OBW Summer Research Program
  • Please note: the deadline for applications to participate in the 2012 Summer Research Program passed in December 2011. Please check back in fall 2012 for information on the summer 2013 program.

The Ontario/Baden-Württemberg Summer Research Program is open to Ontario graduate and undergraduate students in science, engineering, and health science disciplines. Each successful applicant will spend between 2 calendar months (minimum) and 4 calendar months (maximum) in summer 2012 at a university in Baden-Württemberg (southwest Germany) engaged in research projects relevant to her/his studies in Ontario.

Using funds provided by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, the Ontario/Baden-Württemberg Student Exchange Program (OBW) will award to each selected participant a scholarship of between $2,600 and $4,400 (depending on length of stay). Nominated students may also seek further financial assistance at their home universities.

Undergraduate students must be in at least the second year of their studies when applying, and graduate students may apply at any stage of their studies. With regard to undergraduate students, some priority will be given to students who are at more advanced stages of their studies.

Participants must be citizens or permanent residents of Canada.

Appropriate academic credit may be granted for participation in this program at the discretion of the student’s home university.

Finding a Research Placement

Students must have a prearranged placement when they apply to the Summer Research Program. Interested students should in the first instance seek assistance in finding an appropriate placement through professors in their area of study at their home university. In many cases, students have secured placements with the help of a professor at their home university who has academic contacts with a university researcher in her/his own discipline at a university in Baden-Württemberg.

In the event that professors at a student’s home university are unable to help mediate a placement with a colleague at a university in Baden-Württemberg, students may of course identify and contact potential host professors independently, with a view to requesting a research placement. In doing so, it is important to emphasize the following, since individual professors may not be familiar with the OBW Program:

  • The Ontario-Baden-Württemberg Student Exchange Program (OBW) is a collaborative project of 15 universities in Ontario and all 9 research universities in Baden-Württemberg. It is supported by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities and by the Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst Baden-Württemberg. Further information on the program is available online at obw.ouinternational.ca and from each participating university’s International Office.

When writing to potential hosts, interested students should consider what skills and background they can offer that would make a professor’s experience of hosting an international student from Ontario a positive one.

The OBW Program regrets that neither it nor the international offices of the participating universities can provide assistance with securing placement opportunities.

How a Research Placement Works

The OBW Summer Research Program offers international educational opportunities. Participants are officially considered to be students and are not considered to be in either an internship or an employment relationship with the host professor or university. For this reason students should neither enquire about nor expect any financial remuneration from the hosting professor or university.

Throughout the period covered by their scholarship, participants should expect to commit approximately 30 hours per week, on average, to tasks assigned to them as part of their placement.

These tasks should constitute a meaningful and beneficial learning experience for the student, should provide them with the opportunity to interact with and learn from researchers in their area, and should be appropriate to their level of study. Successful applicants will be required to negotiate an agreement defining their responsibilities before beginning the placement and to provide a copy of this agreement, signed by the host and by the participating student, to the OBW Program Office before the placement commences. This is a condition of eligibility for the OBW Summer Research Scholarship. Please use one of the downloadable forms designed for this purpose (links at the bottom of this page).

For practical reasons (not least paying rent for private accommodation) placements are almost always planned to coordinate with calendar months. Participants are required actually to begin their placement by the 5th day of the first month and to remain in their placement until the end of the final month.

Participants who wish to travel extensively in Germany and beyond should schedule such travel outside the period of their placement.

Practicalities

Knowledge of German is not required for participation, so long as the receiving professor is aware of the level of the nominee’s language skills and agrees to host the student. Some knowledge of German would of course enhance the student’s experience. (Given the individual nature of the research placements, the OBW Program is unable to organize any German language instruction for Summer Research Program participants.)

The International Office of the hosting university will do its best to help the participating student find accommodation in a student residence, but such accommodation cannot be guaranteed. Participants should enquire with the hosting professor/department about any other possibilities.

As a condition of eligibility for the OBW Summer Research Scholarship, participating students are required to purchase specific health insurance in Germany to cover their time at a university in Baden-Württemberg. Further information on this requirement will be communicated to participants following their acceptance into the Program.

Students may not participate more than once at any given level (Bachelor’s, Master’s, Doctorate) of their studies. Preference will be given to applicants who have not participated previously.

Following their research stay, participants are required to submit a report to the OBW Program on their activities and experiences in Baden-Württemberg.

Nomination/Application Process

The complete application must be submitted to the International Exchange Office of the applicant’s home university in Ontario. Applicants should enquire about the local application deadline at their home university.

The application (one original and two photocopies of the following documents) should consist of:

  • a letter of nomination from a professor in the student’s home academic unit explaining the importance of participation in the OBW Summer Research Program in the context of the student’s degree program , the reasons for nominating the student, and, if appropriate, the kind of credit the student might receive for the work done in Germany;
  • a letter (or printout of an e-mail) from the professor at a Baden-Württemberg university stating a willingness to involve the student in an ongoing, relevant research project in a meaningful capacity for a specified period of time between 2 calendar months (minimum) and 4 calendar months (maximum); this letter should indicate the precise duration of the research visit and outline the activities in which the student will be engaged;
  • the application form, completed and signed by the nominee;
  • a brief statement (maximum 1 page) written by the student describing the reasons (academic and personal) for wishing to participate in this program; and
  • copies of academic transcripts from all postsecondary institutions attended in the period since September 2008.

The complete application file, accompanied by a ranked list of each Ontario university’s candidates, should be forwarded by the nominee’s home university’s International Exchange Office to the OBW Student Exchange Program by December 15, 2011.

Downloads

Duties Agreement

If your application to the Summer Research Program is successful, you will be required to conclude an agreement with your Host Professor describing your duties. It is the participating student's responsibility to make sure this step is completed before the placement begins and to forward the completed and signed document to the OBW Program Office. This is required as a condition of eligibility for the scholarship. You should use one of the following .pdf forms: