Faculty of Science introduces five new courses, giving first- and second-year students an early introduction to research

The Faculty of Science is introducing five new research-based courses, developed by the faculty’s Office of Undergraduate Research. These pass/fail credit courses will be available starting in May 2025.

Established in 2023 with support from the Office of the Provost’s Strategic Alignment Fund as a three-year pilot, the OUR aims to enhance undergraduate research opportunities in the early stages of science students’ academic careers. The OUR is primarily focused on providing opportunities for first- and second-year students.

The five courses will be open to first- and second-year students in the Faculty of Science. The first-year courses include SCIENCE 1SC1: Graduate Student Shadowing, SCIENCE 1SB1: Science Research Volunteer and SCIENCE 1SA1: Science Seminar.

Second-year students can enroll in SCIENCE 2SA1, 2SB1, 2SC1: Scientific Research Skills Workshop as well as SCIENCE 2SG1: Scientific Research Group. In this course, groups of five students will participate in 12 hours of a hands-on experiential research project under the supervision of a professor.

Professor Sunita Nadella, a professor in the Faculty of Science and the experiential programming and outreach manager for the OUR, said these courses were inspired by students who expressed difficulties in securing research placements in their third and fourth years.

“. . . The Strategic Alignment Fund aims to increase the number of research opportunities for all science students, with a particular focus on creating pathways so that students can get involved with research early in their academic journey, like in first and second year. This way, when they do come to third and fourth year and are looking for research placements, they have a skill set,” said Nadella.

...The Strategic Alignment Fund aims to increase the number of research opportunities for all science students, with a particular focus on creating pathways so that students can get involved with research early in their academic journey...

Sunita Nadella, Experiential Learning and Outreach Manager
Office of Undergraduate Research

She noted that the skills these courses aim to build are intended to make students more competitive and appealing to research supervisors for project or thesis opportunities.

Since the launch of the OUR, the first summer research opportunities for first- and second-year students were offered in summer 2024. Nadella noted that there were 17 available projects and around 450 applications, highlighting strong demand and enthusiasm for research among students.

Feedback following the summer research opportunities has been consistently positive, with the graduate student shadowing program—where students are paired with graduate-student mentors in research—being particularly successful. Participation from graduate students continues to grow.

Although the summer research program was successful, Nadella pointed out that it only provided opportunities for a select few students. As a result, the OUR has sought ways to extend this experience to a broader group.

“We had been offering seminars and workshops before, so we decided to combine them into courses so that students could earn course credits and we could allocate our limited funds more effectively towards resourcing these workshops,” said Nadella.

We had been offering seminars and workshops before, so we decided to combine them into courses so that students could earn course credits and we could allocate our limited funds more effectively towards resourcing these workshops.

Sunita Nadella, Experiential Learning and Outreach Manager
Office of Undergraduate Research

One of the new courses, SCIENCE 1SA1, is a science seminar that features research seminars offered by departments within the Faculty of Science.

“As science researchers, we know that most undergraduate students often think of research as something that happens in the lab. However, for those of us within the research field, attending seminars is a critical component. It’s where you learn about the latest developments in science, how researchers generate questions and the process they go through to identify the right questions for their research projects,” said Nadella.

The five new courses will be available starting in May 2025. For more information on the OUR, visit their website.

93.3 CFMU has been voted the best radio station in Hamilton in this year’s Hamilton Spectator’s Readers’ Choice Awards 

93.3 CFMU, McMaster University’s campus and community radio station, has been voted the best radio station in Hamilton in this year’s Hamilton Spectator’s Readers’ Choice Awards. CFMU received the Diamond award, the top winner in the Best Radio Station category, followed by K-Lite FM 102.9 winning Platinum and 92.9 The Grand winning Gold. 

CFMU was nominated by the community in the summer, with voting beginning on July 29 and concluding on Aug. 16. The annual Reader's Choice Awards provides an opportunity for the community to celebrate their favourite local businesses. Community members nominate and then vote for their preferred businesses across a variety of categories, one of which is for the best radio station in Hamilton.  

