UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH AWARD (USRA)

i) Download your unofficial transcript from your Student Center in GoSFU. The SFU unofficial transcript should show a date of issue from the Spring 2026 term. If you have unofficial transcripts from other institutions, get copies of those also.

ii a) Upload your unofficial transcript in pdf format and complete Part 1 of Form 202 on the NSERC portal. Note down your application number. You do NOT need to reach out to your Faculty member to complete Part 2 of Form 202 yet. If you are nominated for the NSERC USRA, we will reach out to the faculty to complete that part.

iii) Obtain a recent copy of your Curriculum Vitae (CV) in pdf.

iv) Submit a Coursys Form for the project(s) you are applying for. You should upload your unofficial transcript, all the completed Form 202, and current CV there.

v) Regularly check your email for correspondence on your application. You may get contacted for missing information or other updates. This may be through reply to your Coursys form or directly to your SFU email.

vi) You will be hearing back, via email from the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation, (VPRI) throughout March if you have been selected for a USRA. You must accept it by the deadline set in an email you would receive from the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation (VPRI), by replying to the email (and cc'ing our department at cspc1@sfu.ca) that you would be interested. 

vii) You may apply for up to 3 projects you would like to be considered. Duplicate applications will be disregarded. 

For questions, please email cspc1@sfu.ca

i) There are implications for your study permit and work eligibility as an international student in Canada. To confirm work eligibility, you are encouraged first to contact an International Student Advisor at intl_advising@sfu.ca.

ii) Download and complete the VPR-USRA (Full-Time) form. **You only need to complete the first part. We will contact the supervisor to complete the 2nd part.**

iii) Download your unofficial transcript from your student center. The SFU unofficial transcript should show a date of issue from the Spring 2026 term. If you have unofficial transcripts from other institutions, get pdf copies of those also.

iv) Obtain a recent copy for your Curriculum Vitae (CV). You will be submitting this on the Coursys application.

v) You may apply for up to 3 applications you would like to be considered for. Submit a separate VPR USRA application for each. Also, submit one Coursys form for all the applications. Duplicate applications will be disregarded.

vi) Regularly check your email for correspondence on your application. You may get contacted for missing information or other updates. This may be through reply to a Coursys form or directly to your SFU email.

 vii) You will be hearing back in March, via email, if you have been offered a USRA. You must accept it by the deadline set in an email you would receive from the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation (VPRI), by replying to the email (and cc'ing our department at cspc1@sfu.ca) that you would be interested. 

For questions, please email cspc1@sfu.ca

Project 1: BIOSCAN
AND
Project 2: Compositional Text-to-3D scene generation

* Note: In addition to these application instructions, Dr. Chang requests you also email your resume and transcript to her directly by Feb. 5th. Please read her project proposals which state this for details.

An App to Promote Collaborative Team Flow in Art

*Note: In addition to these application instructions , Dr. Lim requests, by January 28, 2026, that you also submit a cover letter, resume, and transcript to the Research Assistant Application form at https://www.rosielab.ca/join-us and note "Team Flow USRA". For details, please refer to the project proposal.

Fine Tuning Small Language Models for High-Performance GPU Code Generation

Extending CPUs Pipelines with Sparse Linear Algebra Support and Vector Engines

Hint Timing and Advanced Learner Experience in Competitive Programming: An A/B Testing Study

Project 1: Efficient Generative Models

AND

Project 2: Reconstruction and Editing of 3D Scenes

* Note: In addition to these application instructions, Dr. Li requests you fill out https://forms.gle/ZMPvJDntgFY7qDeC7 by Feb. 8th. Please read his project proposals which state this for additional details on applying to this project.

Automated Graph Data Views at Scale

* Note: In addition to these application instructions, Dr. Vora is currently accepting general unsolicited applications. Please email him a brief statement of interest along with your resume and transcript. He is looking for students with GPA > 3.0.

Approximate Convex Decomposition Algorithms for Efficient Physics-based Simulation in Embodied AI

* Note: In addition to these application instructions, Dr. Savva requests, by Feb. 5th, that you email him your resume and unofficial transcript. Please refer to the project proposal for details.

Type-Safe Quantum Metaprogramming

Kleene Algebra in Quantum Computation

Self-supervised learning for genomic discovery

* Note: In addition to these application instructions, Dr. Libbrecht requests you email him with "USRA" in the subject line and attach a CV and transcript. Please read the project proposal for details.

Neuro-symbolic AI

Agent-Based Modelling and Reinforcement Learning

* Note: In addition to these application instructions, Dr. Schulte is currently accepting general unsolicited applications. Please submit your resume and transcript. He is looking for students with GPA > 3.0. Refer to his project proposals for additional project and application information.

Verification for Network Automation

* Note: In addition to these application instructions, Dr. Ouldooz requests, that by Feb. 5th, you email her your statement of interest, CV and transcript. Refer to her project proposal for details.

HCI Project: Enhancing Usability of AI-Powered Software Tools

* Note: In addition to these application instructions, Dr. Chilana request you email her a brief statement of interest and include a recent transcript and a resume. Refer to her project proposal for details.

Test Generation for TypeScript Programs

Human-Centered Debugging and Repair Tools for JavaScript and TypeScript

* Note: In addition to these application instructions, please email Dr. Alimadadi Jani your CV and transcripts to her. Refer to her project proposal for details.*

Can You Make a Coffee for Me? A Robot Assistant for Everyday Tasks

Robots in Art: Learning Compositional Skills for Artistic Expressions

* Note: In addition to these application instructions, Dr. Zhou requests that by Feb. 10th, you fill out the application form. Refer to his project proposal for details.*

Understanding the Technical and Human Factors Challenges for Better Wi-Fi

Testing implementations of RPKI validator

* Note: In addition to these application instructions,  please email Dr. Chau your CV, latest transcripts, and a brief statement of interest to him. Refer to his project proposal for details.*

Future Data Management Systems

* Note: In addition to these application instructions, please email Dr. Wang your transcripts and CV.

Differentiable rendering of real-world scenes

Project 1: BIOSCAN
AND
Project 2: Compositional Text-to-3D scene generation

Explainable Graph Neural Networks for Biological Discovery from Super-Resolution Microscopy

Project 1: Efficient Algorithm for Vector Similarity Search
AND
Project 2: Efficient Generative Models
AND
Project 3: Reconstruction and Editing of 3D Scenes

Use of LLMs/AI to Improve Communication in Healthcare in the School of Computing Science

Type-safe Quantum metaprogramming

Detecting Food Fraud on Mobile Devices

1) Automated Learning to Create Property-Based Tests

2) Ensuring the Quality of LLM Generated Code

Data Levers Project

Networks & Large Language Models

HCI Project: Enhancing Usability of AI-Powered Software Tools

1. Empirical Study of Bugs in TypeScript

2. Test Generation for Python Programs

1. Automated vulnerability discovery and repair 
AND 
2. Accelerating SLAM system with GPUs 
AND 
3.Implementing and formally verifying security properties for Bluetooth

GPU Resource Allocation in DBMS

Optimizing Data Provenance Tracking for SQL Query