Andrea Quaiattini, Librarian, McGill Library

An internship at the McGill Library will provide students with opportunities to explore academic librarianship by partnering with one of the library’s four main units: User Services, Digital Initiatives, Collection Services, and Rare & Special Collections, Osler, Art and Archives (ROAAr). Over the course of their 8-week internship, students will have the opportunity to learn about, and work on projects in one or more of the following areas. Specific projects will be designed to best suit the interests and skills of candidates, along with the availability of librarian supervisors. They may include information literacy and research assistance, collection development (resource discovery and collection promotion, including exhibits and displays), user outreach, knowledge synthesis (literature reviews), scholarly communication (copyright, data management and open access).

Sandy Heriveux, Librarian, Nahum Gelber Law Library

In the Law Library, we have a wellness corner which includes books about how to de-stress and a puzzle. Law students like the space but would also like to see more in it. The IMPRESS student would look into best practices to support wellness in Libraries (this may include indigenous wellness practices, depending on your interest). They would also contribute suggestions to make the book collection more interesting (this could include suggestions of graphic novels, novels, other types of "fun books"). The student could also create an online book display of those new books to help promote them to the students.

Anna Dysert, Librarian, Collection Services

The proposed project hosted by the McGill Libraries will provide an opportunity to learn about how historical archives are collected, managed, described, and diffused to researchers and communities. You will have an opportunity to learn about and develop hands-on experience with the systems used for managing historical records. The core output of the summer project will be the creation of approximately 40 biographical summaries for historical figures associated with archival materials in McGill’s collections related to the Canadian fur trade. These biographical summaries will incorporate new research as well as new perspectives in archival practice, and will be featured in McGill’s Archival Collections Catalogue. The student will also have space to learn about and reflect on the ways in which what we collect and how we describe it is informed by historical and ongoing biases. They will also have the opportunity to learn about other activities related to rare books and archives, including digitization, preservation, exhibition work, and public education.

Tellina Liu, Archivist, Rare Books and Special Collections – McGill Libraries

As an archivist, I’m always looking for new entry points into our collections, in order to help more people find the resources we have that are useful to them. I work primarily with one collection, the Moshe Safdie Archive, which collects project materials and architectural drawings from an architect who is a McGill University alumnus. I propose that an IMPRESS student helps me create a libguide, which is a series of web pages that act as a digital guide for the collection. The student will conduct research about Safdie’s works and projects using the existing website and internal documents, create and populate a spreadsheet with information about the projects like dates of construction, if a project was built or unbuilt, and geographic location, to name a few. The student will also assist me with the construction of the libguide – I hope that the student and I can work together on deciding what is the most useful information to include, how to group together the information, and the format of the libguide that would be the most useful for future students and researchers

Karyn Moffatt, Professor, School of Information Studies

Digital technologies increasingly provide services to older adults, but while a growing majority readily adopt new digital tools, some—including the oldest old, as well as those living with disabilities, with limited income, and lower levels of education—remain disconnected. Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) may offer new ways of delivering services to these groups. Conversational agents (CAs) capable of engaging in human-like dialog might be easier for older non-users. Working with older adults and service providers, this project seeks to design, develop, and evaluate new CAs to support service delivery for older adults. In parallel, it will examine the ethics of employing CAs with older adults. CAs, and particularly the language models they use, raise substantial concerns over their potential to generate incorrect, biased, or harmful content and to violate privacy or expose sensitive information. This work will provide specific case-study opportunities to explore these concerns in the context of older users, including those with lower levels of technological sophistication. The IMPRESS student will contribute to this research, with exact tasks and responsibilities chosen to match their interests and skills.
 

