I-CUREUS: Provides an opportunity for undergraduate students to conduct paid research and gain hands-on experience in their discipline or an area of interest.

SaPP: Offers instructors and learning support staff the opportunity to involve undergraduate students in teaching innovation and curriculum design through paid work experience.

The deadline to apply for either program is Oct. 31. If you have any questions, please reach out to tls@carleton.ca.

The annual event provides an opportunity for students who participated in the Internship-杏吧原创 University Research Experience for Undergraduate Students (I-CUREUS) and Students as Partners Program (SaPP) to share their work and celebrate their achievements.

This year, 144 undergraduate students participated in these two experiential learning programs, building their communication, teamwork and research skills, and applying their disciplinary knowledge in an impactful way.

I-CUREUS

Students in I-CUREUS conduct research in their program or an area of interest. In the process, they build connections and gain exposure to research techniques. This year鈥檚 participants worked on a range of projects, including exploring outdoor learning in Canadian schools and using yeast to investigate the genetics of a rare childhood disease.

Engingeering student Talha Nawaz presenting his poster at the 2025 I-CUREUS and SaPP Showcase.

Talha Nawaz, a fourth-year student in aerospace engineering, worked with Prof. Jeremy Lalibert茅 to analyze data and develop a simulation model that can predict the fuel weight onboard an aircraft, providing insight into flight efficiency.

He says the showcase has provided a great opportunity for him to practice conveying the details of his project to people who don鈥檛 necessarily have engineering backgrounds, and highlighting the human impact of his work.

After participating in I-CUREUS, Nawaz says he鈥檚 now considering a master鈥檚 program to pursue more research, adding that he appreciates the connections he鈥檚 been able to build through the program.

鈥淚t started off with sitting in my supervisor’s research meetings and I was just listening, trying to absorb what was going on and thinking about what I can do,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hen slowly, bit by bit, I met all these different people. Now I鈥檓 talking to a bunch of people that are working at places where I want to work.鈥�

Tracy Li presenting her project at the 2025 I-CUREUS and SaPP Showcase.

Tracy Li, a third-year industrial design student, worked with Prof. Steven Pong to explore the potential of using data to generate patterns and drive design, rather than traditional cultural or aesthetic influences. As part of a case study, they used a bar graph as the basis to design a coffee table that was inspired by a summer cottage experience by the lake.

鈥淒esign is such a personal, subjective sector,鈥� she says. 鈥淭his is really such a different way of thinking to try to make design systematic. That in itself seems like such an oxymoron and that鈥檚 a really neat exploration.鈥�

Li says she’s had some experience with more traditional research, such as systematic reviews, but really wanted a tangible end product, and in her initial discussions with Prof. Pong, she found he was on board.

鈥淚-CUREUS gave me the opportunity to complete a different type of research that I didn鈥檛 know was possible, but it became a lot more meaningful that way,鈥� she says. 鈥淭his was the best-case scenario for me 鈥� having a supervisor that鈥檚 so supportive and really aligned with the things that I wanted and having an opportunity to present my work afterwards is really meaningful.鈥�

SaPP

Students in SaPP gain hands-on work experience by collaborating with instructors, librarians and teaching support staff on course design. This year鈥檚 participants worked on projects that included developing a handbook to support first-year students in navigating the academic publishing process, creating a database of templates for teaching assistants to draw from when running tutorials, and redesigning assessments to optimize learning.

Matteo Montgomery, a third-year student in neuroscience and mental health, partnered with Prof. Ashley Thompson on a Brightspace module designed to teach undergraduate students in STEM courses about stress, coping and academic resilience.

鈥淎 lot of people come at stress as just this negative thing you have to power through. The big idea is reframing what stress is and letting them understand what is actually going on in their bodies and in their brains when they鈥檙e stressed,鈥� he says. 鈥淲ith all that knowledge they can just be more aware of their own responses and different responses that they could make.鈥�

Third-year student Matteo Montgomery presenting at the 2025 I-CUREUS and SaPP Showcase.

Montgomery says his experience in SaPP gave him the chance to explore his strong interests in both pedagogy and research, adding that he was able to develop different skills simultaneously, from leadership and time management to data analysis and public speaking.

鈥淚 think it was gaining so many different, almost unrelated skills, all in one project that I鈥檓 very grateful for,鈥� he says.

Browse through the showcase program to learn more about the projects presented at this year鈥檚 event.

杏吧原创 provides experiential learning opportunities through SaPP and I-CUREUS that help students develop essential academic and transferable skills. While SaPP pairs students with instructors on teaching innovation projects and course design, I-CUREUS provides an avenue for undergraduate students to conduct faculty-supervised research.听听

The annual event celebrates the accomplishments of undergrad students in collaborating with instructors on course development or faculty-supervised research.

Over 200 undergraduate students participated in these two experiential learning programs this year, building their communication, teamwork, research skills, and applying their disciplinary knowledge in an impactful way.

I-CUREUS

Since it began in 2012, students participating in the I-CUREUS program have completed over 800 projects spanning various topics and disciplines.

This year’s participants worked on a range of projects with real-world applications, such as using organic fluorescent dyes to effectively analyze and quantify nanoplastics in water, improving the efficacy of treatment for iris melanomas, and making music learning more accessible using wearable devices.

