Each year, the School of Biomedical Engineering hires a limited number of Teaching Assistants to help support our undergraduate and graduate courses. These positions play an integral role in helping us fulfill our goal of offering our students superior teaching and learning experiences.
About Applications
All undergraduate and graduate students (including non-research students) may apply for a TA position; please note that a separate application must be submitted for each course you are interested in. The TA application portal is open for the month of April each year (closing April 30th) for positions commencing the following academic year.
Be advised that Teaching Assistants at The University of British Columbia (UBC) are represented by the Canadian Union Of Public Employees Local 2278 (CUPE2278) and that a Collective Agreement between UBC and CUPE2278 is in effect. All TAs are required to join the Union as a condition of employment. The collective agreement applies to all TA contracts, and selection of TAs will be done in accordance with the requirements of the Union.
Salaries are based upon CUPE 2278 and UBC rates.
Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence. An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a First Nation, Metis, Inuit, or Indigenous person.
Deadline to Apply
Please visit the link below for UBC Senior Teaching Assistant Application – 2024 Winter Term 2 – curriculum design BMEG 201 and BMEG 257. Completed applications should be submitted no later than January 1, 2025 11:59 PM PDT.
Application Instructions
Eligibility
Registration
Applicants must be full-time students currently registered in a BASc, MEng, MASc or PhD program, or must have been unconditionally accepted to begin in September. If you will be defending your thesis or completing your program before the start or end of a term then you are not eligible to be a TA for that term.
- Students from other degree programs may be considered based on experience and suitability to the program. (Cellular & Physiological Sciences students are preferred for BMEG 410/510; a non-BMEG student is required for BMEG 598)
- Cannot be on leave from your graduate program during the appointment.
- Must be legally eligible to work for the duration of the appointment at the time of the application and must provide proof of your legal eligibility to work (such as a study permit and SIN document for international students). If you are an international student who will not receive a study permit before the start of term, please decline any offered positions as soon as possible before the term starts.
- Must be willing to perform on-campus work for the entire period of the appointment. If you will be out of town for a significant portion of the term, please do not accept a TA position in that term.
- Must live within British Columbia for the period of the appointment.
- After receiving an offer, must promptly inform the department and the instructor of your intent to accept the offer.
- Must inform your instructor and the department of any additional TA positions or conflicting responsibilities before accepting the offer.
- Availability to complete the mandatory APSC TA training (if you have never completed it before); multiple sessions will be offered within the first few weeks of the term.
- Must complete all Workday onboarding steps after your appointment is processed in Workday (UBC’s HR / Finance system).
Competencies
Mastery of the course academic material and subject matter.
Ability to help students learn actively and explain course content in a clear and logical manner.
Ability to effectively lead discussion groups that facilitate student learning and to constructively evaluate student presentations.
Ability to effectively assist student learning by enabling different sets of skills, including oral and verbal communications, problem solving, critical thinking, numeracy, teamwork, leadership, planning.
Have an understanding of and will agree to comply with WorkSafe BC, UBC and Departmental Safety Regulations.
Possess excellent oral and written English communication skills.
Supervisor Approval
Applicants must have the approval of their Research or Program Supervisor to engage in an employment contract in addition to their academic program.
Your supervisor must be made aware of your intent to apply to TA positions and must approve of the total number of hours (especially for students that would like to accept multiple positions).
Additional Requirements
New TAs and returning TAs who have not participated in the Faculty of Applied Science (APSC) TA training program must complete the mandatory training, as it is designed to help ensure that TAs are successful in their roles. If you receive a TA position, information on this training will be provided to you (typically within the first few weeks of the term).
- When submitting your applications, please follow the naming conventions and file format (in PDF format only) as noted in the application link. (i.e., LastName,FirstName_XYZ_BMEGXXX: Smith,John_CV_BMEG101 or Smith,John_Letter_BMEG245)
All candidates wishing to be considered for a Teaching Assistant position will need to submit a new application for each course they wish to TA. This includes students who wish to continue in a course that is posted for the summer and the fall. Although we appreciate the interest of all applicants, only the successful candidates will be contacted with further details.
Types of Duties
Although the precise duties will vary depending on the course for which an offer/appointment is made, in general TAs can expect to perform the following duties:
Laboratory Assistance – preparing materials for laboratory experiments; providing instruction, guidance, and supervision for laboratory experiments; maintaining a safe and professional laboratory; assisting students with troubleshooting equipment; ensuring laboratory equipment and supplies are used appropriately and put away at the end of each session; marking of laboratory reports.
Tutorial Assistance – assisting in or leading tutorial sessions, marking of assignments, preparing written solutions, reviewing of assignments with undergraduates.
Marking – marking of assignments.
Invigilation of Exams (Mandatory) – is required. All TAs must be available for the full exam period of the term in which they are hired as a TA. TAs may be assigned to invigilate course(s) other than those for which they TA.
