Students who are interested in future employment in research and have a keen interest to develop their research skills can now apply to the 2021 Match of Minds program.

The program provides research employment opportunities for students across all Faculties as well as non-Faculty units.

“We’re committed to supporting the development of students’ research skills and abilities that they can apply as research assistants at Brock and in their future careers,” says Vice-President, Research Tim Kenyon.

Alexandra Bula, a third-year Medical Sciences student, is a past recipient of the Match of Minds grant.

“This research funding has broadened my horizons to different qualitative and quantitative research and has been holistic, with a well-rounded introduction to the whole field,” Bula says. “Focusing on qualitative research and learning from my mentors made me analytically strong in data.”

With an offering of up to $5,000 for student employment, the program aims to improve students’ employability in their chosen field. For some students, this can open new avenues.

“This led me to a research assistant opportunity that was a great gateway between volunteering and being involved in research and getting hands-on experience,” says Bula.

Application for this year’s Match of Minds are now being accepted through an online portal accessible to students’ supervisors.

“The new Match of Minds portal system makes it easier and more efficient for supervisors and their students to apply for the funding, just one example of how the Office of Research Services is responding to researchers’ needs,” says Kenyon.

The application has two parts. Supervisors first fill out their portion of the application, then the student’s portion is automatically generated and sent to the student directly via email. The deadline to apply is Friday, March 12.

More details can be found in the Match of Minds Program Guidelines posted on the Research Enterprise’s internal SharePoint site.

NOTE: This story was written by Snedden Ferreira, Internal Communications Assistant in the Office of Research Services.