Amélie Quesnel-Valléé, Professor, Sociology – Epidemonlogy

In Canada, a significant percentage of seniors serve as caregivers, with gender differences observed in caregiving tasks. While informal caregiving has been associated with reduced long-term care facility placements and lower fiscal costs, some studies highlight its adverse impacts on caregivers’ financial, mental, and physical health. In light of informal caregivers’ crucial yet vulnerable positions, the Quebec government has enacted a law recognizing and supporting their role, accompanied by a national action plan. In reality, caregivers are heterogeneous; however, current understanding of this heterogeneity is lacking. This study proposes a conceptual model that considers personal and structural factors and the unique caregiving context to examine various caregiving outcomes while acknowledging the potential buffering effect of positive caregiving experiences. Our findings will inform policy development that enhances the lives of caregivers. The student would also assist our post doctoral researcher in publishing other work in population aging from our CAnD3 Fellows and further push our knowledge mobilization strategy

Claudia Mitchell, Professor, Participatory Cultures Lab, Department of Integrated Studies in Education

Established in 2010 by Dr. Claudia Mitchell, the Participatory Cultures Lab is organized around the study and use of visual and participatory approaches to research and social action. The work of the PCL includes the study and use of visual tools such as digital storytelling, photovoice, participatory video, participatory archiving, cellphilms, objects and things, collage, and other arts-based approaches in the process of collecting, analyzing, and working with research data.

IMPRESS interns will support work originating from two particularly significant projects of the PCL; More Than Words’ (MTW) & Pathways2Equity (P2E), both funded by Women & Gender Equality Canada. 'More Than Words' uses art and intergenerational mentoring to empower Indigenous girls, young women and LGBTQ2+ youth to address sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and support survivors, families, and communities.‘Pathways2Equity: Youth-led, Indigenous-Focussed, Gender-Transformative, Arts-Based Approaches to Challenging Gender Norms in Addressing GBV’ is a project which grew from the calls to action from More Than Words to work in girl-informed ways with Indigenous boys and young men.

You will engage with research findings from MTW & P2E and will prepare knowledge translation resources for community and academic audiences (e.g. toolkits, reports, briefing papers, activity plans...). Students will create content for project websites, newsletters and social media channels. There will also be opportunities for involvement in the planning and execution events and initiatives in the PCL.

Stephen Peters, Professor, Office of First Nations and Inuit Education

Join the Office of First Nations and Inuit Education (OFNIE) team in developing and delivering higher education programming in partnership with First Nations and Inuit school boards. This IMPRESS experience is for those seeking experience on the administration side of educational programs (not research). Under the direction and partnership of six Indigenous education authorities, OFNIE delivers teacher education and professional development programs off campus and in community for students from 25 First Nations and Inuit communities. Each summer, OFNIE hosts one on campus course where students from different partnerships come together for a course at McGill University. You will work alongside the OFNIE team and partners to help facilitate and enrich the educational experience before, during and after the summer course. Outside of this summer course, the IMPRESS student would also work with the OFNIE team in our regular partnered program delivery. This project does not involve research. However, it could be valuable for students interested in educational administration and program delivery. Travel to a partnering community may be possible as part of this experience.

Jordan Koch, Professor, Kinesiology and Physical Education

Assist with one of two ongoing research projects involving Indigenous sport and physical education. The first project involves collaboration with First Nations hockey teams and requires hands-on learning in kinematics and other biomechanics-oriented research. The second project is a curriculum design collaboration with two First Nations high schools and endeavors to advance sport and physical education from Indigenous-specific standpoints. Other potential research options include helping to advance graduate student projects about the history of ice hockey and/or lacrosse in Indigenous communities.

Geneviève Sauvé, Professor, Education and pedagogy, the Douglas Institute

Participate in the design, implementation, and evaluation of focus groups to investigate potential facilitators and barriers of employment faced by Indigenous people. These focus groups could lead to the development of a culturally competent and safe adaptation of a psychosocial intervention aimed at improving employment outcomes in a way that will benefit them and honor their culture and philosophies. Students would be involved in this portion of the project as well and take part in the codesign of the intervention. The aim of this project is to develop partnerships with interested Indigenous communities and collaboratively explore their experiences regarding off-reserve employment using a qualitative participatory approach.

