Summer Research Awards for Undergraduates

Several programs provide students the opportunity to work on a research project for the entire summer, under the supervision of a math faculty member and supported by a stipend. These are

•   Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Undergraduate Student Research Award Program (USRA)
•   University of Toronto Excellence Awards (UTEA)
•   Math Department Research Awards (MDRA).

Duration: 14 weeks (UTEA) or 16 weeks (USRA or MDRA), between May 1 and August 31.

Research stipend: $7,500 or possibly more.

Application process: The first steps of the application process are the same for all three awards.

1. Check that you satisfy the eligibility requirements listed below.
2. Submit Application Form. Summer 2026 Deadline Date: February 13, 2026.

You may use a single submission to apply for more than one award. Please send all attachments with a single email.

If you are selected to receive any award, you will be matched with a research supervisor. This may involve an intermediate step in which you are invited to speak to potential supervisors.

3. If you are selected for an NSERC USRA, you will later have to submit an application via NSERC’s online portal, in collaboration with the research supervisor.
4. If you are nominated for a UTEA, you still have to submit an application (jointly with your faculty mentor) to the U of T Registrar’s office, which has final say over the awards. This second step of the process is highly competitive. However, every student who we nominate will be guaranteed to receive a MDRA if the UTEA application is not successful.

Eligibility requirements:

USRA

To apply for a USRA, a student must

be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, or a or protected person,
have a cumulative GPA of at least 2.85,
be registered as a full-time undergraduate student in the natural sciences, with at least one year of undergraduate studies already completed, but degree requirements not all fulfilled.

UTEA

To apply for a UTEA, a student must

be a Canadian citizens or permanent resident, or a foreign student with a student visa valid for the entire summer during which the award will be held,
be registered as a full-time undergraduate student at the U of T. Part-time U of T students may apply only if it is their final term and part-time classes are all that is required to complete the degree,
have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.15.

MDRA

To apply for a MDRA, a student must satisfy the eligibility requirements for at least one of the USRA or UTEA awards.

Research Opportunities

Please see below the research opportunities available this summer. All projects are open for NSERC, UTEA, and MDRA funding.
Applicants do not need to have spoken with the Supervisor prior in order to express interest on the application. The committee will match applicants with research projects.

This page will be updated as more projects are available.

If you have any questions about research opportunities in the mathematics department, please email: math.undergrad@utoronto.ca.

A Variational Problem; Supervisor: Robert Jerrard

Classification of C* algebras; Supervisor: George Elliott

Drawing Large Knots and Seifert Surfaces; Supervisor: Dror Bar-Natan

Extreme Values of Artin L-functions; Supervisor: Asif Zaman

Formalizing Hyperbolic Geometry in LEAN; Supervisor: Kasra Rafi

Implementation of Electrical Impedance Tomography; Supervisors: Spyros Alexakis and Adam Stinchcombe

Investigating the Class Group of Quadratic Fields; Supervisor: Asif Zaman

Knot Families and their θ Invariant; Supervisor: Dror Bar-Natan

Nobody Solves the Quintic Web Site; Supervisor: Dror Bar-Natan

Research project in extremal combinatorics; Supervisor: Lior Gishboliner