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Project Supervisor

Daniele Malomo

Department of Civil Engineering

Project Description

Adapting Canada’s existing building stock to altered precipitation patterns, snow loads, and temperature variations caused by climate change requires improving the current state of knowledge on the mechanical properties of construction materials found in existing buildings. To do so, this project will feature an experimental campaign devised to test multiple building components (bricks, mortar, timber, stones) to make structural and building envelope assessment and retrofit data-driven, more affordable and sustainable.

Student Responsibilities and Deliverables

• Follow technical training on testing equipment, background theory and context
• Read standard test procedures and literature relevant to the experiments conducted in the laboratory
• Prepare test specimens
• Test building components under simple loads in our laboratory
• Collect experimental data during laboratory tests
• Post-process data in readable and accessible format
• Create and maintain an online repository where the experimental data will be stored
• Report progress of ongoing experiments to immediate supervisor
• Prepare brief update presentations to be presented weekly in research group meetings

Essential Skills

• Willingness to perform hands-on work. The laboratory is a construction worksite, and the project is very practical and will primarily involve experimental work in which the intern will handle construction materials

• Having taken any mechanics course is preferable, not mandatory

• Being able to frequently move heavy equipment up to 50lbs

• Familiarity with MS Office and/or MATLAB

Hours + Funding

• 3000$ stipend for 210 hours (approx. 6 weeks full-time)
• Additional contribution of up to $6000 (based on monthly performance review) to cover up to approx. 12 weeks full time

How to Apply

• Submit your CV and transcript to Prof. Malomo at daniele.malomo [at] mcgill.ca and Cc romaric.desbrousses [at] mail.mcgill.ca
• Deadline to apply: February 27th, 2026

Project Supervisor

Sasha Bernatsky

Department of Medicine, Centre for Observational Research and Evaluation

Project Description

Systemic Lupus (SLE) is a life-threatening autoimmune disease commonly affecting women and racial minorities. Due to the need for chronic immunosuppressives, serious infections are a common issue. We will study patterns of disease flare and infection risk in SLE over time, and how these may be affected by climate change-related factors, such as air quality and ambient temperature Primary Objective: To describe ER visits and hospitalizations due to SLE flares and infections in patients, over 2015-2024. Secondary Objectives: a. To investigate the pathogens responsible for serious infections requiring ER care or hospitalization in SLE, and the proportion representing antimicrobial-resistant infections. b. To assess if air quality and ambient temperature are associated with SLE disease flares that result in ER visits or hospitalizations. Demographics (age, sex, race/ethnicity, SES, and education) and clinical data (SLE duration, disease activity, co-morbidity/organ damage, drugs, hospitalizations and ER visits) have already been collected. Descriptive and comparative outcome analyses will include number of ER visits and hospitalizations for disease flares and infections will be assessed. We will also perform multivariate analyses, to assess time to first ER visit and time to first hospitalization (stratifying analyses for those due to infections and those due to SLE activity), adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, calendar year, and medications. Infections associated with ER visits and hospitalizations identified will be assessed in terms of specific pathogen. In bacterial infections, antimicrobial resistance will be determined. Regional and calendar trends will be analyzed using time-series analysis. Finally, we will explore potential effects of climate change, which may affect infection risk in people with autoimmune diseases like SLE.

Student Responsibilities and Deliverables

• Descriptive and regression analyses, interpretation and preparation of results
• Submission of abstract to a scientific meeting

Essential Skills

• Experience with data cleaning and analysis
• Strong analytical skills including experience with statistical programming (R, sas, etc)
• Excellent communication skills
• Strong work ethic
• Ability to work both independently and in a team (accept and incorporate feedback)

Hours + Funding

3000$ stipend for 210 hours(35 hours a week x 6-weeks) between June 9th and Aug 31st 2026

How to Apply

• Submit your CV with a short cover letter via email to Jennifer Lee at jennifer.lee [at] rimuhc.ca
• Deadline to apply: February 27th, 2026

Project Supervisor

Caroline Wagner

Department of Bioengineering

Project Description

The student will work with me and my collaborator at Brown University to combine mathematical transmission models with experimental data on virus survival as well as climate change projection data to develop projections for future transmission of respiratory infectious diseases.

