Cégep student mentorship program

The cégep student mentorship program is open to students and postdocs wishing to host and mentor one or two cégep students during a 10-15 week internship. The aims of this program are:

  1. To provide valuable mentorship experience to QBIN students and postdocs through mentoring cégep students
  2. To recruit the next generation of scientists by welcoming cégep students into bio-imaging labs and exposing them to research

Applicants will be asked to provide a short description of a research project for the intern(s) to complete. The project should be feasible for cégep students within the internship period, with a focus on education rather than research assistance. The interns should be actively involved in the project from the first week of the internship. Successful applicants will be given a $1500 mentorship stipend in recognition of the time and effort it takes to mentor cégep students with little to no experience in bio-imaging research.

The time of year and duration of the internships as well as related deadlines will differ depending on the cégep and university – see below for information specific to your city.

To learn more about what it’s like to participate in this program as a mentor and to see the types of projects that cégep interns could work on, read this post on the QBIN blog.

Montreal

PhD students and postdocs in Montreal can apply to participate as a mentor in the internship program run by Dawson College. As a mentor, you will host two students from Dawson College for 10 weeks during the summer (June to August).

Eligibility

  • Be a PhD student or postdoc at a university in Montreal
  • Be a QBIN member
  • Have approval from your research supervisor to host two cégep students in the lab

Time commitment and expectations

Mentors will be expected to have at least two meetings with the interns per week and spend a total of 40-50 hours on mentorship during the 10 week program. The interns are expected to spend 20-30 hours a week working on their project, though not all of this time will necessarily be spent with the mentor. Mentors are expected to attend the final presentations of their interns at Dawson College.

Application procedure

To apply for the QBIN mentorship award, please forward the following to rbiq@usherbrooke.ca:

  1. A short summary of the project that the cégep student interns would work on and your expectations of the students
  2. A cover letter explaining your interest in the program and what you hope to gain from the experience

Your application will be evaluated by the QBIN Executive Committee and if successful, your project proposal will be forwarded to the internship coordinator at Dawson College. You will then be matched with a pair of cégep students (two students will be assigned to work on each project) and given their contact details to plan the start of their internships.

Important dates

Application deadline: February 21, 2024, 11:30p.m.
Intern matching: April-May
Start of internships: Early June
End of internships and final presentations: Mid August

Sherbrooke

Université de Sherbrooke and Bishop’s University run an internship program with Cégep de Sherbrooke during the fall and winter semesters. To be eligible for QBIN’s mentorship award, you must first apply to participate in the internship program as a mentor.

How to apply to the internship program

  1. Ensure that you meet the eligibility criteria for mentors. To be eligible, you must:
  • Be a full-time student in 2nd or 3rd cycle of graduate studies (master’s or PhD) at Université de Sherbrooke or Bishop’s University, in a program linked to biotechnologies;
  • Have approval from your research director (or project instigator).
  1. Fill in the 2-page application form and forward it to the program coordinator, Jean-Philippe Gaulin (jean-philippe.gaulin@cegepsherbrooke.qc.ca). The deadline to apply for the fall semester is the end of May and for the winter semester it is the end of November.

Please consult the Cégep de Sherbrooke website for more information about the internship program or contact the program coordinator.

Once you have applied to participate in the Sherbrooke internship program as a mentor, you can then apply for the QBIN mentorship award. You can apply for the QBIN mentorship award at any time prior to the start of the internship.

To apply for the QBIN mentorship award

Please forward the following to rbiq@usherbrooke.ca:

  1. A copy of your signed application form that was submitted to the internship program coordinator
  2. A short summary of the project that your cégep student intern would work on and your expectations of the student
  3. A cover letter explaining your interest in the program and what you hope to gain from the experience

Other locations

We would like to expand the mentorship program to other locations in Quebec in the future. If you are located in a city not listed here (e.g. Quebec City or Trois-Rivières) and know of an existing internship program at a nearby cégep, or if you are interested in helping us expand the program, please get in touch with Estrid Jakobsen (estrid.jakobsen@mcgill.ca).