Dr. Faye Murrin, Dean pro tempore School of Graduate Studies

fmurrin@mun.caSept 21st 2015

Optimize your chance of Success with NSERC*

PGS-CGS Doctoral

Today

1. Introduction to NSERC and NSERC Awards

2. Doctoral CGS/PGS Program

1. Application Process & deadlines

2. Tips on completing Form 201/200 : Online & Free form pages

1. see also http://www.mun.ca/sgs/current/funding/NSERC_Info_Sept15.pdf

3. Dr. John Hanchar

4. Mr. Matthew Lamont

What NSERC awards are available?

1. Undergrad student research award (USRA)

2. Canada Graduate Scholarships Master’s (CGS M) Award

3. Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarships (CGS D) and Post Graduate Scholarships (PGS D) Doctoral Award

4. Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Vanier CGS D)

5. CGS Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement

6. Industrial Postgraduate Scholarship (IPS)

7. NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship

8. BANTING Postdoctoral Fellowship

Max total for one grad student - 4 years

Total = Master’s (1) + PhD support

CGS D Awards and PGS D Awards

CGS D $35,00

PGS D $21,000

for up to 36 months

Deadlines: where and when:

If you are presently registered at Memorial in a degree program:

Departmental deadline = ?

SGS deadline = Friday, Oct 16th

2015

NSERC deadline = Wednesday, Nov 25th 2015

If you were registered at another university in a degree program this year – that university!

If you were registered at a foreign university or not at all this year direct applications: October 15

Single application to PGS, tops awarded

CGS

Eligibility considerations

Only one Tri-Agency at a time/ one per year

for eligibility details http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/NSERC-

CRSNG/Eligibility-Admissibilite/students-etudiants_eng.asp

Citizenship

To apply for NSERC CGS/PGS D support you must be:

A Canadian citizen or Permanent Resident of Canada

The following awards are also open to International students:

Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships Program (Vanier CGS)

Visiting Fellowships in Canadian Government Laboratories (VF)

Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE)

Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship

Area: Program of Study & Research

hold or expect to hold (at take-up date) a degree in NSE from

a University recognized by NSERC

Both program of study and proposed research must be in an

NSERC-supported field

You should consult NSERC’s “Eligibility Criteria for students and

fellows”

NSERC makes the final decision

Still not sure? schol@nserc-crsng.gc.ca

Academic Standing

maintained 1st class average in last two years (MUN GPA

3.5 or better; but ... )

intend to pursue full time* grad studies and research in NSE

in the following year

*PGS/CGS part time possible in special circumstances

Time in program (as of Dec 31st 2015)

Master’s to PhD

0 to 24 months in doctoral program

Bachelors to PhD (Direct Entry)

4 to 36 months in doctoral program

Note: Direct entry or “roll over” students may apply to CGS M or D for first

year of doctoral program.

What are you saying yes to?

Experience at writing funding applications, an important professional skill

If successful, open doors

& money !

And perhaps more money!

Evaluation Criteria & Weight

CGS-M CGS/PGS

- D

NSERC

Postdoct

oral

Fellow

Academic

Excellence

50% 30% N/A

Research

Potential

30% 50% 70%

Communication,

interpersonal &

20% 20% 30%

How will reviewers rate your application?Criterion Indicators Form 201 evidence

Academic

Excellence

• duration of previous study

• scholarships/awards

• academic record

P 1 (academic background), P 5 thesis completed

P 4 (scholarships table)

University transcripts

App. 2 parts II

Research

Potential

• Scholarships/awards

• acad. training/relevant

experience

• contributions to research

(publications, conf., patents,

reports)

• research proposal

• critical thinking, initiative,

• ability to complete projects

P 4 (scholarships table)

P 1,2 relevant experience, Part II sect 3, App. 1

P 4 (thesis summary), Part II sect 1 (articles

published) , sect 2 (most significant contributions –

Doc. only!), sect 3 (applicant’s statement), App. 1

Part II (outline of research)