The study will follow the guidelines from the First Nations in Quebec and Labrador’s Research Protocol and the data will belong and be accessible to community partners as per the First Nations Principles of OCAP

Dennis Wendt, Professor, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology

This project seeks to understand the impact of the pandemic on well-being, mental health, substance use, and family support among Indigenous Peoples in Quebec and Atlantic Canada. We seek to understand the pandemic’s impact on access to culturally-safe treatment, including access to Indigenous traditional healing practices. The project is in partnership with multiple communities, including an urban shelter organization in Montreal and several First Nations communities. Qualitative interviews with clinicians, clients, and community members will be conducted in order to understand experiences and necessary resources. The study is guided by a Two-Eyed Seeing framework, and data is being analyzed using principles of thematic content analysis.

You will be assisting with community engagement, and activities might include joining lab meetings, attending one-on-one meetings with Prof. Dennis Wendt for training and direction, assisting with data collection, learning interview techniques, data entry and analysis, reading literature and undertaking other research activities, such as literature reviews and knowledge mobilization. The student will have the opportunity to gain hands-on research experience and be part of the Cultural and Indigenous Research in Counselling Psychology (CIRC) lab. There will be a network of Indigenous students and research assistants working on this project and opportunity for personal development and to build professional networks.

Alba Guarne, Professor, Department of Biochemistry

Bacterial DNA transposons are mobile elements that drive bacterial evolution and the spread of antibiotic resistance. In the laboratory, we study how one of these transposons, the Tn7 element, selects specific DNA target sites for insertion and ensures that its insertions are precise. Tn7 elements have recently gained notoriety for their capacity to be programmed to target specific sites on DNA and, in turn, their potential for genetic engineering purposes. In this project, students will work with a group of graduate students to characterize how Tn7 proteins interact with DNA and recognize specific sites for Tn7 insertion using a variety of biochemical and biophysical techniques.

Albert Berghuis, Professor, Department of Biochemistry + Department of Microbiology and Immunology 

Antibiotic resistance is a global problem that threatens our abilities to treat infections that used to be readily curable. Unfortunately, the impact of “antibiotic resistance” is most severely felt by disadvantaged communities, for example drug resistant TB is of particular concern for Canada’s Indigenous communities. The research project aims to examine the details of how bacteria are resistant to antibiotics using the latest technologies in biomedical research. Guided by this knowledge, the project will help advance novel drug therapy approaches. Specifically, using various biophysical and structural biological techniques, the project will study bacterial enzymes that cause resistance and will pursue the design of inhibitors to these resistant causing mechanisms. You will work with graduate students to discover in atomic detail how resistance occurs and uncover how chemistry causes antibiotics to no-longer work. Students will also participate in using computational approaches to design molecules that could block resistance.

Thomas Martin Schmeing, Professor, Department of Biochemistry

The overall goal of the Schmeing lab is to understand how large, natural biosynthetic enzymes make their interesting and important chemical compounds, known as natural products. Our favorite type of biosynthetic mega-enzymes are nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS), which synthesize compounds like the antibiotic daptomycin, the anti-tumour actinomycin and the immunosuppressant cyclosporin. We combine techniques called cryo-EM and crystallography, plus biophysical and biochemical experiments, to visualize and understand these awesome enzymes.

NRPS mega-enzymes work like molecular assembly lines. There are hundreds of thousands of NRPSs found in nature. In addition to the existing NRPSs that make known medicines, it should also be possible to make new (bioengineered) NRPSs, that could produce novel therapeutics. However, for the past three decades, bioengineering efforts have mostly failed. One major reason for this failure is that naïve bioengineering likely inadvertently disrupts important protein:protein contacts or flexibility that an NRPS needs to work. By visualizing and understanding the mega-enzymes, we may be able to better engineer them for new therapeutics.

The IMPRESS Branches student will work with a senior Schmeing lab member, with supervisoin from Prof. Schmeing, using a multi-disciplinary approach to purify, characterize, visualize and maybe even bioengineer NRPS megaenzymes.

