University of Toronto Excellence Awards (UTEAs)
Application period opens: February 3, 2025
Deadline: March 3, 2025 at 11:59pm
First-round offers by: March 28, 2025
Number of awards available: 6
Duration:14 full weeks, falling between May 1–August 31
Value: $7,500 ($5,250 with minimum research supervisor top-up of $2,250)
Award duration dates
The award period will begin no earlier than May 1, 2025, and end no later than August 31, 2025, totalling 14 full weeks during the summer term.
Note: If you are not selected in the first round, your name will be added to a waiting list in case any award becomes available. You may not receive any communication unless you are offered an award.
If you have questions about UTEAs, email ugta.ece@utoronto.ca or call 416-978-3145.
Overview
The University of Toronto Excellence Awards (UTEAs) are fellowships awarded to undergraduate students to work on research projects under the supervision of faculty members who hold an active NSERC research grant either as a principal investigator or co-investigator.
Each year, Natural Sciences and Engineering (NSE) allots The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Electrical & Computer Engineering Department a number of undergraduate research awards for the summer.
Note: The Division of Engineering Science administers its own awards. Contact the Division for more information.
Eligibility for students
You must be a Canadian citizen or Permanent Resident to apply for a UTEA. International students with a valid student visa for the full summer work term are also eligible.
You may hold only one UTEA per year and are allowed a maximum of three UTEAs throughout your university career.
Note: We encourage Canadian/Permanent Resident students who are working with ECE professors to apply for the NSERC USRA instead of the UTEA.
Student registration status
At the time you apply, you must be registered as a full-time student in a bachelor’s degree program at U of T, either in Natural Sciences and Engineering (NSE) or Social Science and Humanities (SSH). Priority for UTEAs is given to second- and third-year students and to first-time applicants.
You must have attended U of T as a full-time student from the beginning of your program. An exception is made if you needed only part-time registration in your final session to complete your degree. If you have graduated, you most hold the award in the session immediately following your final one and must not have started graduate studies.
Note: PEY Co-op students are NOT eligible for this award.
Academic standing and credits
You must have a cumulative average of at B+ or higher. For third- and fourth-year students, this average may be obtained by considering your best two years of study.
You cannot hold any degrees higher than a bachelor’s in NSE or SSH. You may hold a bachelor’s degree in another discipline and be studying towards a second bachelor’s degree in NSE or SSH.
You are permitted to take up to two courses during your UTEA (i.e., 0.5 FCE in each summer term) — only if your UTEA supervisor agrees. If class times are during UTEA working hours, you will need to arrange to make up the time. (The UTEA should be the priority. If the workload becomes unmanageable, you will need to drop the course.)
You will not receive academic credits for your UTEA project.
UTEA restrictions
- You may only be nominated in one department under one supervisor.
- You cannot apply for both a NSE and SSH UTEA in the same year.
- You cannot concurrently hold a UTEA and an NSERC USRA.
Eligibility and timeline for research supervisors
Eligibility
To be eligible, a supervisor must hold an active NSERC or SSHRC research grant (either as the principal investigator or co-investigator) while their student holds the UTEA award. An exception is made if the supervisor is actively seeking funding — that is, the supervisor has submitted an application to an eligible NSERC or SSHRC program as defined by the UTEA guidelines (see below) — and the results are pending.
A supervisor may support a maximum of two UTEA applications.
A member of U of T faculty who holds exclusively NSERC Research Tools and Instruments, Canada Research Chairs, Canada Excellence Research Chairs or Infrastructure Grants are not eligible.
For complete details, please see here.
Administrative timeline
April
First-round, verbal offers of UTEAs happen in early April.
The Registrar’s Office contacts successful applicants’ PIs to prompt them to complete an application using the MY Research – Application (MRA) online system for each UTEA applicant. (This replaces the paper RIS Application Attachment Form used in previous years.) The supervisor accesses the MRA through the Vice President Research and Innovation RAISE project page or through Campus Business Connect.
Important: The MRA record will not be saved and your application not submitted unless you attach a document to the MRA record; this document may be a copy of your proposal (Part II of the application).
The Research Services office completes an administrative check of the UTEA award list and establishes a research fund account for each eligible UTEA under the research supervisor.
May
The Research Services office issues a UTEA award letter to the research supervisor and provides a copy to the Department Chair and Dean of U of T Engineering.
Administrative support staff process the PI top-up payment.
It is the responsibility of the research supervisor to communicate all award, payment and reporting details to the student since these awards are not administered by the ECE Undergraduate Office.
How to apply
To apply for a UTEA, you must create an application package that contains the three parts below in one PDF document. All documents must be typed. Handwritten applications will not be accepted.
- Complete PART I of the 2025 UTEA Application (Student Profile).
- Have your Proposed Supervisor complete PART II of the 2025 UTEA Application (Proposed Supervisor and Research Project).
- Combine the following into the application package as a single PDF with the following naming convention: "LastName, FirstName – UTEA.pdf" (file size under 10 MB only). Please include: Your completed UTEA Application Form (Part I [student profile] and Part II [proposed supervisor and research project])Unofficial ACORN Academic History (with your name visible on the print-out)
- Complete the Application Submission Form by Monday, March 3, 2025. Please upload your entire application package you created in the previous step.
Incomplete or late applications will not be considered.