Training (Mandatory) – New TAs and returning TAs who have not participated in the Faculty of Applied Science (APSC) TA training program must complete the training, as it is designed to help ensure that TAs are successful in their roles and properly oriented to our teaching labs/spaces. If you receive a TA position, information on this training will be provided to you (typically within the first few weeks of the term).
Courses
Please note that the following list is subject to change based on course enrollment and availability. Courses with asterisks (*) beside their name have specific application instructions or requirements. Please see the accordion (below this section) for more information.
Please submit a separate application for each course.
Please submit separate applications for summer TA-ships and winter TA-ships (even for summer courses that extend into the winter term, or for winter courses that hire TAs during the summer term in preparation for the winter term).
Summer applications are open from March 15 to April 2.
Winter applications are open from March 28 (due to stat holiday in 2024) to April 30.
2024 Summer TAs
Course | Time per term | Course Description/TA skills |
|---|---|---|
48h for 1 TA over one term | Biomedical Engineering Bridge Module | |
60h for 1 TA over one term | Technical Communication for Biomedical Engineers | |
72h for 1 TA over one term | Transport Phenomena within Cells and Tissues Fluid flow and mass transport analysis within healthy and diseased cells and tissues using mathematics. Drug delivery and tissue engineering. | |
45h for one TA over one term | Impact of Biomedical Engineering on Society, Sustainability and Environmental Stewardship | |
100h for 2 TAs over one term | Topics in Biomedical Engineering – SynBio Bootcamp | |
72h for one TA over one term | Biomedical Engineering Design Project This position will help prepare for instruction in 2024W | |
104h for one TA over one term | BMEG 500 Orientation to Clinical Environment Operation of biomedical and clinical engineering facilities at hospitals. Daily activities of healthcare workers. Patients experience. BMEG 501 Interdisciplinary Team Project in Medical Technology Innovation These are part of the Engineers in Scrubs program. These positions will help prepare for instruction in 2024W. Preferred skills/knowledge for these positions: | |
Summer Online Programming Bootcamp (non-credit) | 45h for one TA over one term |
2024 Winter TAs
Course | Time per term | Course Description/TA skills |
|---|---|---|
72h for each of two TAs in Term 2 | Introduction to Biomedical Engineering | |
72h for each of six TAs in Term 2 | Biomedical Engineering Lab. | |
60h for each of three TAs in Term 2 | Technical Communication for Biomedical Engineers | |
36h for each of two TAs in Term 1 | Thermodynamics in Biomedical Engineering | |
35h for each of two TAs in Term 2 | Circuits and Electromagnetics with Application to Biomedical Engineering Preferred skills/knowledge for this position: a strong background in electromagnetics and circuits, MATLAB coding, bioinstrumentation, and medical devices | |
96h for each of four TAs in Term 1 | BMEG 230 – Biomechanics I Preferred skills/knowledge for this position: Strong background in statics, dynamics and solid mechanics is required; basic familiarity with Musculo-skeletal anatomy is required; familiarity with Matlab and Solidworks and biomechanical equipment (accelerometers, EMG, motion tracking, force plates) is an asset | |
72h for each of six TAs in Term 1 | The Fundamental Units of Life: From Cells To Systems Preferred skills/knowledge for this position: Requires experience with: gel electrophoresis, confocal microscopy, and a basic molecular biology technique such as running DNA gel, restriction digestion of plasmid and sequence analysis using online tools and software | |
72h for each of three TAs in Term 2 | Cellular Physiology and Biophysics | |
90h for each of four TAs in Term 2 | Biomedical Engineering Design I | |
72h for each of two TAs in Term 1 | Introduction to Bioinformatics Preferred skills/knowledge for this position: Experience with R, including some or all of: machine learning, PCA, clustering, bioinformatics, bioconductor, gene expression analysis, gene set enrichment analysis, variant calling and processing, and survival analysis | |
48h for one TA in Term 2 | Bioengineering Feedback Systems and Controls | |
90h for each of five TAs in Term 2 | Biomedical Instrumentation Preferred skills/knowledge for this position: hands-on experience with biomedical sensors. MATLAB coding skills for signal and image processing is a must, and knowledge of medical instruments in clinical setting is appreciated. | |
48h for each of two TAs in Term 2 | Biomechanics II | |
84h for each of two TAs in Term 2 | Human Structure/Function from Cells to Systems Preferred skills/knowledge for this position: Knowledge of human physiology and anatomy. Familiarity with the biomedical engineering design process, including scoping problems and setting design requirements and criteria. | |
72h for each of five TAs in Term 2 and 1 TA for BMEG 357 at 36 Hours | Biomedical Engineering Design II Preferred skills/knowledge for this position: Experience with the biomedical engineering design process, including problem definition, setting design requirements and criteria, concept generation and evaluation, and verification/validation; experience with mentoring student groups and managing group dynamics is an asset; prototyping experience is an asset (including 3D printing); some roles include CAD experience, dimensioning and tolerancing; experience assessing student written work. | |
