Research & Volunteer Opportunities

1. By: Andrei Szigiato and Hardik Bhatt Tuesday September 20th, 2011 Research & Volunteer Opportunities

2. NO NEED TO TAKE NOTES!! • Slides will be posted on the SOS website within a week • www.yorku.ca/sos • Click on the seminars link • Please listen and feel free to ask questions 

3. WHO WE ARE • Andrei Szigiato • 4th Year Kinesiology Student • Summer NSERC Projects & Lab Volunteering • Currently doing an Honours thesis and Independent Study • Hardik Bhatt • 3rd Year Kinesiology Student • President of South Asian Alliance • An Organizer for Miracle for Sick Kids

4. AGENDA OVERVIEW • Career Center • CLAY, Work/Study • NSERC • Research at York • Research Practicum • Honours Thesis OPPORTUNITIES BY AREA OF INTEREST • Physics/Astronomy • Biophysics • Biology • Chemistry • Hospital Volunteering • Kinesiology

5. CAREER CENTRE • Career Centre Online Job Posting System • TIP Program

6. ONLINE JOB POSTING SYSTEM • Search for Jobs (full or part time), internship, summer and volunteer opportunities • Register for career centre workshops, events, and get email notifications regarding upcoming events • http://www.yorku.ca/careers/onlinesystem

7. TECHNOLOGY INTERNSHIP PROGRAM (TIP) • Internships for 4, 8, 12 or 16 month paid internship • Students interested in participating in TIP must be 3rd or 4th year Honours students majoring on one of the following areas: • Astronomy • Biophysics • Physics • Computer Science • Computer Security • Information Technology • Geomatics • Space Engineerings http://www.cse.yorku.ca/csinternship_program/index.html

8. WORK/STUDY PROGRAM • Broad range of jobs from which to choose. • Primarily Jobs are available from September to April for full time students • Students who are awarded a Work/Study position cannot hold another Work/Study, RAY, CLAY or YES position concurrently • Must be considered financially in need, fill out SFP at: http://sfs.yorku.ca/services/sfp/ • http://sfs.yorku.ca/employment/clay/

9. CLAY (College Life at York) PROGRAM • Enhancing the student experience within the college system (Bethune, Stong etc) • Provide undergraduate students with opportunities to establish new programs or provide services to fellow students within the college • Contain less than 20% clerical work. • Primarily available during the September to April academic session • Also available in the summer

10. YES (York Engaged Students) PROGRAM • Similar to CLAY program, but not college specific •  Provide undergraduate students with opportunities to establish new programs or provide services to fellow students at York.  • http://sfs.yorku.ca/employment/yes/

11. Volunteering With Bethune • Many ways to get involved with your college in SOS! • Peer Tutoring Program • Peer Mentoring • Class Representatives • PASS leaders • SOS Academic Advisors • Student Government (BCC, BAC) http://www.yorku.ca/sos/ http://www.yorku.ca/bethune/

12. RESEARCH AT YORK (RAY) PROGRAM • Get introduced to the research environment • Paired with a professor and work on a project • http://sfs.yorku.ca/employment/ray/ • To be considered you must demonstrate financial need • Need to fill out a student financial profile (SFP) at: • http://sfs.yorku.ca/services/sfp/ • Pays minimum of $15.00 per hour, but max ~ 15h work week. • Approach professors individually (more on this later)

13. Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada • NSERC is a federal academic granting agency • It offers summer research assistant scholarships for undergraduate students • NSERC - USRA

14. NSERC REQUIREMENTS • Be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada • Be registered at the time you apply in a bachelor's degree program at an eligible university • Completed all the course requirements of at least the first year of university study • Accumulated at least a B average, (6.0 / 9.o on York’s GPA Scale)

15. NSERC INFORMATION • Apply for Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA) • Application deadlines are usually near the end of January; they’re set by the university • Pays $4500 over 16 weeks of research plus minimum 25% stipend • You can do an NSERC at any University, don’t feel limited to York • www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca

