The Certificate in Biological Sciences Research Excellence will recognize students' research accomplishments in experiential, research-based learning experiences throughout their undergraduate programs.
Certificate supervisor Professor Aarthi Ashok reached at biosci-rec@utsc.utoronto.ca
Students must be enrolled in any Major or Specialist program offered by the Department of Biological Sciences. You can add this certificate via Acorn at any time during your undergraduate degree studies.
Certificate Requirements
Students must complete a minimum of 1.5 credits as follows:
1. BIOD98Y3*
and any one of the following:
BIOB98H3
BIOB99H3
BIOC99H3*
BIOD99Y3*
*Note: students must earn a grade of A- or higher in these courses in order to be eligible for the Certificate.
2. All students must engage in a least one consultation with the liaison librarian for the Department of Biological Sciences in order to develop their skills in literature mining and using an evidence-based approach to study design and data analysis.
3. Upon completion of the specified courses in component 1 of the Requirements, students must provide an overall summary of their research accomplishments to the Department in order to receive the Certificate. These reports are submitted to and assessed by the certificate supervisor.
For the report
1. Give your name, student number and the program or programs you intend to graduate in.
2. List the ‘for credit’ research courses you have taken and for each, indicate who was the supervising faculty.
3. List the name of the librarian you met with and the date (approximate if necessary) that you met.
4. For any BIOB98 or BIOB99 experiences provide a ~200 word description of the research project that you contributed to and indicate the role(s) you had. Indicate what skills you developed during this time.
5. For BIOC99 or BIOD98/99 provide a ~400 word summary of the nature of the project and what your role was and what were your conclusions you made in your final report. Also indicate your skill development that occurred.
6. Write a critical reflection on your experiences (200 words).
A) What did you learn about yourself
- your academic strengths and weaknesses,
- what kinds of work do you most enjoy
- any directions the research experiences may have given you towards future careers.
There are no right/wrong answers here, but it is a chance to assess your own growth and development and next steps so please take this seriously.
(B) If you have any suggestions for what kind of general training we could provide to students that would make the research experience better, we would be grateful to receive ideas.
The final report is pass /fail.
Please note the final deadline for completion of all requirements to convocate with the certificate is the last day of classes in Summer or Winter term (depending on which one you are convocating after) in the year you are convocating or completed BIOD98Y3.