Prospective Students

I encourage U of A undergraduate students who are interested in structural engineering research to contact me at dtomlins@ualberta.ca to set up a meeting to discuss opportunities and available projects. Two common ways for undergrads to get involved with research are:

Dean’s Research Award (DRA): Single (fall or winter) and double term (fall and winter) DRA awards are available. Students work for ~4 hours a week on a small research project, typically alongside a graduate student. See link for description, eligibility, and deadlines. DRA topics are posted here at the start of each term but students may propose their own research topics as well.

NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Award (USRA): 16 week summer term research award. Students work on a project, typically alongside a graduate student See link for description, eligibility, and deadlines. USRA topics typically align with current research projects so check here for project ideas.

Note that these are not the only sources of undergraduate funding for research projects. If you have another source of funds in mind and wish to discuss research further let me know.

Prospective MSc or PhD students who are currently at the University of Alberta, living in the Edmonton area, or will be visiting the Edmonton area are encouraged to set up a meeting with me via email to discuss possible research opportunities.

Before contacting me, please take a look at some of my current projects and research interests.

Prospective MSc or PhD students who are unable to meet me in person are required to send the following material as a single PDF file to my email (dtomlins@ualberta.ca) with the subject line “Prospective <degree> Student – <last name, first name>”.

• Statement of research interests with a link to my own interests (300 words or less). Note that seismic is not one of my research interests. Students interested in seismic research should contact the seismic experts in the department.
• A statement of the importance of work-life balance and how it can be maintained during graduate study (200 words or less)
• An up-to-date Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• Academic transcripts (unofficial transcripts are fine at this stage)
• List of references

Applications that follow the above rules are considered but be mindful that spots for MSc or PhD students are limited. If you followed these rules and do not receive a response, please send a reminder message after one week since I may be travelling or otherwise unable to reply to emails.

Applications that are clearly sent to a multitude of potential professors (do not include the name of the school, do not include my name, or have unaligned research interests) will not be considered and are unlikely to receive a reply.

MEng students complete a research report as part of their degree. MEng students currently enrolled (or accepted) at the U of A are encouraged to send me an email or come to my office to discuss topics for their research report.

Generally, MEng reports are either:

• related to the research projects currently under way by research based graduate students.
• proposed by the MEng student.

Current research projects as well as titles of previously completed MEng projects are illustrated here.