David Stellwagen, Professor,  Integrated Program in Neuroscience

We have been screening for immune molecules that may serve novel functions in the nervous system, looking for factors regulated by neuronal activity. We have several candidates and need to test if they regulate synaptic function. This will entail using imaging to monitor neurotransmitter receptor levels in neuronal cell culture. You will learn cell culture, immunocytochemistry, and microscopy.
 

Irene Sarasua, Professor, Ingram School of Nursing

McGill’s Ingram School of Nursing is involved in the co-development of a primary care nurse-practitioner led clinic with one of our key clinical partners. We would like the clinic to respond to the needs of the population it is intended to serve, with a particular focus on individuals and families who have been historically underserved. In view of ensuring that the clinic structure and offerings respond to needs, we are looking to conduct a series of interviews and focused group discussions with members of the community. We plan to do so by contacting community organizations working in the area. Through these interviews and group discussions we would also like to identify potential members of a ‘community advisory group’ that will form an integral part of the clinic. The IMPRESS student would work closely with the team developing the clinic to identify and contact community organizations, plan and co-facilitate interviews/ focused-groups, and summarize key points.

Luke McCaffrey, Professor, Department of Oncology

Breast cancer is a major global health concern. This project will help to characterize molecular factors that are associated with poor patient outcomes, such as aggressive early disease or treatment resistance cancer. You will learn how to stain breast cancer tissues for specific molecules, perform advanced imaging with a microscope, and measure cell expression patterns from the images using open-source software. You will then apply this knowledge to characterizing the expression patterns of 1-2 potential bio-markers identified by our laboratory.

Jacques Lapointe, Professor, Department of Surgery, Division of Urology

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in Canadian men. Most prostate tumors can be cured, but a fraction of them relapse after treatment and can even be lethal. Unfortunately, we do not have a reliable way to predict at the time of diagnosis which tumors might be life threatening and may benefit of additional treatment. Genomic analyses of prostate tumors have revealed that different set of genes are expressed in aggressive cancers. We hypothesize that measuring the expression of these genes in patient samples will help predict clinical outcome. Our laboratory has identified several genes that can potentially serve as biomarker to distinguish aggressive from indolent cancers. The overall goal of the project consists of measuring the expression of one of these biomarker candidates in tumor samples and try to correlate the results with the clinical data. The work may involve the optimization of experimental conditions, the application of the optimized technique such as immunohistochemistry on tissue samples, the scoring of the staining results, and the statistical analyses. The student will work under the guidance of a senior research associate who has the required expertise. Overall, the project should contribute to improve prostate cancer patient care.

Sébastien Breau, Professor, Department of Geography

“Geographies of income inequality in Canada”. Spatial inequality has become one of the defining issues of our time. Across several OECD countries, the income gaps between regions remain significant and in some cases, like Canada, are growing. Large metropolitan areas, in particular, appear to be pulling away from other areas, posing new challenges for policy makers concerned with more inclusive forms of regional economic development. This project looks at the evolution of uneven geographies of income inequality across different scales in Canada. Students interested in working on this topic with Professor Breau should have some basic knowledge of statistics and GIS skills.

Natalie Zeytuni, Professor, Center for Structural Biology

You will be involved in the design and cloning of bacterial plasmids, focusing on incorporating a selected protein or gene of interest. Your role will include working alongside graduate students in the process of manipulating bacterial DNA, with an emphasis on constructing and inserting plasmids for the expression of the designated protein.

This experience offers practical insights into molecular biology techniques, providing valuable skills relevant to the fields of genetics and biotechnology. As a participant in our research, you will be part of a collaborative and supportive team, contributing to ongoing scientific exploration in genetic engineering.

Join us for a summer where your involvement will play a meaningful role in advancing research. This opportunity aims to provide a hands-on learning experience, allowing you to contribute to the project while gaining practical knowledge in the field of molecular biology.

Center for the Physics of Materials, Department of Physics

How will the materials of tomorrow work? The Center for the Physics of Materials focuses on research that advances our understanding of the structure of matter, and how this can be applied to create new technologies useful for society. 

Exploring the twist in graphene multilayers, Professor Michael Hilke

Graphene is one of the most fascinating materials discovered in the last 20 years; composed of a singe sheet of carbon atoms it was found to have some of the highest mobilities combined with exceptional strength. More recently, a new twist emerged, with the discovery of multilayer twisted graphene, which has shown superconductivity and extreme non-linear optical effects at some “magic” twisting angles (the angle between two single atomic layers). In this project, the student will synthesize twisted graphene and characterise the non-linear optical properties for different twist angles. This project will involve hands-on experimentation with materials synthesis and advanced optical characterization and analysis guided by in-house numerical simulations.

Towards automation of an Atomic Force Microscope system, Professor Peter Grutter

Atomic Force Microscopes (AFM) allow the imaging, characterization and manipulation of surfaces with atomic resolution and sensitivity. These microscopes have a slow throughput and need dedicated operators. We are developing a system-agnostic framework for automating the experiments that can be performed with AFM to increase imaging and manipulation throughput. This generic software framework will allow automation components to be reused by multiple AFM systems from different vendors. An initial versions exist online. Students will study device scripting documentation and device manual, prepare a development environment for one of the systems, write code implementing device controllers for one of the AFM systems, and use the pre-existing test framework to validate base functionality of the controller(s).

Exploring a New Continuum Field Theory for Rapid Solidification, Professor Nik Provatas

Recent years have seen the development at McGill of an exciting class of models coined phase field crystal (PFC) models that couple interface kinetics to atomic-scale elasto-plasticity and topological defects in non-equilibrium phase transformations. These in include rapid solidification of liquid metals following rapid laser melting, a process at the heart of modern 3D metal printing.  The Intern will work with a PhD student in the Computational Materials Science Group to explore the phase space of a recently published PFC model. The focus will be to elucidate how strains emerging at rapidly fluctuating interfaces spawn defects and voids that migrate into and create metastable crystalline phases.

Centre for High Energy Physics, Department of Physics

What are the fundamental constituents of nature, and how can we study them? In the Centre for High Energy Physics, we seek to understand the fundamental forces of nature, along with the properties of matter at the most basic level, and to develop new techniques which advance our understanding of particle physics, nuclear physics, and astroparticle physics. We build instruments and detectors that are used in particle physics experiments at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, Canada’s accelerator center TRIUMF, and SNOLAB, the world’s deepest underground laboratory. 

Operation of a liquid Xenon Cryostat and comparison of data to simulations, Thomas Brunner

The EXO (Enriched Xenon Observatory) collaboration is searching for lepton-number violating neutrino-less double beta decays (0νββ) in Xe-136. A positive observation would require the neutrino to be its own anti-particle, i.e. the neutrino has to be a Majorana particle, and shed light on various open questions in neutrino physics. The EXO collaboration is pursuing the development of the next-generation experiment called nEXO. This advanced detector requires the development of new technologies as well as detailed knowledge of the underlying physical processes to reach a sensitivity goal to the 0νββ half-life of 10^28 years.
We have been developing the Light-only Liquid Xenon (LoLX) experiment at our lab at McGill which aims to measure the emission of Cherenkov light in liquid xenon (LXe), investigate crosstalk between silicon photomultiplier devices, and deepen our understanding of light emission in LXe. These measurements will help constrain our simulation models for nEXO. LoLX may also improve event identification and suppress backgrounds by separating events where one or two electrons are emitted. This summer, we plan to perform several measurements with SiPMs installed in our upgraded LoLX cryostat. In addition, we plan to characterize the performance of these devices under intense UV light irradiation.

Your main task will be to simulate the expected response function of SiPMs in LoLX using the ray-tracing package CHROMA (GPU-based). You will also support the operation of the cryostat, participate in data taking campaigns and compare simulation results to recorded data. You will be embedded within the local neutrino group at McGill and learn about particle physics, the use of liquid xenon as a radiation detector, and how to read cryogenic temperatures using thermocouples and RTDs
This project is aimed at undergraduate students at all levels. All you need is an interest in nuclear/particle physics and a strong willingness to learn. Programming knowledge in any language (C or Python preferred) would be beneficial but is not necessary, as we have local experts who will be happy to teach you. You will apply your knowledge of thermodynamics in a real life experiment, and take part in the operation of the upgraded LoLX cryostat.

Trottier Space Institute, Departments of Physics & Earth and Planetary Sciences

What is the structure of the universe? Are there other worlds out there like our own? What is the nature of dark energy and dark matter? The Trottier Space Institute is an interdisciplinary center that brings together researchers engaged in astrophysics, planetary science, atmospheric science, astrobiology and other space-related research at McGill. 

Building a Monitoring System to Measure Glacial Melt, Cynthia Chiang

Measuring glacier melt in the high Arctic provides critically important information on climate change. This project focuses on the development of low-cost glacier melt monitoring instrumentation, consisting of poles that are embedded in the ice and that are outfitted with electronics to measure and record the resonant frequency. The resonance depends sensitively upon the length of the pole that is exposed above the ice, thus providing a measure of changes in the height of the glacier surface. The student who takes on this project will build a prototype of this monitoring system, with a focus on developing the electronics and logging, and will conduct prototype testing and validation. The work will be performed in a collaborative environment, with regular guidance provided by a PhD student and other research group members.

Surveying Exoplanet Atmospheres with the Ariel Mission, Nicolas Cowan

The IMPRESS summer researcher in the McGill Exoplanet Characterization Alliance will work with Professor Cowan on the design of the Ariel mission, a space telescope launching in 2029 to complete a survey of exoplanet atmospheres. The student will develop and use Python software tools to simulate Ariel observations of exoplanets. They will learn about scientific programming, atmospheric science, and exoplanet observations.

Simulating Kilonova Lightcurves for Future X-ray Telescopes, Daryl Haggard

The merger of two neutron stars or a neutron star and black hole produces gravitational waves: ripples in the fabric of spacetime. These events also shine across the electromagnetic spectrum. In particular, these mergers eject large numbers of free neutrons, which then combine to produce radioactive isotopes of the heavy elements, including silver, gold, lead, and uranium; these freshly-synthesized isotopes decay and their products thermalize to power an ultraviolet/visible/infrared transient source known as a kilonova. By establishing the association between a kilonova and gravitational waves---as was done for the first time (and only time to date) in 2017 for the event GW170187---we can study the nucleosynthesis of the heavy elements, the neutron star equation of state, and fundamental cosmology. These same events can also drive a powerful short gamma-ray burst with a jet that shocks against the interstellar medium and gives rise to gamma-ray and X-ray emission. In this project a student will work with an existing python-based tool to generate time series (light curves) that model kilonovae and the likely associated X-ray emission from neutron star mergers. In particular, they will optimize these models to predict light curves visible to proposed space-based X-ray telescopes like STAR-X and AXIS.

Observing Pulsars and Fast Radio Bursts with CHIME, Vicky Kaspi

Fast Radio Bursts are a new and mysterious astrophysical phenomenon in which short (few ms) radio bursts appear randomly in the sky. Radio pulsars are rapidly rotating, highly magnetized neutron stars. As compact objects, they embody physical extremes of gravity, density and magnetic field. The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) is a new radio telescope recently built in Penticton, BC. CHIME's great sensitivity and large field-of-view (250 sq deg) enable the detection of many FRBs per day — in contrast to the fewer than 2 dozen discovered since 2007. CHIME is also an excellent pulsar observatory, able to detect hundreds of pulsars every day and enabling novel experiments using these high cadence observations.

There are proposed several possible research projects involving data from CHIME. Possibilities include improving FRB characterization, studying repeating FRBs, localizing FRBs, monitoring radio pulsars, and developing software tools to search for pulsars with CHIME.