Part II sect 3 (applicant’s statement), App. 1, 2

P 1 (academic background, P 5 (theses), App. 1

Communication,

Interpersonal

and Leadership

Abilities

• awards for papers,

presentations

• application quality

• rating and candidate evaluation

• participation in publication

preparation

• professional & extracurricular

activities, collaborations,

mentoring, supervision, project

management, committee

chairs, elected offices etc,

P 4 (scholarships table)

Part II (outline of research), Part II sect 3

(applicant’s statement)

App. 1 and 2 (Parts II and III)

Part II sect 2 (most significant contributions – Doc.

only!), App. 1

P 1,2 (relevant experience)

Part II sect 3 (applicant’s statement)

App. 1

How do you apply?

1. Read/heed NSERC web site

2. All original transcripts to designate in your department by departmental deadline (this will be before the SGS deadline for submission of the completed application) ; * for some foreign universities may ask department to provide copy

3. Contact two reviewers, and provide them with relevant information about you

4. Register and log in to NSERC’s website

• add designate’s name and email information to the application. (Designate will instantly and automatically be sent an e-invitation to upload your transcripts)

• provide contact information of two referees. (Referees will instantly and automatically be sent an e-invitation to complete and submit their letter /”report on the applicant” - all online)

• complete on-line form 201 & attach free form pages

• Print it out and ask mentors and colleagues for comments – for sure; don’t bore or confuse your adjudicators as they only have a very limited time per application.

• verify and submit by SGS deadline of Oct 16th 2015

What happens after you submit?

SGS at Memorial :

1. receives and verifies completed applications (may contact you)

2. ranks all Memorial applications (MUN selection committee meets in

camera)

3. forwards quota to NSERC (18 in 2015) by NSERC’s deadline and notifies

applicants if they have or have not been forwarded; plus alternative list

NSERC in Ottawa :

1. receives applications

2. reviews applications and selects successful applications (12 committees

in Ottawa – Feb.)

3. notifies applicants (March)

Tips on completing the application

Form 201*

Part 1

ONLINE PAGES

• online forms

• Final 6-8 pages (depending

on the award)

• Plus referees reports and

transcripts

Part 2

FREE-FORM PAGES

• Complete in word processor

& attach

1. Outline of Proposed Research

– 1 page

2. Justification for Eligibility of

proposed research

3. Contributions and Statement –

2 pages

*Yes - PGS/CGS D , PDF

To have a good application:

Read program description and application instructions carefully prior to completing the application form online

Be clear, concise, coherent, error-free and complete

Have someone read and comment on your application

Check that your application is complete and correct

Let referees know the deadline date

Ensure your list of publications provides complete bibliographic information

Do not use a font size smaller than 12 pt

Do not use jargon or highly technical language

Do not exceed the page limits

NSERC wants to know that scarce public funds are wisely used

Write for an intelligent non-expert

Ask an non-expert to review it

Ask others too

If you get negative comments…….

By Petteri Löppönen

Form 201 tips

What you see online

Form 201 tips

Up to date address

Notify if a change

If you list a degree you

need to include the

transcript

Form 201 tips

NSE relevant. Demonstrate leadership,

research ability & communication skills.

Indicate if experience was gained in

program of study (lab demo, teaching

etc., internships, placements)

Do not include your graduate program in

this section.

Form 201 tips

These are very important…. choose carefully

PGS specify max of three

institutions

Form 201 tips

List competitive, university level awards

only, declined awards OK; 0$ value

awards OK; max 10, most recent first, list

award value per year

Form 201 tips

CGS/PGSD and PDF only!

Provide full title and summary of most recent thesis

completed or in progress in plain language (modify thesis

abstract if necessary); if no thesis, summarize research

project or research-related work experience.

Do not repeat the information provided in the outline of

proposed research.

