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Online platform aims to connect students to researchers

The goal, says its creator, is to get more students interested in research early on in their studies.

BY LÉO CHARBONNEAU | OCT 31 2012

From his first days as an undergraduate student at Simon Fraser University, Japreet Lehal realized that the “world of research is vast in universities.” He thought it would be beneficial if more students, particularly undergraduates, got involved early in research – as voluntary research assistants or simply by helping in a lab. But what was missing, he says, “was a way for students to easily search for positions on one central platform.” So he developed one.

Go Research allows university researchers from anywhere in Canada, or even abroad, to post their research opportunities for free, says Mr. Lehal, who is now in his second year at SFU majoring in business. If the platform takes off, he says, “researchers will have a large talent pool to choose from. … Likewise, students will have many research opportunities available for them, and they will strive to choose a research position that intrigues them.”

The site is for research in all disciplines, from the sciences to the humanities, says Mr. Lehal. He has had a couple dozen listings from Vancouver to Halifax since the site launched in July – although so far many of these are for graduate students or postdocs. He has been contacting universities directly to ask them to use the site and has been promoting it in social media. “I am trying to lower the barrier for any student wanting to get involved in research,” he says.

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