Don Martin, Professor, Schulich School of Music

The Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake is located across the St Lawrence River from Montreal and thus, is one of the largest First Nation communities, population wise, in Quebec/Canada. With an on-reserve population of nearly 10 thousand Mohawks, it is filled with sports and sport related activities and infrastructure. What is missing from this rapidly growing and prosperous community is a musical/artistic infrastructure and an educational curriculum to support those interested in the performing arts (music).

This research project is intended to assess the gaps and needs in Kahnawake’s artistic/musical community and to determine what infrastructures & curriculums are needed to address this and/or any gaps. The project will also promote the musical arts and McGill’s SSoM community. Be it in learning instruments or being interested in musicology or other such categories.

Results from this project should provide a good picture as to what is needed, who is interested, and what can be done to address any infrastructure and curriculum needs. Also, this project could eventually help set up a musical/performance foundation for Kahnawake students to be recruited for McGill’s school of music.

Tasmia Hai, Professor, Department of Educational and counselling Psychology

Delve into the nuanced and essential role of advocacy within the realm of Canadian school psychology, employing a qualitative research approach to gain in-depth insights. The study aims to better understand the multifaceted dimensions of advocacy undertaken by Canadian school psychologists, exploring the strategies, challenges, and impact of their advocacy efforts in educational settings.

We will use qualitative methods, such as in-depth interviews and thematic analysis, to capture the rich narratives and diverse experiences of Canadian school psychologists engaged in advocacy efforts. Participants will be recruited through various existing connections, such as the Canadian Psychological Association School Psychology Advocacy group and provincial psychology associations, thereby ensuring a comprehensive representation of the Canadian educational landscape.

The investigation will identify ways by which school psychologists navigate complex socio-cultural and institutional contexts, advocating for the diverse needs of students and promoting inclusivity. It will explore the motivations driving advocacy initiatives, identify common challenges faced, and assess the perceived effectiveness of advocacy efforts in effecting positive change.

Jon Sakata, Professor, Integrated Program in Neuroscience

These projects involve working on the neural basis of vocal learning. Our lab uses songbirds as animal models to test and generate hypotheses about the brain mechanisms that shape vocal learning. The IMPRESS student(s) will receive training in histology, microscopy and behavioral and bioacoustic analyses.

Bryan Caron, Professor, The Neuro – Healthy Brains Healthy Lives, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences

In the proposed research project, join a software development team that works together with researchers in neuroscience to develop and make available software tools that are key to the collection, management and analysis of research data. You will be focusing on the integration of scientific software tools for the analysis of single-cell transcriptomics data. Single-cell transcriptomics is a cutting-edge molecular biology technique that analyzes gene expression at the individual cell level, providing insights into the heterogeneity within a cell population. By examining the RNA content of individual cells, this method allows researchers to uncover unique gene expression profiles, identify rare cell types, and understand cellular diversity in complex tissues.

Working alongside a welcoming and dedicated group of research software development professionals and in collaboration with researchers from the Neuro and McGill University, IMPRESS students would make key contributions to ensuring the developed tools and interfaces meet the needs of researchers.

Brian Chen, Professor, Integrated program in Neuroscience

Discover the molecules involved in wiring up a neural circuit

How are hard-wired neural circuits wired up so precisely? Our innate behaviors such as breathing and reflexes are not learned, and the neural circuits underlying them must be very precise for them to function properly. Our goal is to uncover the exact molecular code that can be used to hard-wire a neural circuit.

We address this by using different model organisms that have accessible hard-wired neural circuits. First, we identify molecules that are involved in a neuron’s wiring. In our projects, we characterize each molecule by deleting it and examining how the neuron’s wiring pattern is disrupted and how the animal’s behavior is impaired. We also insert the molecules into a different neuron to re-wire its synaptic targeting pattern to confirm the molecule’s function in wiring. These projects are a crucial first step molecularly for our understanding of how wiring occurs normally in the human brain, and thus how miswiring can occur in autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia.

