Research

PHAR101 Slide Deck 2025:

Get to know the field of pharmacology and more niche subjects
Explore what it’s like to work in academic research
Learn academic skills like technical writing, literature searches, and how to read and write a paper
Learn transferable wet lab skills and data analysis
Build your resume for grad school, med school, or industry applications
Put your education to use for sick science!

There are multiple ways to be involved with research at McGill, but specifically in pharmacology, you have five options:

PHAR 396
PHAR 598/599 (year-long research project)
NSERC (Natural Science and Engineering Research Council) —through the through Medicine/Health Sci department
SURA (Summer Undergraduate Research Awards)
Independent arrangements

Pick an area of interest within the field—or just start browsing!
Look through faculty and their research on the pharmacology website
Make a list of professors whose work interests you and reach out via email!
Don’t limit yourself JUST to McGill professors! There are many experienced and interested researchers in other nearby academic institutions and hospitals!
Once you’ve gotten their approval, you’re probably going to have an interview!

Decide your intentions - do you want to volunteer? generally work in their lab? do a 396? an Honours project?
- The kind of work you want to do determines when you should start contacting professors and the requirements you might need.
- For NSERC/SURA, deadlines registration with your supervising professor for Pharmacology are in Februrary
- For 396 courses, deadlines are around add/drop period, but you will need to find a supervising professor and contact the course coordinator Dr. Jason Tanny before then
- For independent projects or general volunteer work, reach out and see where it goes!
Do your research on your potential supervisor’s work
- It’s important to make sure your interests align with their projects, and this will help you write a good email!
Draft and send that email!
- Protip: include your unofficial transcript in your first email if you’re proud of your GPA and/or want to show that you’ve taken the relevant courses, or else send it after you’re asked for it
- Note any past research experience/any experience within your field of interest that you’ve had! And if you don’t, fret not, just show your willingness & ability to learn!
Wait for a response—profs are super busy and it may take up to a week for them to get back to you. Feel free to send a follow-up email after a week or two in case your email got lost in their inbox.

Email DO's and DON'Ts

DO's

DON'Ts

Send mass generic emails
Send long emails
Vaguely explain your interest (i.e. “I want to do more research”)
Email a lot of professors all in 1 round
Take on a project you’re not interested in simply for the sake of ‘having something’

DO's

BREATHE - you don’t need to respond immediately to a question.
Be confident and honest.
Be prepared to CONVERSE - not just listen, nor to just talk.
Be concise and specific when you speak: aim to answer the core question at hand.
Come prepared with your own questions!

DON'Ts

Provide scripted CASPER responses: profs see right through it and likely won’t remember much about you.
Turn it into a praise session of the professor’s work :(
Talk ONLY about yourself and what you want.
Speak in negatives.