About

The University of Toronto (U of T) Summer Psychology Research Initiative (SPRINT) is an annual outreach and access program for high school students in Ontario, Canada to learn about a broad range of psychology topics, gain hands-on research experience, and connect with peers and psychology researchers at the University of Toronto. 

The free ten-day program is organized and led by a group of graduate students and post-doctoral researchers, with the support of undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral volunteers, faculty, staff, librarians, and community advocates within and beyond the University of Toronto.

SPRINT usually runs every summer in the last two weeks of July, Mondays to Fridays at the University of Toronto, St. George campus. Students will be selected into one of two program streams based on interests, goals, and program capacity. Lecture Stream participants will be introduced to psychology as a scientific research discipline, whereas Research Stream participants will build upon the knowledge and develop a group research proposal under the guidance of undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral mentors in various fields of psychology.

As SPRINT was launched as an anti-racist initiative to support Indigenous, Black, and racialized (IBR) students, with a focus on countering anti-Black racism and colonialism, upper-year high school students who identify as IBR are prioritized in the application selection process. 

In 2024, SPRINT also began prioritizing applicants from other historically underrepresented groups in psychology and higher education, such as gender-minority and first-generation university students, to more comprehensively address the issues of equity, diversity, and inclusivity in Canada. Visit the Apply page for the full application selection process.

Over the past few years, SPRINT has been fortunate to receive support from the Department of Psychology, Access Programs University Fund (APUF), Graduate Education Innovation Fund (GEIF), and Pedagogical Innovation and Experimentation Fund (PIE). SPRINT has also been showcased at the Society for Teaching Psychology’s Annual Conference on Teaching (ACT).

Abbreviations

EDI: Equity, diversity, inclusivity

IBR people(s): Indigenous, Black, and racialized peoples (prev. BIPOC: Black, Indigenous, and people(s) of colour)

SPRINT: Summer Psychology Research Initiative

U of T: University of Toronto

To learn more about equity-related vocabulary, please visit the following glossaries:

• University of Toronto Glossary of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Terms

• University of British Columbia Equity and Inclusion Glossary of Terms

• Racial Equity Tools Glossary