Blake Richards, Professor, Neurology & Neurosurgery and Computer Science– Healthy Brains Healthy Lives, Faculty of Medicine 

In our lab, we are developing tests for artificial intelligence (AI) systems to distinguish their cognitive capabilities from those of humans. One area we're interested in is the learning of social reciprocity. In this domain we're working on a project inspired by the Manitokanac of the Métis, which were statues where goods could be shared, i.e. people would leave or take resources as needed.

We are exploring whether AI agents are capable of learning to engage in reciprocal sharing when they do not interact directly, since humans are capable of learning this. Our initial evidence shows that they are not, but we need to collect more data to be sure. Once we have collected this evidence, we will then ask what is missing from current AI systems that humans have for doing the “Manitokanac task”.

The students on this project will help the Métis graduate student doing this work by training additional AI models to gather a more complete picture of current models’ capabilities on this task. They will work closely with this student and help them to both collect and analyze the data.

Stuart Trenholm, Professor, Department of Neurology and Neuroscience

Project Description: What is science, why do we do it, and how do we do it? My lab studies the visual system - that is the part of the brain dedicated to processing the visual world. In the summer, you can get an overview of the types of experiments we do in my lab, why and how we're doing these experiments, and have the opportunity to assist with behavioral experiments in mice where we are studying their visual perception.

Simon Wing, Professor, Integrated Program in Neuroscience

Dementia is the most common neurodegenerative disease and results in enormous loss of quality of life for patients and their caregivers. Effective treatments are still lacking. My laboratory has found that knocking out the gene encoding the USP19 deubiquitinating enzyme in a commonly used mouse model of Alzheimer's disease results in markedly slowing of the progression of the disease. We are now testing which cell types in the brain are affected by USP19 and are responsible for these beneficial effects of loss of USP19. Inhibitors of USP19 may have similar effects and thereby represent a new treatment for Alzheimer's disease.

Arjun Krishnaswamy, Professor, School of Biomedical Sciences, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences 

Help run behavioral studies that measure the brain's ability to focus—a process known as attention. This powerful ability allows us to effortlessly identify objects in our environment which are relevant to our goals. It is believed to arise when systems of neurons in the brain, called circuits, amplify signals related to attended objects and/or suppress signals from irrelevant objects. Exactly where these circuits reside and how they work is unclear. To learn more, we will train mice to play a video game in virtual reality and measure their attentional focus using computational methods. Next, we will employ new methods in brain-wide imaging to identify parts of the brain (ie: cortex) which might generate attention. This project will include exposure to behavioral methods, visual neurosciences, programming, and potentially rapid prototyping (ie: 3d printing).

Mallar Chakravarty, Professor, Biological & Biomedical Engineering, The Douglas Institute

Brain imaging in mouse models can provide important information regarding disease and pathology. In our lab we derive phenotypes using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to derive brain phenotypes and we connect these to behavioural measures that we collect in the same animals. This allows us to establish biomakers that can be used to determine if novel treatments have an impact on anatomy and behaviour. Currently, we are using technology we have built to screen therapeutics in the context of neurodegenerative disorders.

Delphine Raucher-Chéné, Professor, Department of Psychiatry

Working has a beneficial effect on mental and cognitive health, especially when suffering from a severe mental illness such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia spectrum disorder. Hence, it positively impacts social relationships and could positively alter self-perception. Through this study, we would like to better understand the relationship between cognitive functioning and employment, considering different dimensions (self-esteem, internalization of stereotypes, and relationships at work). We expect that our results will contribute to improving the quality of life, well-being, and functioning of people with severe mental illness.

Signy Sheldon, Professor, Department of Psychology

Active decay theory suggests that forgetting can be minimized where there is reduced sensory stimulation post-encoding of an event. This theory has been tested in animal models, but not in humans. This project will address this knowledge gap. You will conduct a behavioural experiment in which undergraduate student participants will encode videos depicting complex events and then experience a flicker stimulus known to induce alpha oscillations in the brain, those that reduce sensory input, or a control flicker stimulus. The participants’ memory for various types of details within the events will be tested at an immediate and delay time period. The results of this study reveal what details are spared – and forgotten – from such complex memories when sensory stimulation is reduced post-encoding