Until future notice: THE CARIS LAB IS CURRENTLY NOT ACCEPTING ANY NEW MASc AND PhD STUDENTS. Please do not email the director or the lab email address. If you are a prospective graduate student, your email will not be answered.
Each year, the CARIS Lab typically recruits a small number of students that start in September. The exact number of students we invite is never certain, so please do not email us asking if we have any openings. The selection process depends on current projects, funding, student fit, background and many other factors.
Any student wishing to join the CARIS Lab as a MASc Candidate or PhD Student should formally apply to either the Mechanical Engineering graduate program or Biomedical Engineering graduate program at UBC, depending on the student’s research interests. Please indicate your interest in the CARIS Lab in your personal statement.
The application and document deadline for Mechanical Engineering is February 1st for early admission and consideration for scholarship opportunities. However, domestic applications will be accepted by the department until May 1st. For Biomedical Engineering, the deadline is January 31st. Applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible. Please see the graduate program webpages for all other application and program details.
Students holding major scholarships, e.g. NSERC or other national scholarships, are urged to apply at any time, and should indicate this in their communication. NSERC students in the CARIS Lab are eligible for top-up scholarships.
For general information about graduate studies at UBC please see the UBC Faculty of Graduate Studies website.
Note for international students: there are typically two types of master’s degrees that can be obtained while studying engineering in Canada: the Master of Applied Science (MASc) and Master of Engineering (MEng) degrees. The MASc requires research work and some coursework while the MEng requires mainly coursework and a project.
Preferred Skills and Experiences
We give preference to applicants who demonstrate:
- Strong background in mechatronics or related disciplines (mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, and in some cases cognitive science)
- High GPA in relevant courses
- Training in
- robotics, controls, motion planning
- signal processing, computer vision
- human factors, cognitive science, psychology
- physiology, physical therapy
- other related areas
- Prior demonstration of activity in related projects
- Strong hands-on instrumentation skills
- Strong programming skills (C++, MATLAB/Simulink, LabVIEW)
- Strong communication skills in English, both written and oral
- Excellent interpersonal skills and attitudes (friendly, helpful, good natured – unhappy people need not apply)
- Strong references from supervisors (especially from people we know, or whose work is related to our area of research)
Coordinated International Experience (CIE)
CIE currently partners with six high-profile European institutions, located in Denmark, Germany, Scotland, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Please refer to the CIE website for more information on how to apply if you are a student from one of our partners (link).