Time sensitive. Contact reference in person if possible,

establish that they will give you a “good” reference, provide

good information (remind them of your achievements and

goals), give them a copy of your completed form 201 and

your CV.

Direct them to the “how to complete Appendix 1” NSERC

URL: http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/OnlineServices-

ServicesEnLigne/Forms-Formulaires_eng.asp

Two needed (one from supervisor/mentor); they should

address: research ability, communication skills,

interpersonal and leadership abilities. GIVE THEM THE

INFORMATION (specific examples) TO MAKE IT

PERSONAL!

Form 201 tips

You MUST check the box to be considered for

supplements (additional funds, $5,000 - $17,300,

from other organizations)!

for detailed information/requirements on specific

supplements see: http://www.nserc-

crsng.gc.ca/Students-Etudiants/PG-

CS/Supplements-Supplements/index_eng.asp

Optional

Form 201 tips

Part 2 A

FREE FORM PAGE(S)* (attachments)

A. Outline of Proposed Research – 1 page

B. Justification for Eligibility of proposed research – 1 page

C. Contributions and Statement –2 pages (4 PDF)

Part I: Contributions to research and development

Part II: Most significant contributions to research

development

Part III: Applicant’s statement

a) Research Experience

b) Relevant Activities

c) Special Circumstances (Include if warranted!)

*Follow the format standards of the General Presentation found in

the instructions.

Write in plain language

White space is missed opportunity

But do not crowd it – make it easy for the reviewers

Error free, sensible headings and format

Readable by non-expert

Limited acronyms or abbreviations

Do not duplicate thesis summary on p 4

Provide brief introduction/background (why is the research important?)

List clear objectives (what are you going to do?)

Outline methodology (how are you going to do it?)

Add figures and literature citations if appropriate (b&w)

If a continuation of your previous work, why is it worth continuing?

And previous tips!

A. Outline of Proposed Research(free form, maximum one page)

Outline of Proposed Research Student Name PIN ########

Keeping a watchful eye under the sea: Environmental monitoring with autonomous underwater vehicles

Motivation. Effluent plumes from the disposal of seafood processing wastes can have detrimental impacts on the receiving ocean environment. In 2002, the

province of Newfoundland and Labrador had 131 active processing licenses and produced an estimated 220,000 metric tonnes of waste, which was largely

unmonitored and unregulated [1]. The environmental effects of discharge of effluents from seafood processing plants has not been extensively researched; there

is little knowledge or relevant environmental data on which to base decisions. Consequently, there are no validated models to determine the fate of pollutants

from seafood processing in the coastal ocean environment and their effect on its ecology.

Goals. The long-term goal of the project is the development of a scientific basis to support the creation of guidelines for environmentally safe operation in the

seafood processing industry. As part of a multidisciplinary team, my principal role will be to develop an intelligent Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) as an

environmental monitoring tool, capable of gathering and analyzing sensory data, particularly visual data, as it surveys and profiles the coastal ocean

environment.

Approach. The use of AUVs has excellent potential as a tool in ocean monitoring to obtain continuous data. Unlike current monitoring methods (eg. from a

ship), AUVs equipped with appropriate sensors are able to sample a 3-D continuous profile of the seafloor and water column in the study area. The use of an

AUV for the field work proposed here is innovative in permitting continuous rather than point sampling, with my research focusing on profiling the seabed in

order to monitor benthic ecology. This work will initially involve (a) the construction of a high-resolution video recording system for the MUN AUV, and (b) the

development of novel computer vision algorithms for intelligent analysis of the seabed to automatically identify sightings of different benthic organisms and other

visual data. Experiments with the vision system will be ground-truthed against data from a sub-bottom profiler sensing the upper 0.5m of the seabed, as well as

against the results of expert human analysis of records.

