Student groups
Close to 450 student groups are active on campus in nearly every area of student interest: academic, cultural, recreational, and political. The largest, the Interdepartmental Science Students’ Society, has more than 6,000 members. The Dance Club has been going strong since 1957 and has almost 1,000 members. The University of Alberta’s Debate Society, which was formed in 1908, is the university’s oldest student group.
Students’ Union and Graduate Students’ Association
Undergraduate students and graduate students are represented in the university’s governance process and are served by the Students’ Union and Graduate Students’ Association respectively.
Study abroad
The U of A strives to enhance students’ opportunities to study internationally at dozens of partner institutions. Exchanges are also possible with fellow members of the Worldwide Universities Network, a consortium of 19 top research universities established to facilitate international research and teaching collaborations.
Undergraduate research opportunities
As a research-intensive university, the University of Alberta nurtures the next generation through the integration of undergraduate research and teaching. One of the ways the university supports this is through the Undergraduate Research Initiative, which was created to develop discipline-specific and interdisciplinary research skills and scholarly attitudes for employment, research, and service in the community. In early 2012, the URI gave out 38 $5,000 research stipends to undergraduate students across the campus.