Ready for Research

This badge program is open to all undergraduate students at the University of Calgary. In order to receive the badge, you must register and participate in one required workshop, as well as four out of ten optional workshops.

You will learn to:

• Build your understanding of what undergraduate research involves while developing an appreciation and respect for diverse ways of knowing, doing, and practicing research across campus.
• Understand the many undergraduate research opportunities available to you at UCalgary and develop some strategies to get involved.
• Understand the numerous skills you can develop through a research experience and begin to develop a reflective research practice by exploring your interests and goals and formulating a research journey plan to support your next steps.

Facilitators: Dr. Kyla Flanagan, Ph.D.
Method of delivery: Online
Date: Week of October 2

Undergraduate research is a category of experiential learning that provides students with high-quality research experiences that intentionally evoke students’ curiosity, engage students in the process of discovery, ensure there is an opportunity for students to disseminate findings, and extend student learning through critical reflection. When students engage in this type of hands-on learning, they develop skills like working effectively with others, solving complex real-world problems, and acquiring work-related knowledge and skills. In this session, students will explore different research paradigms and how undergraduates can participate in research at UCalgary.  

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• Define undergraduate research and describe where undergraduate research can occur 
• Describe what a micro-credential is and list the requirements to earn the Ready for Research micro-credential. 
• Identify your current abilities in terms of research skills and identify skills you would like to develop through this micro-credential. 
• Identify areas of research interest and start to develop a plan to engage in research and create a SMART goal concerning research and the Ready for Research micro-credential 

Facilitators: Dr. Jennifer Cuthbertson, Ph.D., Dr. Mindi Summers, Ph.D., Dr. Kyla Flanagan, Ph.D.

Method of Delivery: In-person  

Date: Week of October 16

Where do research ideas come from? How do researchers come up with novel questions? How do researchers take their curiosities and formulate them into a project? Identifying a research topic and developing a research question can be one of the toughest steps in the research process. In this session, we will provide students with strategies to develop their creativity, identify an area of interest, narrow a broad topic into a productively focused one, and construct a research question.

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• Develop skills to promote creativity in research and question generation, including brainstorming (divergent thinking) and question selection (convergent thinking).
• Practice integrating reflection and metacognition into your research design and practice.
• Understand the importance of engaging and working with others to build your own creative capacity.
• Describe ways to develop creative approaches.
• Identify barriers to creativity in research.
• Describe the work habits of a creative person.

Facilitators: Dr. Jenny Godley, Ph.D.

Method of Delivery: In-person

Date: Week of October 30

This session will introduce students who are planning to conduct research with human participants to the research ethics process. We will begin by discussing the history of research ethics, both in the medical sciences and in the social sciences. We will then explore the theoretical underpinnings of research ethics, including Indigenous perspectives. Next, we will examine current regulatory requirements for ethical research with human participants, including the TCPS2 and OCAP(R). We will end the session with a discussion of the ethics application process at the University of Calgary.

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• Describe the history of research ethics.
• Describe Indigenous research and ethics.
• Describe what research ethics look like at UCalgary.
• Describe what makes a good ethics application.

Facilitator: Keeta Gladue, Aylin Arzola Salazar

Method of Delivery: Online 

Date and Time: Week of November 06

Description: Interested in Indigenous research? In this session, participants will learn about the history of Indigenous research in North America as well as the wise practices and requirements for conducting research with Indigenous People today. Together we will discuss Indigenous community engagement as well as Indigenous data sovereignty, both of which you will need in order to participate in or design an Indigenous research project. This workshop is ideal for those curious about Indigenous research, community engagement, and what it means to conduct ethical research with Indigenous Peoples.

By the end of this session, students will be able to: 

• Grow your understanding of the complex history of Indigenous research in a North American context.
• Feel confident about your understanding of the Tri-Council criteria for Indigenous research.
• Identify the characteristics of community engagement from an Indigenous research perspective.
• Demonstrate understanding of Indigenous data governance frameworks such as OCAP or CARE principles.

Facilitators: Stephanie Vahaaho, Dr. Kyla Flanagan, Ph.D., Jennifer Logan

Modality: Online

Date: Week of November 21

Are you an undergraduate student interested in research? Are you looking for an opportunity to work with researchers on campus and strategies to approach research supervisors? Summer research studentships comprise many awards across campus, including Alberta Innovates Summer Research Studentships, Biomedical Engineering (BME), O’Brien Centre Summer Studentships (OCSS), Libin Cardiovascular Health Research Award, NSERC CREATE in Neurotechnologies Awards, Program for Undergraduate Research Experience (PURE) Awards, Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA) and others. Summer studentships provide financial support for University of Calgary undergraduates to conduct research for 8, 12 or 16 weeks between May and August. This session will outline strategies for finding a supervisor for undergraduate student research opportunities and the summer studentship application process. Students will have the opportunity to hear from past summer student researchers and develop a plan for applying for summer research.

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• Describe strategies for how to find a research supervisor and begin to develop a plan for contacting potential supervisors.
• Explain the summer studentship application system, process, and timelines.
• Describe how summer studentship applications are evaluated.
• Create a proposal for a summer research studentship in collaboration with a supervisor.
• Listen to and ask questions of previous summer student researchers.