Methodology. My experience in Computational Intelligence (CI) (see Contributions and Statement) will be heavily drawn upon. CI combines key information

processing technologies for effective intelligent systems development, and has been successfully applied to many areas of computer vision. In fact, some of my

more recent collaborative work involved research in image understanding, using CI-based modelling techniques I developed in [2]; these efforts may prove

useful for the AUV in understanding underwater scenes. Further, in order for the AUV to make intelligent decisions and actions based on what it “sees” with the

camera system, an onboard real-time vision processing system is necessary, which has significant computing requirements due to the enormous amount of

information existing in high-resolution video. These requirements can be more effectively met by taking a synergistic approach to hardware and software

design, much like the methods we used in [3].

Outcome. The environmental profiles produced by AUV environmental monitoring will aid team members in the development of predictive models to anticipate,

manage and mitigate changes in environmental quality resulting from fish plant effluents. Improved waste disposal practices in the seafood processing industry

will improve the coastal environment leading to restoration and improvement of degraded fish habitat. As well, in the long term, the environmental tools

developed under this program will have application in the aquaculture and offshore oil and gas industries.

[1] National Programme of Action Atlantic Regional Team (NPA). Management of wastes from Atlantic seafood processing operations: Final report. Technical

report, AMEC, Dartmouth, NS, 2003.

[2] Name, and Other Name. Fuzzy modelling through logic optimization. In Proc. of the Annual Meeting of the North American Fuzzy Information Processing

Society (NAFIPS’05), pp. 494-499, 2005.

[3] First Author, S. Author, and Name, F. Blending methodologies for optimizing fuzzy inference engine designs. In Proc. of the Annual Meeting of the North

American Fuzzy Information Processing Society (NAFIPS’04), pages 593-598, 2004.

CGS D winner

B. Justification for Eligibility of Proposed Research - NEW

1 page

Complete if your research falls under the mandate

of more than one federal granting agency

Psychology, management studies, geography, phys

education, bio-med engineering, health,

bioinformatics, biostatistics etc

Answer: Why predominantly NSE?

Part 2 A

FREE FORM PAGE(S)* (attachments)

C. Contributions and Statement –2 pages (D)

Part I: Contributions to research and development

Part II: Most significant contributions to research

development (complete only if applying for a PGS D)

Part III: Applicant’s statement

a) Research Experience

b) Relevant Activities

c) Special Circumstances (Include if warranted!)

*Follow the format standards of the General Presentation found in

the instructions.

Student Name (PIN 1111111)

Contributions and Statement

Section 1: Contributions to research and development

Articles Submitted to refereed journals

Name, S.., Supervisor, A. Fast, accurate, transparent: fuzzy models designed using logic minimization. IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems.

Submitted May 2005, Ms. No. TFS-2005-0101. 31 pages. (MSc work)

Name, S.., Supervisor, A Fuzzy neural networks for intelligent hardware engines. Fuzzy Sets and Systems. Submitted April 2005, Ms. No. FSS-

D-05-00673. 27 pages. (MSc work)

Other refereed contributions

Name, S., Supervisor, A. (2005) Fuzzy modelling through logic optimization. Proc. of Annual Meeting of the North American Fuzzy Information

Processing Society (NAFIPS’05). pp. 494-499. (MSc work)

Name, S., Supervisor, A. (2004) Hardware design issues of fuzzy neural networks. Proc. of Annual Meeting of the North American Fuzzy

Information Processing Society (NAFIPS’04). pp. 587-592. (MSc work)

Another, A., Name, S.., Supervisor, A. (2004) Blending methodologies for optimizing fuzzy inference engine designs. Proc. of the Annual Meeting

of the North American Fuzzy Information Processing Society (NAFIPS’04). pp. 593-598. (MSc work)

Name, S. Networking video on palm pilot devices. Invited presentation of paper at the 2002 Atlantic IEEE Student Paper Competition, Halifax,

Nova Scotia, December 2002. (BEng work)

Section 2: Most significant contributions to research and development

During my work as a Master’s student I was able to pursue my interests in machine intelligence, focusing my efforts in the area of Computational