Student Responsibilities and Deliverables

• Work with the teams at ÐãÉ«Ö±²¥ and Brown on the model development and data procurement
• Deliver final code as well as any collections of experimental and climate data

Skills

• Familiarity with coding (Python, R, or Matlab)

Hours + Funding

• 3000$ stipend for 210 hours from the Centre (or approx. 6-weeks full time)
• Additional funding is expected from other sources to allow for approximately 12-16 weeks of full-time work

How to Apply

• Contact Professor Wagner at caroline.wagner [at] mcgill.caÌý">caroline.wagner [at] mcgill.ca with CV and transcript
• Deadline to apply: February 27th, 2026

Project Supervisor

Shuaiqi Guo

Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology

Project Description

Microalgae play a critical role in addressing global environmental challenges due to their capacity for efficient carbon sequestration. Their interactions with bacteria further enhance this process by forming symbiotic relationships that significantly improve microalgae growth and their carbon capture capacity, thus having important implications for climate change mitigation.1,2 Bacterial adhesion is a critical step in establishing host interaction and in the formation of biofilms which lead to colonisation of specific niches and infections of host tissues by pathogenic species.3 Adhesins are essential proteins that mediate these bacterium-host interactions. The Antarctic bacterium, Marinomonas primoryensis, produces an ice-binding protein (MpIBP) on its cell surface, which is an exceptionally large 1.5-Mega Dalton Repeats-In- Toxin (RTX) adhesin. MpIBP mediates both bacterium-ice interaction and bacteria-microalgae interactions, which provides a valuable model for studying adhesin-host interactions.4 MpIBP contains three distinct ligand-binding domains near its C terminus: a sugar-binding domain, a peptide-binding domain, and an ice-binding domain. These domains enable the bacterium to form symbiotic biofilms with diatoms (microalgae) beneath the Antarctic ice, allowing both to thrive in locations optimal for photosynthesis.5 Despite the crucial role of RTX adhesins in the formation of bacterial biofilms, their molecular details and full architecture remain poorly understood. The complete structure of the ~200-kDa MpIBP C-terminal ligand-binding region will be investigated using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) single-particle analysis, which complement the existing high-resolution structural information of the individual domains solved by X-ray crystallography. Additionally, biophysical techniques including isothermal titration calorimetry and surface-plasma resonance will be used to investigate cooperative ligand binding within these domains. This research will contribute to new microalgae-based carbon capture solutions that may help reduce atmospheric carbon. Moreover, it may inform the development of strategies to control bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation, thus giving insight into new strategies to combat antibiotic resistance. Therefore, this project will advance fundamental knowledge of microbial adhesion by providing new structural and mechanistic insights into RTX adhesins, which have wide-reaching implications for both climate-change-related environmental research and medicine.

Student Responsibilities and Deliverables

The intern will work on a defined research project that may include:

• Protein purification and biochemical characterization of MpIBP ligand-binding domains produced by E. coli
• Biophysical assays to probe interactions between bacterial adhesins and microalgal surface ligands
• Interpretation of results in the context of microbial symbiosis, biofilm formation, and climate-relevant carbon sequestration processes

Skills

This internship provides hands-on training in:

• Protein biochemistry and microbial culturing
• Structural biology and molecular modelling
• Experimental design, data analysis, and scientific communication

Hours + Funding

• 3000$ stipend for 210 hours
• Expected schedule: part-time (~12–15 hours/week) between May and August 2026
• Additional top-up funding (approximately $1,000) may be available depending on hours

How to Apply

• Contact Professor Guo at shuaiqi.guo [at] mcgill.ca with CV, transcript and a brief explanation (~1 paragraph) regarding their interest in the project
• Deadline to apply: February 27th, 2026