Participating in I-CUREUS provides students with a unique learning opportunity and valuable experience that can be applied in their studies and beyond.

Student Aurora Tracy presenting at the SaPP & I-CUREUS Showcase

Aurora Tracy, a third-year student in the Neuroscience and Biology Honours program, participated in I-CUREUS under the supervision of Dr. Matthew Holahan to investigate the effect of aptamer molecules on the pathology of Parkinson’s Disease.

Among the lessons that Aurora learned is how to handle setbacks in research.

“Setbacks happen a lot in research. You need to have endurance and perseverance. I learned to push through and not give up and to troubleshoot by talking to people to come up with ideas.”

In addition to participating in the showcase this year, four 杏吧原创 undergraduate students joined more than 4000 other students from around the world to present their work at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) in Long Beach, California. For students Marwa Djedouani (Physics), Shine Soki (Psychology), Emily Udle (Linguistics and Language Studies) and Janina Winnicki (Health Sciences), the conference was an opportunity to showcase their work, network, and build communication skills and learn from others.

Students as Partners Program (SaPP)

Launched in 2020, SaPP has grown to become the largest program of its kind in Canada.

SaPP provides undergraduate students with hands-on work experience gained through direct collaboration with instructors, librarians and teaching support staff on teaching innovation and course design projects.

This year’s participants (how many?) worked on projects that included strengthening students’ creative skills using social imagination, re-designing in-class activities for improved interaction and collaboration and assessing the utility of ChatGPT for literary studies.

Student Georgia Son presents at the SaPP & I-CUREUS Showcase

Georgia Son, a third-year honours student in English and Law, was drawn to SaPP after taking a course with Professor Morgan Rooney. When the opportunity came to revitalize the course, Son jumped at the chance to evaluate ChatGPT and develop a suite of resources to prepare students for tests and exams. In the process, Son gained valuable experience with H5P to create learning modules and a brand-new appreciation of course design.

“It opened my eyes about teaching,” says Son. “I gained so much insight into planning a course and teaching approaches. Being able to collaborate with a professor who is an expert in their field, is a great opportunity.”

Download the program summary to learn more about the projects presented at the SaPP and I-CUREUS Showcase.

I-CUREUS: Provides an opportunity for undergraduate students to conduct paid research and gain hands-on experience in their discipline or area of interest. Internships span for a maximum of 150 hours.

SaPP: Offers instructors and learning support staff the opportunity to involve undergraduate students in teaching innovation and curriculum design through paid work experience. Students can partner on a variety of projects to help you prepare for your upcoming courses. Students can work up to 130 hours.

If you have any questions about either program, please reach out to tls@carleton.ca.

Applications deadline: October 20.

杏吧原创 provides experiential learning opportunities through I-CUREUS and SaPP that help students develop important academic and transferable skills. I-CUREUS provides an avenue for undergraduate students to conduct faculty-supervised research, while SaPP gives students the chance to partner with an instructor on teaching innovation projects and course design.

Program: Software Engineering

Field of Research: Machine Learning for Pulse-by-Pulse Classification of Radar Signals

Supervisor:听Dr. Sreeraman Rajan

Program: Childhood and Youth Studies

Field of Research: Children鈥檚 Museology and Social Justice

Supervisor:听Dr. Monica Patterson

Reason For Participating

I chose to participate in the I-CUREUS as it gave me the opportunity to work alongside one of my professors. The I-CUREUS also gave me the opportunity to begin conducting research on an area of interest and importance to me.

Research

The problem, in a broad sense, that this research is trying to tackle relates to social work pedagogy. Specifically, the problem is about whether a method of approaching and practicing social work is one that those with lived experience of poverty would ascribe to, and would feel empowered to utilize. The goal of this research is to add to the knowledge base available to practitioners about social work practice. Ultimately, the goal is to uncover how clients respond to an approach, as well as to inform best practices for practitioners moving forward.

The research group that I work in focuses on poverty and social citizenship, both as it affects the local and global community. I am involved by aiding in the creation of critical knowledge about poverty and social citizenship which is used to inform policy, and pedagogy.听As I’ve learned, the research process is one that has multiple dimensions. Thus far, I鈥檝e been involved in investigating the current literature available about the topic, creating a literature review, and applying for ethics approval.

Relation to Studies

Most of the material taught in my classes have been applied to my research. Specifically, students are required to take a research methods/stats class, which has been instrumental in allowing me to conduct research with participants.

Furthermore, my research has allowed me to directly implement material learned in class, in a way that is relevant for practitioners currently in the field. In addition to this, my research has given me lived experience engaging with classroom theories that I can now apply and discuss with peers and other professors.

Value of Experience

To date the most valuable skill that I gained from the experience has been learning how to preform statistical analysis within the field of Public Affairs. Another valuable skill that I have gained has been learning how to more effectively discuss research, and by so doing, be able to collaborate and work with others of similar interest.

From participating in the I-CUREUS I have gained the opportunity to work on research in a way that is relevant, and interesting to me. Whereas in the classroom research is theoretical, the I-CUREUS allowed me to put my knowledge to use.

To Future Participants

I would tell people considering participating in this opportunity to talk to their professors, as well as other students (especially those in graduate programs) about their research interests.听They offer incredible knowledge and can add to the experience you have with the I-CUREUS.听The I-CUREUS is a great opportunity to get involved in research that you are truly passionate about.