Intelligence (CI). CI encompasses key technologies including fuzzy logic (FL) and artificial neural networks (ANN), which are modeled after

natural processes to allow machines to in some ways “think” like people. The following describes three significant contributions from this period:

1) Fuzzy neural networks for intelligent hardware engines. Early on in my Master’s work, I studied how core CI mechanisms are highly parallel in

their information processing structures; to fully exploit their potential, customized electronic hardware implementations are desired. With the

potential for a wide range of industrial applications, I carried out exhaustive literature reviews in order to make an informed proposal of several

crucial hardware design issues. This lead to my creating a flexible simulation environment for performing extensive experimentation to investigate

these issues. With encouraging results, I prepared the NAFIPS’04 paper “Hardware Design Issues of Fuzzy Neural Networks” to address the

design issues, which was well received. The work then continued with further experimentation, and that paper was expanded into “Fuzzy Neural

Networks for Intelligent Hardware Engines”, currently under review by Fuzzy Sets and Systems, a journal we felt would allow the work to reach a

wide range of CI researchers who develop fuzzy logic technologies, theorists and industrialists alike.

2) Blending methodologies for optimizing fuzzy inference engine designs. This work involved a successful collaboration primarily between myself

and Supervisor, as we set out to create a highly configurable information processing architecture. The platform was based on a previous design

of S’s, which we further developed as the Data Flow Processor (DFP), synergistically combining software and hardware development

techniques. With an interest in intelligent control applications in industry, my role was to develop a fuzzy logic-based controller based upon the

DFP platform. Once complete, the resulting controller consistently outperformed state-of-the-art and industry-standard fuzzy controllers. Due to

the success of the research, we co-ordinated efforts in preparing the NAFIPS’04 paper “Blending methodologies for optimizing fuzzy inference

engine designs”, which introduced the novel architecture and presented the performance results. We also published the DFP architecture itself in

OpenCores, an open source repository of digital hardware designs. It has gained attention as a unique and useful design, and has been adopted

CGS D winner

Student Name (PIN 111111)

by several researchers, as well as an established company, Acme Inc., in the development of their electronic instruments and systems.

3) Fast, accurate, transparent: fuzzy models designed using logic minimization. Later in the Master’s research, I became interested in the idea of

fuzzy modelling, which is essentially the automatic construction of predictive system models that are uniquely linguistic in nature, allowing them

to predict system behaviour while simultaneously being easily understood by humans in order to gain insight into the system’s functions. I

concluded that my research in hardware-based CI was essentially working towards a dedicated hardware architecture for learning and building

knowledge bases (fuzzy models) of humanoriented concepts from which to behave and react in complex and dynamic environments. With some

advice and ideas from my supervisor, we decided to take the research focus away from hardware development, as it was logical to first

concentrate on the creation of a sound methodology for automatic fuzzy model identification, based upon CI theories. The research was highly

successful, resulting in modelling tools that achieved an excellent level of efficiency on standard computing platforms, with immediate availability

to others in the form of a software package. I composed the NAFIPS’05 paper “Fuzzy modelling through logic optimization” to introduce this novel

fuzzy modelling environment, further expanding it into “Fast, accurate, transparent: fuzzy models designed using logic minimization”. As we felt

the work was a significant advancement in the field of fuzzy modelling, we decided to submit to the journal IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems,

as it is the top-rated international journal for fuzzy logic research.

