: The Place of Music in Medical Education
Stephanie Wan Dr. Laurel Trainor Auditory Processing in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorders
Student
Faculty
Project
Matthew Howe Dr. Steven Brown The Effects of Music on Empathy with Characters During Film Viewing: A Functional MRI Study
Nolan Matthews Dr. Christine Quail A Hamilton Radio Documentary: Stories from the Community
Sophie Roher Dr. Susan Fast Exploring Feminist Education: Examining the Implications of Changing the Name of a Women’s Studies Program to Gender Studies in Canadian Universities
Cristina Silvestri Dr. Nancy Doubleday Local Knowledge in the Context of Co-Management and Civic Engagement
Kate Sinclair Dr. Karen Balcom Edible Identities: Frozen Foods and the Making of American Modern Culture, 1939-1969
Student
Faculty
Project
Neila Bazaracai Dr. John Waye A Determination of the Clinical Significance of Sequence Varients of KLF1 gene
Harrison Cruikshank Dr. Michael Egan Nuclear Power in Ontario
Zainab Furqan Dr. Ellen B. Ryan Storytelling and Intergenerational Communication in the South Asian Communities in the GTA
Anna Kulikov Dr. Luc Bernier Meta-Analysis of Surface Mine Rehabilitation Efforts in Northern Ontario
Nigel Pynn-Coates Dr. Deirdre Haskell Exploration of VC Density in the Context of p-adic Numbers
Student
Faculty
Project
Christopher Hilbrecht Dr. John Varty The History of the Rhinoceros Party of Canada
Sean Lemon Dr. Darren Scott Creation of GIS for Riverwood Conservancy
Jordan Milko Dr. Elisabet Service Phonological Awareness in L1 when Literacy Awareness has acquired exclusively in L2
Shohinee Sarma Dr. Mark Oremus Evaluating the Success of the Integrated Child Development Services in Five Indian States: A Systematic Review