16. HOW TO APPROACH PROFESSORS • Start looking into Professors’ research as soon as possible • Take an interest in projects that fascinate you • Approach the Professors through e-mail, office hours or during class • Be courteous and prepared to market yourself

17. How To Address a Professor • Sample email:

18. LINKS TO FACULTY PROFILES • Physics & Astronomy • http://www.physics.yorku.ca/people/faculty_grad_area.html • Biology • http://science.yorku.ca/View-users-list/Biology.html?search=0 • Kinesiology • http://www.yorku.ca/gradkahs/faculty.html • Chemistry • http://www.yorku.ca/gradchem/faculty/index.html

19. RESEARCH PRACTICUM/PROJECT • Usually zero credits courses • Taken part time while taking courses • Must make arrangements with a professor before enrolling • Evaluation on a pass/fail basis • Submit personal essay/report on what you did

20. HONOURS THESIS • Offered by the Biology, Kinesiology and Psychology Departments • Select it as a course and must make arrangements with a Professor to work out project details • Grading system is determined beforehand with professor • Usually on Lit review, thesis paper, defense.

21. PHYSICS & ASTRONOMY OPPORTUNITIES • NSERC • TRIUMF • FERMILAB • Physics/Astronomy Project • The Observatory • Astronomy Club • Peer Tutoring

22. PHYSICS NSERC PROJECTS FROM SUMMER 2010 • 1. Laser Spectroscopy and Ultracold Atom Laboratory. (Professor William van Wijngaarden) • 2. Determining the value of the fine-structure constant from precise measurements of transitions in atomic helium. (Professor Eric Hessels) • 3. Positron physics research, atomic physics with exotic atoms. (Professor Cody Storry) • 4. Atom interferometry with laser cooled atoms. (Professor A. Kumarakrishnan) • 5. Improving theoretical models and numerical calculations of atomic collision processes. (Professor Tom Kirchner) • 6. Studies of proton-proton collisions on the ATLAS particle physics experiment at the CERN LHC. (Professor Wendy Taylor) • 7. ArgoNeuT - Neutrino physics with a liquid argon time projection chamber. (Professor Scott Menary) • 8. Development of Methods for Improved Quantum State Preparation for the NRC Single Ion Experiment. (Dr. Alan Madej)

23. Canada’s National Laboratory for Particle and Nuclear Physics, located in Vancouver, BC • Research groups in: • Nuclear Medicine • Particle Physics • Accelerator Physics • Theoretical Physics • Molecular & Materials Science • Rare-Isotope Beams • Detector Development

24. TRIUMF CONTINUED... • www.triumf.ca • Posting Schedule:

25. TRIUMF CONTINUED... • How to apply: • You may apply to as many jobs that interest you. • Each job requires a University transcript, cover letter and resume • E-mail applications to student@triumf.ca

26. TRIUMF JOBS FROM SUMMER 2010

27. The US Department of energy National Laboratory • Home of the world’s second largest particle collider, the Tevatron • Carries out research in high-energy particle physics

28. FERMILAB CONTINUED • Offer summer internships for undergraduate students • https://interns.fnal.gov/ipm-2022-internship-for-physics-majors • Deadline for summer 2010 was February 15th • Contact: internship@fnal.gov

29. PHYSICS/ASTRONOMY PROJECT • Physics & Astronomy Department offers PHYS 4310 • worth 3 credits • Enrol in final year of program • Arrange project details with a professor

30. THE OBSERVATORY • Work/study positions for research in variable stars and stellar evolution • Volunteer positions to host public viewing nights • Contact Professor Paul Delaney, the observatory coordinator • observe@yorku.ca • www.physics.yorku.ca/observatory

31. NEUROSCIENCE OPPORTUNITIES • Center for Vision Research at York • SickKids Summer Student Research Program • RAY and Work/study

32. VISION RESEARCH AT YORK • York has a vibrant research center in vision and brain research • www.cvr.yorku.ca • Some research areas include: • Human Visual Performance    • Visual Human-Computer Interaction, Graphics and Virtual Reality    • Visual Psychophysics    • Eye Movements and Hand-Eye Coordination    • Computational Modeling and Computer Vision • Electrophysiology • Clinical and Developmental Studies    • Brain Imaging

33. SICKKIDS SUMMER PROGRAM • http://www.sickkids.ca/Research/StudentandFellowResources/The-SickKids-Summer-Research-Program/ • Accept students in years 1 through 4 • Jobs usually posted in mid December • Application deadline typically around late January • APPLY EARLY!!!