Section 3: Applicant’s statement

a. Research experience. I have been fortunate enough to have been conducting research in an academic environment for nearly four years,

beginning as an undergraduate research assistant under the guidance of Dr. X. Rather than the more common industry work terms where

students were given little freedom or responsibility, working in Dr. X’s lab provided formidable challenges while working in areas of wireless

communications and image processing; it proved to be a true test of my abilities and allowed me to significantly develop my fledgling engineering

skills. The experience gained during this time proved extremely valuable as I entered into my Master’s program under Dr. Y, switching into

intelligent systems research (a childhood fascination). As much more is expected from graduate research versus undergraduate, the demanding

program required me to develop my skills quickly and effectively. The work involved a rigorous combination of theoretical and experimental

research in developing new and useful methodologies for the application of fundamental theories in computational intelligence, a field in which

Dr. Y is highly regarded. As a result of the Master’s, I have a high level of confidence in my knowledge of CI and my ability to apply it using skills

in electrical and computer engineering. It is expected by myself as well as my Doctorate supervisors that this knowledge will be heavily drawn

upon for the proposed research.

b. Relevant activities. I have enjoyed developing my presentation skills while giving countless informal talks along with formal presentations to

engineering classes and at paper competitions and international conferences. As well, in recent years the importance of the written word has

become quite apparent to me, providing a powerful means of communicating research results to the rest of the world. I have competed in and

won several paper competitions, and composed several conference papers and manuscripts during my Master’s work, always attempting to

improve my abilities in articulating new concepts and theories well enough to leave an impact on the reader. Further, I have held teaching

assistant positions in five courses spread over two universities, where, along with giving tutorials, I spent much time interacting with students in

order to help troubleshoot problems and provide guidance during their larger projects. Finally, I have had the pleasure to participate in numerous

collaborations over the years, including a visiting research position at the University of Bozen-Bolzano in Italy. They have helped greatly in

developing the leadership and interpersonal skills I needed for working with such a highly interdisciplinary research team at Memorial.

Section 1: Contributions to research and development

Articles published or accepted in refereed journals

Name, N. and Other, N., (2004) The use of proliferating cell nuclear antigen immunohistochemistry with a unique functional marker

to detect postnatal neurogenesis in paraffin-embedded sections of the mature pig brain. Brain Research Protocols. 13(2):69-75.

(BSc work).

Non-refereed contributions

Name, N. and Other, N.,. Interactions between neurotrophin and cell-adhesion dependent signalling. Poster presented at the

Society for Neuroscience annual international conference, San Diego, CA, October 2004 (MSc work).

Name, N. and Other, N., Subpopulations of adult DRG neurons show different responses to extracellular matrix molecule

stimulation. Poster presented at the Society for Neuroscience annual international conference, San Diego, CA, October 2004.

(MSc work).

Name, N. and Other, N.,. Postnatal neurogenesis in the vasopressin and oxytocin containing nucleus of the pig hypothalamus.

Poster presented at the Canadian Federation of Biological Sciences (CFBS) annual conference, Montreal on June 2002. (BSc

work).

Name, N. and Other, N., Postnatal neurogenesis vasopressin and oxytocin containing nucleus of the pig hypothalamus. Poster

presented at the Ontario Veterinary College Research Appreciation Day, Guelph, ON, October 2001. (BSc work).

Section 2: Most significant contributions to research and development

During my undergraduate degree, I worked on a research project producing 2 publications: 1) Postnatal neurogenesis in the

vasopressin and oxytocin containing nucleus of the pig hypothalamus, and 2) The use of PCNA immunohistochemistry with a

unique functional marker to detect postnatal neurogenesis in the mature pig brain, which I consider to be 2 of my most significant

contributions to research. As well, as a Master’s student, I have moved into a new area of interest and presented a poster for the

Society for Neuroscience international conference: 3) Interactions between neurotrophin and cell-adhesion dependent signalling,

which I also consider to be significant.

1) The research for this paper was begun as an undergraduate research assistant. I conducted the necessary library research to

develop a project proposal. Once this proposal was accepted, I learned the necessary techniques and carried out all of the

technical lab work required. I learned statistics to analyze data, prepared the manuscript for submission, and successfully

defended the content to peer review. The vasopressin and oxytocin-containing nucleus was extensively studied in the early 1990s,

but I was the first to conclusively show that postnatal neurogenesis was the cause of nucleus expansion. The study of postnatal

neurogenesis is important, not simply as an explanation of porcine reproductive behaviour, but on a broader scale as a potential

treatment for neurodegenerative disorders.

