Research Opportunities

Why do research?

Learn more about the world, pursue open questions that bother you, work with other smart people

Get started: contact a prof you share interests with - or just get along with - and ask to do a research project with them.
Directed studies: 490/497/499 - a project based course of independent study.
Getting accepted: most profs are looking for smart, self-starting students for their labs. But we also get a lot of generic requests. So you need to stand out. The best is to get a referral from another researcher. But targeted, specific emails will also reach us.
To get a position it helps to have some research project experience as an undergraduate. Shows interest and builds a reference network.
At UVic, a masters degree in CS takes 20-24 months, requires 4 5XX level courses and a research seminar, and then a thesis. A PhD requires 4 other courses and a significant new contribution to the research literature.

In Canada and the US, most thesis masters and all PhDs are usually fully funded - you will get paid (not enough) to conduct the research
Caution: terminal masters (e.g., MTIS, MADS here) are professional degrees and cost a lot more.
Co-op: some labs fund summer internships with co-ops.
NSERC USRA: Undergraduate student research awards. 6k for a semester of research work.
Jamie Cassels Awards: UVic only awards (1500$) to do research projects
NSERC scholarships: NSERC awards masters and doctoral scholarships for Canadian (citizen/PR) students. Then the department tops this up.