The award is open to applicants who meet the following criteria:     

• They have a budgetary appointment at either the University of Toronto* OR an external funding partner institution.  
• They are eligible Principal Investigators, according to the University of Toronto PI eligibility criteria. 
• They are members of the DSI. 

*Faculty budgetary appointments for the University of Toronto are continuing, full-time academic appointments with salary commitments from a University of Toronto academic unit.

Tri-Agency and External Grants: The goal of the DSI and other institutional strategic initiatives is to support researchers with initial seed funding, enabling new research projects to progress to a point where researchers can apply for larger, external research funds. PIs must provide evidence that they have either secured or applied for one external funding grant as a lead applicant in the past three years. Provide the agency and the name of the grant proposal. Your response to this question will undergo an administrative check, in consultation with your faculty or research institute as required, to determine your eligibility to be funded via the DSI.

• Proposed research should be focused on data sciences methodology or applications in any research area.
• Research opportunities can include any aspect of basic, applied, or clinical research.
• We are accepting applications for data science-related research opportunities that can be carried out either in person, remotely, or a combination of both.
• Supervisors must ensure that the students they’re working with submit a one-page abstract of their progress towards the research findings to the DSI before the SUDS Showcase in mid-August.
• SUDS 2027 includes a Data Science & AI for Social Good stream for projects addressing societal challenges through data science and AI. The stream provides students with opportunities to apply their skills to research with meaningful social impact.

Applications are submitted via the DSI Good Grants application portal.

• Register an account and select “Start Application” for “SUDS Program Supervisors.”  
• The application is divided into tabs; each tab includes a set of instructions and fields to fill out. These instructions are also highlighted below.  

Applicants will need to complete the following fields.

Tab 1: Start Here  

Tab 2: Applicant Information   

Enter your information as the form requested:   

• Name   
• Email 
• Institution  

Tab 3: Proposal

A. Keywords

B. Tri-Agency and External Grants

The goal of the DSI and other institutional strategic initiatives is to support researchers with initial seed funding, enabling new research projects to progress to a point where researchers can apply for larger, external research funds. Provide evidence that you have either secured or applied for one external funding grant as a lead applicant in the past three years. Include the agency and the name of the grant proposal. Your response to this question will undergo an administrative check, in consultation with your faculty or research institute as required, to determine your eligibility to be funded via the DSI.

C. Stream

Indicate whether you would like your project to be considered for the Data Science & AI for Social Good stream. This stream is for projects addressing societal challenges through data science and AI. The stream provides students with opportunities to apply their skills to research with meaningful social impact. An external partner is not required; however, where one is involved, it must be a non-profit or government organization

D. Research Project

Describe the research opportunity for the student.

E. Skills

Please list the specific skills you’re looking for in a SUDS student.

F. Delivery

• In Person
• Remote
• Hybrid 

G. Partner University Students

The DSI has partnerships with international universities/academies that bring additional students to the SUDS program. If you are willing to consider supervising additional students, you can enter the maximum number of students that you could take on. Please consider the following when making your decision:

• PIs will receive $3,000 for their research program, flowed from the DSI, per additional student supervised. The PI has no financial commitment to the student(s).
• These students will necessarily start their opportunity in June.

More information will be provided once decisions on the main program have been made; at present, you are simply indicating your willingness to consider these opportunities.

Demographic Survey

All DSI applicants are asked to complete a short Demographic Survey. If we do not have a response on file, the link to this required component will be included in the applicant’s confirmation email.

Applications will be assessed by using the criteria outlined below:

• The proposed research opportunity including its relevance to data sciences.
• The training environment in which the student will carry out their research.

• Summer studentships will be available to undergraduate students enrolled at a Canadian university/college to carry out summer research.

Award Value

$7,200 will be provided by the Data Sciences Institute to the supervisor for the student. Any supplement above this level may be set at the supervisor’s or department’s discretion. 

Award Duration

14 full weeks in the summer term, between May 1 and Mid-August, 2027. Start dates and end dates are agreed upon for each student and supervisor.