All prospective visiting research students must send an email to [email protected] indicating their intention to register and receive guidance on their eligibility.

Important Update (June 16, 2025)

** Meeting the eligibility criteria and submitting all required documentation does not guarantee registration as a visiting research student (VRS) at the University of Ottawa. All applications are subject to administrative review and final approval by IREX. **

Under no circumstances should a prospective visiting research student book their travel to Canada before receiving confirmation from the University of Ottawa's International Research and Experiential Learning directorate.

Visiting research students are expected to conduct their research in-person on the University of Ottawa campus or in affiliated hospital research institutes. Under no circumstances is a virtual research project allowed.

Visiting research students must now provide the following documentation as part of the procedure, in line with Government of Canada immigration requirements:

  • an official transcript sent directly by the home institution
  • proof of financial support for the stay in Canada

General Information

Definition: Visiting research students are enrolled in a degree program at a university in Canada or abroad and are coming to the University of Ottawa to conduct research under the supervision of a full-time faculty member. Visiting research students are not entitled to the conferring of a degree from the University of Ottawa, nor do they pay tuition fees.

Applications: Visiting research students must confirm their eligibility and submit a completed application package to IREX a minimum of six weeks before their intended date of arrival and depending on the processing times from their country of application.

Duration: A research project must constitute a minimum of 280 hours (approximately two months), and the stay in Canada cannot exceed 12 months. Students whose research projects fall under the minimum of 280 hours are not eligible to enroll at the University of Ottawa as visiting research students.

Extensions: extensions are rare and get evaluated on a case-by case basis. Applicants who are looking to extend their VRS stay must first email [email protected] to determine eligibility.

Registration: The visiting research student is registered in a non-credit course code denoting a full-time research visit at the University of Ottawa. Visiting research students must remain registered at their home university for the duration of their research internship.

Supervision: It is the visiting research student’s responsibility to identify a full-time University of Ottawa faculty member working in a related research area who is willing to commit the time and energy required for supervision. Please refer to Step 1 for more information.

Ethics and regulations: The supervisor and the visiting research student must ensure that the research internship follows ethics regulations and animal care guidelines as applicable; that appropriate training is provided, according to the specifics of the research project (e.g. lab safety training, hazardous materials, animal care); and that the visiting research student will have appropriate supervision while using university facilities and equipment. Please refer to Step 4 for more information.

NOTE:

  • Candidates interested in becoming a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Ottawa must follow this registration procedure.
  • The Procedure for Visiting Research Students does not provide direct assistance with scholarship applications.