Facilitators: Dr. Kyla Flanagan, Ph.D., PURE Faculty Coordinator Team

Method of Delivery: In-person

Date: Week of December 04

Come join us for a fun, informal social networking event with undergraduate faculty coordinators, research supervisors, and other students interested in research like you! We are thrilled to showcase the diverse opportunities available in the world of research and equip you with valuable tools to unlock your inner research potential. During this gathering, you'll have the chance to create new connections, explore ongoing research projects, and even enjoy a slice of pizza! Don't miss out on this enriching experience!

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• Gain a broader understanding of specific research opportunities offered at UCalgary and beyond.
• Be able to identify appropriate points of contact to seek undergraduate research opportunities.
• Build and initiate professional connections with other students, research supervisors, and PURE Coordinator team in the research context.

Facilitators:  Stephanie Vahaaho, Dr. Kyla Flanagan, Ph.D., Jennifer Logan

Modality: Online

Date: Week of January 08

Are you an undergraduate student interested in research? Are you looking for an opportunity to work with researchers on campus and strategies to approach research supervisors? Summer research studentships comprise many awards across campus, including Alberta Innovates Summer Research Studentships, Biomedical Engineering (BME), O’Brien Centre Summer Studentships (OCSS), Libin Cardiovascular Health Research Award, NSERC CREATE in Neurotechnologies Awards, Program for Undergraduate Research Experience (PURE) Awards, Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA) and others. Summer studentships provide financial support for University of Calgary undergraduates to conduct research for 8, 12 or 16 weeks between May and August. This session will outline strategies for finding a supervisor for undergraduate student research opportunities and the summer studentship application process. Students will have the opportunity to hear from past summer student researchers and develop a plan for applying for summer research.

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• Describe strategies for how to find a research supervisor and begin to develop a plan for contacting potential supervisors.
• Explain the summer studentship application system, process, and timelines.
• Describe how summer studentship applications are evaluated.
• Create a proposal for a summer research studentship in collaboration with a supervisor.
• Listen to and ask questions of previous summer student researchers.

Facilitator: Kathleen James

Modality: Online

Date: Week of January 22

This session will introduce students to a process for searching, accessing, and organizing high-quality research sources for a topic. We’ll begin by discussing how to develop search strategies for their research question incorporating synonyms and operators. Next, we’ll demonstrate how to execute a search in a relevant multi-disciplinary database, apply filters and other strategies to broaden or narrow a search and showcase some of the advanced functionality available in the database. We’ll then look at how to select, organize and manage the sources that are turned up by a search. Finally, we’ll go over the crucial role of citation in research and review the components of good citations. 

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• Create a search string containing synonyms for a given concept. 
• Identify the best database or information source for a topic. 
• Utilize operators such as truncation, phrase searching, and Boolean operators. 
• Understand methods to assess the quality of information. 
• Identify alternate sources such as archival materials, data, GIS, and traditional knowledge.  
• Understand the options for managing sources (e.g., citation managers) 
• Learn about the typical functionality of reference management tools. 
• Understand the importance of proper citing in a variety of citation styles. 
• Find and use supports available at the University of Calgary. 

Facilitators: Dr. Stephanie Warner, Ph.D. and Sarelle Azuelos (Knowledge Engagement Team)

Method of Delivery: Online 

Date: Week of February 05

Research can occur in many places, and it can impact or be interesting to a variety of different audiences, partners, and communities. In this workshop, the Knowledge Engagement team in Research Services will share considerations for partnering with the community for research, like reciprocity and co-designing projects. We’ll talk about “nothing about us without us,” and how new knowledge can reach the people and communities who can benefit from it. 

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• Explain the difference between participants and partners in research. 
• Feel confident approaching community in a professional and respectful way. 
• Find creative ways to mobilize knowledge. 

Facilitators: Noor Al-Zanoon (Alberta Innovates)

Method of Delivery: In-person

Date: Week of February 19

“They're gonna crush you like the cockroaches you are!”-Kevin O'Leary, Shark Tank. Improving your ability to see what value (if any) others will get out of a new discovery or offering is an essential life skill, whether or not you are gearing up to be on the next season of the Shark Tank. Join this workshop to develop your commercialization lens through hands-on activities. You will learn about the process for converting research discoveries into new products and services, why it is important, and how to think critically about which discoveries to advance in this way. The workshop will also highlight the diversity of careers and collaboration opportunities involved in commercialization. To top it all off, students will be introduced to resources and avenues for gaining experience in commercialization. 

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• Understand basic concepts of how and why research discoveries are commercialized. 
• Critically think about what makes an idea/discovery worth commercializing.  
• Understand the diversity of careers involved in commercialization and why they are important.   
• Provide students with an overview of resources for learning and participating in commercialization.  

Facilitators: Liliana Gonzalez 

Modality: Online 

Date: Week of March 04

This session will explore how you can take your research career to the next step. You will develop an understanding of how to reflect on your preferences (values, interests, and personality) and how these can guide your career planning. Also, we discuss opportunities available for researchers and how you can translate the skills you’ve acquired into different roles for your career. Additional resources that you can access for career development support will also be summarized.

By the end of this session, students will be able to: 

• Identify resources to support career development in research. 
• Build an understanding of how research can be integrated into one’s career. 
• Recognizing that research takes place beyond the university.