CFMU is a 24-hour radio station which operates out of the basement of the McMaster University Student Centre. It serves as a platform to bring together the voices of both the Hamilton community and McMaster students. According to the station's mandate on their website, their goal is to redefine radio within the local community. 

CFMU's content and programming is developed specifically for local audiences and created by student volunteers and community members. The station features a variety of local music, hosts various shows and discusses a broad range of topics including local news, politics and other affairs. 

Jamie Tennant, the program director of CFMU, discussed the recent award and why he thinks the station won. "We do something different that no one else does. It's very unique whereas commercial radio isn't always unique . . . there are probably a lot of stations that you can get in the Hamilton area that are playing similar stuff, whereas we are all over the place musically and in terms of information," said Tennant.

We do something different that no one else does. It's very unique whereas commercial radio isn't always unique...there are probably a lot of stations that you can get in the Hamilton area that are playing similar stuff, whereas we are all over the place musically and in terms of information.

Jamie Tennant, CFMU program director

Tenant acknowledged that while the station may not have as many listeners as mainstream radio, it offers interesting and diverse programming that people enjoy and appreciate.

"[W]hat you're gonna hear is stuff that is directly of interest to the Hamilton and McMaster communities. Listeners are not going to hear most of what we broadcast, whether its spoken word or music, from anywhere else," said Tennant.

One of the challenges Tenant mentioned that CFMU faces was working with a smaller budget. "We have a smaller profile than many mainstream stations because we don't have the budget and also because we are mandated by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunication Commission to represent content that is not commercial . . . This award is helpful and it means a lot to us because it will hopefully bring our name to some new people," said Tennant.

Tennant also noted that this recognition will help shine a light on McMaster and the MSU. "People should know about all the great things that are happening on campus, all the great things that the MSU is doing and we help highlight that as well as support local artists too, which I think is really important," said Tennant.

People should know about all the great things that are happening on campus, all the great things that the MSU is doing and we help highlight that as well as support local artists too, which I think is really important.

Jamie Tennant, CFMU program director

Tennant and the CFMU team acknowledged on their website that the award is also a reflection of the hard work put in by the volunteers and community members who run shows and help create video and blog content. "It's really an award for everybody, which is really exciting as well," said Tennant.

For more information about the station and its programs, you can visit their official website.

As more value is placed on programming skills in the workplace, young professionals are taking notice of the gap between those who can and can't code—and the social factors preventing the gap from closing.

A Hamilton chapter of the Ladies Learning Code non-profit organization has partnered with The Staircase Cafe on Dundurn St. North to host workshops for women of all backgrounds and ages looking to upgrade their coding skills.

The Hamilton chapter is led by Erin O’Neil, who graduated in 2008 and works in the University’s Alumni Office. O’Neil was inspired to organize workshops in Hamilton after attending six in Toronto and envisioning that there would be demand for the sessions in her own city. Crucial to the program’s success, O’Neil said, is that it guarantees a four-to-one learner to mentor ratio.

“If you have no idea what’s going on there’s an instructor at the front of the room but there’s also an expert for every four people. So you can put up your hand and say, ‘I really don’t get this’,” she said.

Each workshop hones in on a particular area of programming, from HTML and CSS to WordPress, costs $50 and includes a catered lunch. The goal is to provide instruction to women in a variety of fields and backgrounds on beginner-level programming with a relatively low barrier to entry.

“We got a lot of teachers at the first two workshops, which I thought was interesting. And we get a lot of people who work in proximity to people who do a lot of the high-skill programming kind of work. So people who know this kind of work exists and have seen someone else do it. They see this workshop and say, let’s give it a try,” O’Neil said.

O’Neil has also been overwhelmed by the number of people who want to fill the mentor role—a testament to the close-knit community of self-employed, young creatives in Hamilton.

“A lot of the mentors are between 20 and 30 and they work for mostly small-sized companies in Hamilton. Often the developers and programmers are self-employed and do contract work."

“With coding, you’re working on the code in the back-end of the website and when you refresh the browser, you can see the change immediately. It’s fun to teach people because they get the reward that they’re learning it properly, instantly.”

The next LLC Hamilton session will be Introduction to Web Design and will take place at The Staircase Cafe on April 12.