Up to 15 studentships are available for qualified undergraduate and/or medical students to carry out summer research in diabetes in the laboratory of a member of the Banting and Best Diabetes Centre (BBDC). The student will be required to work full-time for a minimum of 12 weeks between May 1 and August 31, 2008.

The selected summer students and their supervisors must participate in the Summer Student Research Program which consists of a weekly Seminar Series beginning in June, and a half-day Mini-Conference at the end of the summer in August. Supervisors will be responsible for ensuring that their students submit a one-page abstract of their findings to the Program Coordinator before the Mini-Conference at the end of the summer.

• Applicant must be an undergraduate and/or medical student.
• This competition is not restricted to University of Toronto students.
• Students are required to find a supervisor. The proposed supervisor must hold a full-time faculty appointment with the University of Toronto, and must be conducting diabetes research. The proposed supervisor must also be a registered member* of the BBDC at the time of application submission. (*Faculty who are new to the field of diabetes research and are not members of the BBDC can request free membership by contacting the Centre prior to submitting an application. For more information, please see the Membership section of this website).
• To find a supervisor, students should approach professors with whom they are interested in working to discuss the possibility of a summer position. A list of BBDC members, their diabetes research interests, and contact information can be found on the BBDC's web site at http://www.bbdc.org/research/profiles.htm. Students can also contact the Summer Studentship Program Coordinator, Dr. Allen Volchuk, at the phone number or e-mail address below for the names of supervisors interested in hiring summer students.

The stipend will be a minimum of $4,800: $2,400 will be provided by the Banting and Best Diabetes Centre, and a minimum of $2,400 will be provided by the supervisor. The supervisor may provide additional funding.

Applications will be reviewed by a subcommittee of the BBDC Research Committee chaired by the Summer Studentship Program Coordinator, and will be evaluated on the following criteria:

• The research project, including relevance to diabetes
• The training environment in which the student will carry out their research project
• The student's academic record
• Special accomplishments or attributes relevant to the Summer Studentship application
• A minor component of the evaluation will be based on other factors that the reviewers consider relevant to this competition

• Supervisors must submit a completed application to the BBDC on behalf of the student by the deadline date (students cannot directly submit an application).
• Up to two (2) applications may be submitted by each potential supervisor, however, only one studentship will be awarded per supervisor under normal circumstances.

Download the 2008 Charles Hollenberg Summer Studentship Program application form

4 p.m., Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

All students and their supervisors will be notified by early April. Funding decisions will also be posted on this web site.

• Successful students cannot accept more than one summer studentship regardless of the source of funding.
• All selected summer students must attend a minimum of 75 percent of the weekly seminars and are required to give a presentation of their work at the Mini-Conference. Failure to comply with the program's requirements will result in future ineligibility of both the student and supervisor for BBDC funding programs.

For further information contact:

Summer Studentship Program Coordinator, Dr. Allen Volchuk
Phone: 416-581-7675 - E-mail: avolchuk@uhnres.utoronto.ca

Banting and Best Diabetes Centre
Phone: 416-978-4656 - Fax: 416-978-4108
E-mail: diabetes.bbdc@utoronto.ca - Web site: www.bbdc.org