CREMS Summer Research Program
The Comprehensive Research Experience for Medical Students (CREMS) Summer Research Program provides opportunities each year for medical students enrolled at the University of Toronto to participate in a full-time summer research project between their first and second year, or second and third year of medical school, under the supervision of a faculty mentor. The CREMS Program is only open to current University of Toronto students.
Duration
The CREMS Summer Research Program runs for 10 to 12 weeks from late May/early June to mid/late August. Students will work on the research project on a full-time basis with one week granted for holidays. Students are to arrange holidays with their supervisor directly.
Stipend
A stipend of $5,500 is included; CREMS will contribute $2,750 and the supervisor will be responsible for $2,750. The supervisor is also responsible for any extraneous study or travel expenses.
NOTE: The option of invoicing for student payments was introduced as a courtesy during COVID because the HR departments at hospitals were too overwhelmed to onboard CREMS and GDipHR students. We are pleased that this is no longer the case and will no longer offer this option to PI’s. PI’s are responsible for arranging student payment for their portion of the stipend. Please remember that a student’s after deduction pay must be the equivalent of $2750.
2024 CREMS SUMMER PROJECT CATALOGUE
30. Drewlo, S - Optimizing Pregnancy through PLGF Pharmacological Advances in Placental Biology.pdf
52. Ferguson, P - The Impact of a Regional Outreach Program in a Centralized Sarcoma Centre.pdf
73. Roche-Nagle, G - Women’s abdominal aortic Aneurysm - Repair early Or at threshold.pdf
77. Freeman, S - Targeting the glycocalyx in cancer an adaptation for immunoprotection.pdf
107. Ballios, B - Discovering human retinal organoid models of inherited retinal diseases.pdf
126. Madjunkova, S - Profiling of the Human Embryo Metabolic Response to Ploidy by NMR.pdf
Please note that CREMS will not support any pre-determined student/supervisor pairings. Supervisors must agree to open their projects to all students who apply and interview all students that are interested.
Faculty submissions are due February 9, 2024. The CREMS 2022 Supervisor and Project Information Form can be found here: Supervisor & Project Information Form. Due to the overwhelming number of faculty submissions to the program we do not have the capacity to review more than one project submission per faculty therefore you may only submit 1 project per year.
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Projects must be remote-capable (in case of new restrictions) or have an alternative remote option outlined. “The decision about where the project occurs (remote or in a lab) will be decided by the supervisor based on the policies in place at the supervisor’s institution during the time of the placement, and the specific circumstances of the lab.”
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Interested faculty should complete a Supervisor & Project Information Form email it to crems.programs@utoronto.ca by February 9, 2024.
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When saving your submission, please use the following format: Last Name, First Initial, Project Title.
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Submitted projects will be reviewed and scored by the CREMS adjudication committee. We typically receive 150+ applications and can fund around 40-50 projects. CREMS positions will be offered to the supervisor/projects with the highest scores. We expect to complete the review process and notify successful applicants that their project will be posted by April 1, 2024.
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Accepted projects will then be posted below on the CREMS website and medical students will be invited to apply directly to the supervisors. Supervisors should interview at least 5 interested applicants and select one student to work with. In the interest of fairness, we require that supervisors do not pre-select a student to work with. Supervisors are required to list all the students that were interviewed along with the name of the selected student. Interviews must occur after April 8, 2024
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We only allow ONE student per project. Once the selection is made supervisors are to notify the CREMS office by May 1, 2024
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Once a student is selected and CREMS is notified of the selection, supervisors will be sent a Mentor Agreement Form to be signed by the supervisor and the student. This agreement outlines that the supervisor and student agree to work on the funded project, understand the expectations of the program, and that the supervisor agrees to pay half of the total stipend in the amount of $2750. Supervisors payments must also be arranged through their own finance department. CREMS is not able to invoice or pay on a supervisors behalf. Please note, the Mentor Agreement Form is obtained by advising CREMS of your student selection. A template will not appear on the website.
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The dual-signed, Mentor Agreement Form must be sent to CREMS by May 15, 2024.
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Write to us at crems.programs@utoronto.ca if you have any questions or require further details.
Application Process
Requirements for successful completion
Upon completion of the Summer Program, students will be required to submit via email to Lisa at crems.programs@utoronto.ca. A call for these deliverables will go out the first week of September and will be due the first week of October.
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Formal Project Abstract fit for publication
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Supervisor and CREMS Program Evaluation Form
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One-page Informal Report outlining the student’s research experience
A call for these deliverables will go out in September
Students are required to participate in the annual Medical Student Research Day held in February of the following year, by submitting an abstract and presenting a poster of their findings. Successful completion of the Summer Program will be evaluated by the CREMS Program Director and Coordinator.