34. SICKKIDS CONTINUED... • Sample jobs from summer 2009 posted below:

35. BIOLOGY OPPORTUNITIES • Research Practicum • Hospital Volunteering

36. RESEARCH PRACTICUM • Zero credit course • BIOL 1601 (Fall) or BIOL 1602 (Winter) • Student must make arrangements with a faculty member before enrolling in this course • Submit personal essay/report on what you did • Good chance to get “your foot in the door”

37. VOLUNTEERING • Hospitals • Rehab clinics • Retirement Homes • Charity Organizations • York Organizations • Check for opportunities on the Career Centre’s online posting system: http://www.yorku.ca/careers/onlinesystem/

38. HOSPITAL VOLUNTEERING

39. BEFORE YOU START VOLUNTEERING... • Make sure you’re up to date with all your immunizations, see your family doctor • GET YOUR TB SHOT ASAP!!!

40. YORK CENTRAL HOSPITAL • Orientation in August for the school year program and one in April/May for the summer program • Attend the orientation & Complete the forms • www.yorkcentral.com

41. Visit the volunteer services department on the second level • Be prepared to talk briefly yourself and the reasons why you would like to volunteer • Bring a resume and one reference letter • Once accepted as a volunteer, you will be required to attend a 2-hour orientation session http://www.mountsinai.on.ca/patients/volunteer/volunteer-services

42. Throughout the year, Volunteer Resources posts opportunities that become available (link below) http://www.sickkids.ca/CareersVolunteering/Vounteer-Resources/volunteer-opportunities/volunteer-opportunities.html • Application process occurs in 3 steps (link below) • http://www.sickkids.ca/CareersVolunteering/Volunteer-Resources/how-to-apply/index.html

43. Three hospitals: Etobicoke general hospital, Brampton civic hospital and Peel Memorial hospital  • Pick up an application form available from the Volunteer and Community Resources department at the hospital • Require 1 reference letter • http://www.williamoslerhc.on.ca/body.cfm?id=61

44. For winter session must attend information session on January 13, 2010 and February 18, 2010 from 5 pm to 8 pm • Application form available online • Require 2 reference letters and completion of health clearance form • For more information visit : http://www.trilliumhealthcentre.org/volunteers/opportunities.html

45. CREDIT VALLEY HOSPITAL • Must attend information session to pick up student application packages • Please contact 905-813-1585 for upcoming dates and times • For more information visit: http://www.cvh.on.ca/admin/volunteers.php

46. KINESIOLOGY AND HEALTH SCIENCE OPPORTUNITIES • Muscle Health Research Centre • Physiotherapy/Chiropractic clinics • Nursing Homes

47. Muscle Health Research Centre • Research focused on the importance of skeletal muscle on overall health and well being • Effects of exercise on: • Diabetes • Cancer • Aging • Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) • http://www.yorku.ca/mhrc/

48. PHYSIOTHERAPY/CHIROPRACTIC CLINICS • Call clinics nearby and ask if they have volunteer opportunities • Visit in person and drop off your resume • York Lanes Chiropractic Clinic • (416) -736 -5414 • Hospitals

49. NURSING HOMES

50. Nursing Homes • Leisureworld • http://www.leisureworld.ca/jobs/volunteer.asp • Oakwood Retirement Communities • http://www.oakwoodretirement.com/contact-us Great opportunity for 1 on 1 care, developing empathy, and even research (RIA).