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Recruiting worldwide
Opportunities at every stage
This lab trains people at every stage: high school students on placements, undergraduates on honours projects and funded summers, masters and doctoral students, research assistants and postdoctoral fellows. Some posts are tied to a specific grant and carry a defined profile. The general call for graduate students is open year-round, and we welcome undergraduate and high school enquiries at any time.
Applying for a PhD or MSc? There are two steps. This form comes to the lab. Dalhousie also requires a separate pre-application to the Department of Physics & Atmospheric Science, and you will be sent straight there once you submit here. Every other track — postdoc, research assistant, undergraduate, high school — is this form only.
Open opportunities
What is available now
Positions marked funded are attached to an active grant. Positions marked open call are considered on an ongoing basis, subject to fit and funding.
Postdoctoral fellow
Take the ambient-light steatosis probe from bench validation into a clinical study with our transplant collaborators. Optics build experience essential; clinical study experience welcome.
- Grant-funded position
- Optical instrumentation and chemometrics
Research assistant
Instrument build and alignment, sample preparation, data pipelines. Suited to a recent BSc or MSc who wants a year or two of hands-on optics before graduate school.
- Grant-funded position
- Halifax-based, in person
Graduate students — MSc and PhD
Open call across all current research areas. Applications are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Applying to the lab is separate from applying to the Dalhousie graduate programme — write to us first.
- September, January and May intakes
- Funding discussed case by case
Undergraduate students
Honours projects and funded summer positions through NSERC USRA. Several of our honours students have gone on to publish from their project work.
- Apply by February for summer
High school students
Placements, co-op terms and class tours. No CV needed — a paragraph about what interests you, a teacher or guardian contact, and your available dates.
- Linked to Imhotep’s Legacy Academy
Undergraduate scholarships. Two awards supported by Dr Hewitt are open to undergraduates entering Dalhousie: the Joan and Dr Kevin Hewitt Sankofa Scholarship ($48,000 over four years, for Black international students from the Caribbean) and an award for Black students entering Physics. Neither is tied to joining this lab, but if you are applying as an undergraduate they are worth reading first.
Funding your studies. Canadian and international graduate students are encouraged to apply for external awards. Dalhousie’s Faculty of Graduate Studies lists scholarships and funding, and members of this lab have held NSERC CGS-D, the William Leiper Memorial Scholarship, the Vitamin Scholarship and the Dalhousie President’s Award.
What to send
Requirements by track
Send only what your track asks for. Page limits are firm — a focused CV is read more carefully than a long one. The form below asks for exactly these documents once you choose your position.
| Track | CV | Cover letter | Transcript | Also send |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Postdoctoral fellow | Max 6 pages Incl. publication list |
1 page Research interests and career goals |
Not required | Two representative publications; two referees. A one-page research proposal is optional but encouraged. |
| PhD student | Max 4 pages Incl. GPA |
1 page Interests, objectives, experience |
Unofficial | Your current funding or scholarship status, including applications in progress. |
| MSc student | Max 4 pages Incl. GPA |
1 page Interests, objectives, experience |
Unofficial | Your current funding or scholarship status, including applications in progress. |
| Research assistant | Max 4 pages | 1 page Lab and instrumentation experience |
Not required | Your availability and preferred start date. |
| Undergraduate | Max 2 pages Incl. GPA |
1 page Interests and what you hope to learn |
Unofficial | Which term you are applying for — summer, honours year or co-op. |
| High school | Not required | Not required | Not required | A paragraph on what interests you; a teacher, counsellor or guardian contact; your available dates. |
A note on funding. Graduate and postdoctoral applicants are considered most readily when they hold external funding or have an application in progress — say so in your letter either way, including if you have none. Undergraduate and high school placements do not require you to arrange funding. We will contact you if a position matching your profile becomes available.
Application
Tell us where you overlap
Pick your track and the research areas that match your training. The form asks for exactly the documents your track requires — nothing more. Dr Hewitt reads every submission personally.
Two steps — you are on step 1
- This form. It comes straight to Dr Hewitt, so the lab knows who you are and what you want to work on before anything else happens.
- The department pre-application. Graduate admission at Dalhousie runs through the Department of Physics & Atmospheric Science. When you submit this form you will be taken there automatically, and we will email you the link as well.
The department reviews pre-applications from 1 September and does not review them between 1 May and 31 August. It asks for a single PDF containing your CV and transcripts for every completed and ongoing degree.
One step
This form is all your track needs. The department pre-application applies to PhD and MSc admission only, so there is nothing to file after this. The lab will contact you directly.
Step 1 of 2 complete
Your application has reached the lab
Dr Hewitt reads every submission personally. A confirmation email is on its way to you.
Now finish step 2
Graduate admission runs through the Department of Physics & Atmospheric Science. Your pre-application has to be filed with them separately — this form does not do it for you.
Have ready a single PDF containing your CV and transcripts for every completed and ongoing degree. Pre-applications without transcripts are not considered.
Open the department pre-application
Taking you there automatically in 10 seconds.
What happens next
Your track does not require a department pre-application. The lab will be in touch directly if your profile matches an opening.
Equity statement. This lab is committed to an inclusive environment and to equal opportunity for members of marginalised and under-represented groups. We particularly welcome applications from African Nova Scotian, Black, Indigenous and other racialised students, from women, and from students with disabilities. See Dalhousie’s culture of respect.