2) This paper resulted as an extension of my first publication. Due to the nature of the subjects

CGS D winner (Cell & Mol. Biology)

involved in the neurogenesis study, traditional measures of cellular proliferation were untenable. It became necessary to

employ a well-used technique from another field in a new way. For this publication, I researched and proposed the idea,

completed the necessary labl work, analyzed the data, prepared the manuscript draft and successfully defended it to peer

review. By testing the use of PCNA as an accurate marker of cell proliferation when used under appropriate conditions, and

proposing that a hormone secretory product can be used as a neuron specific marker, it opened up a method of studying

neurogenesis in large animals without the safety risks associated with traditional methods. By choosing to publish this paper in

a protocols journal, I made the technique widely available to other researchers.

3) The research for this poster came from the early work of my Master’s project. While the initial ideas for this project were

given to me by my supervisor, I have done the necessary library research and am now directing and carrying out my own

experiments and doing data analysis for a poster presentation at an international conference, and a manuscript that is in

preparation. By understanding the factors involved in the initiation and extension of neurite processes, we can then optimize

axonal regeneration following damage.

Section 3: Applicant’s Statement

a. Research Experience

Throughout my honours and undergraduate research assistantship, I have gained extensive scientific abilities in

library reserach, project development, immunohistochemistry, statistics, manuscript preparation, journal selection, defense to

peer review and student supervision and mentoring. Following my undergraduate research assistantship position, I volunteered

in a neuroscience lab with technician duties, and shortly thereafter, served as the laboratory supervisor, overseeing four

undergraduate project students, ensuring their proficiency in the required techniques, and troubleshooting. For the past year, I

have been working as a Msc student in the lab of Dr. Z. This project has introduced me to an entirely new set of laboratory

techniques, including western blotting, immunocytochemistry, cloining and cell culture, expanding my repertoire of technical

skills and tools I can use to investigate, and providing me with the autonomy and qualities necessary to become a productive

researcher.

b. Relevant Activities

As a graduate student, I have been given a great deal of opportunity to practice my presentation skills, by

participating in a seminar series each semester, and winning the top Master’s student prize in the Golden synapse competition

for excellence in research presentation skills. Furthermore, I work as a laboratory demonstrator/teaching assistant for

neurology and neuroanatomy medical school courses, and volunteer with the “Let’s Talk Science” program, traveling province-

wide to public and secondary schools doing scientific demonstrations and judging science fairs. I also serve as the graduate

student representative on the Faculty Development Committee. Outside of the university, I volunteer with Easter Seals as an

event operator, for which I recently organized and led the karaoke event as part of a large fundraising team at a local event.

Until recently, I worked as a group fitness leader, communicating instruction to large groups of participants, using knowledge of

anatomy to infuse classes with educational tips. As an undergraduate student, I organized and ran a study group for

psychology students, and have extensive tutoring experience.

NSERC home

NSERC Program Guide for Students and

Fellows

NSERC Tutorial Videos *

NSERC Online services

Master’s Program

NSERC’s information and instructions for

completing an application

NSERC blank form 201

Important NSERC sites

http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/index_eng.asp

http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Students-

Etudiants/index_eng.asp

http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Students-

Etudiants/Videos-Videos/Index_eng.asp

http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/OnlineServices-

ServicesEnLigne/Index_eng.asp

http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Students-

Etudiants/PG-CS/CGSM-BESCM_eng.asp

http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/OnlineServices-ServicesEnLigne/instructions/201/e.asp

http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/OnlineServices-ServicesEnLigne/pdf/F201_e.pdf

SGS

GSU

SGS is here to help you!Gail Lamkin 864-2600

glamkin@mun.ca

School of Graduate Studies

Brunneau Innovation Centre

2nd Floor

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