72h for each of two TAs in Term 1 | Transport Phenomena within Cells and Tissues | |
48h for each of two TAs in Term 1 | Biomedical Materials and Drug Delivery | |
48h for one TA in Term 1 | Microfluidics | |
72h for each of five TAs in Term 2 | Cellular Bioengineering: Laboratory and Design TA requirements: Experience with a variety of wet-lab skills that range from molecular cloning, PCR, and cell culture; experience teaching students in a lab environment; some roles include group project mentorship and experiment design. See note below table for more details. | |
48h for one TA in Term 2 | ImmunoEngineering | |
96h for one TA in Term 2 | Experimental Microfluidics Preferred skills/knowledge for this position: experience in microfluidics, CAD design and Comsol. | |
60h for each of two TAs in Term 1 | Impact of Biomedical Engineering on Society, Sustainability and Environmental Stewardship Impact of biomedical engineering on health, safety, and political, cultural, economical and environmental implications of biomedical engineering design | |
100h for each of two TAs in Term 1 | Biomedical Equipment, Physiology, and Anatomy Preferred skills/knowledge for this position: knowledge of human physiology and anatomy; engineering design background an asset. | |
36h for one TA in Term 1 | Medical Imaging | |
48h for one TA in Term 1 | Linear System in Optics | |
48h for one TA in Term 2 | Modern Biomedical Optical Imaging | |
48h for one TA in Term 1 | Clinical Informatics | |
132h for one TA in Term 2 | Genome Informatics A central aim of genomics is to understand the structure and function of the genome. However, with each genome comprising over 6,000,000,000 bases of DNA, this can be an intimidating task. We will discuss the best practices when dealing with genomics data, common pitfalls, and statistical analyses. You will gain an appreciation for genome informatics by dissecting published examples, and a practical understanding through hands-on exercises. After taking this course, you will be able to design, analyze, and interpret genomics experiments with confidence. | |
84h for one TA in Term 2 | Biomedical Robotics | |
72h for three TAs in Term 1 | Professionalism and Ethics in Biomedical Engineering Preferred skills/knowledge for this position: skills in facilitation of, and marking of, discussions/debates; background as an engineering student with knowledge of the codes of ethics and standards of professionalism; great communication skills (both oral and written) and ability to assess that in others | |
62.5h for one TA in Term 1 | Clinical and Industrial Biomedical Engineering | |
72h for each of five TAs over two terms (T1 & T2) | Biomedical Engineering Design Project Preferred skills/knowledge for this position: Cellular and molecular: Experience with molecular biology and biochemistry techniques such as cloning and production/purification of plasmid DNA, cell culture (bacterial and mammalian), plate based assays, flow cytometry and microscopy skills are desired but not required. Biomaterials and biomechanics: Experience with solid or fluid mechanics, machine design, CAD and assembly drawings, 3D printing, CNC and machining-related knowledge is helpful. Synthetic manufacturing (e.g. microneedles, advanced 3D printing) are desired but not required. Biomedical informatics: Data analysis, programming skills, machine learning. | |
96h for two TAs in Term 2 | Cellular Responses to Forces and Biomaterials | |
72h for one TA in Term 2 | Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine | |
84h for one TA over two terms (T1 & T2) | Introduction to Academic Research Research project directed by a faculty member in Biomedical Engineering. Course may include workshops. TA duties include: Assisting coordinator and supervising faculty to grade some course deliverables (i.e. reports, web abstracts, student progress reports); assisting and mentoring undergraduate students in learning scientific approaches and research writing; attending student presentations and providing feedback and grading input; helping coordinator schedule presentations along with the course Canvas; assisting the coordinator in matching students with faculty/projects | |
130h for for one TA over Term 1 | BMEG 500 Orientation to Clinical Environment Operation of biomedical and clinical engineering facilities at hospitals. Daily activities of healthcare workers. Patients experience. BMEG 501 Interdisciplinary Team Project in Medical Technology Innovation These are part of the Engineers in Scrubs program. These positions will help prepare for instruction in 2024W. Preferred skills/knowledge for these positions: | |
25h for one TA in Term 2 | Fundamentals of Applied Pathophysiology in Biomedical Engineering | |
55h for one TA in Term 2 | Biomedical Engineering Technology | |
15h for one TA in Term 1 | Statistical Methods for Evaluating Medical Technologies This course covers the principles of operation, clinical applications, engineering design, construction, human machine interface, potential hazards and common problems of selected diagnostic and therapeutic medical devices in healthcare environment. | |
36h for each of two TAs in Term 1 | Biomedical Engineering Topics at the Interface of Medicine and Engineering | |
48h for each of two TAs in Term 2 | Professional and Academic Development | |
72h for one TA in Term 2; 48h for one TA in Term 2 | Topics in Biomedical Engineering – Wearables Interface of physiology and technology; wearable devices; transduction; physiological signal processing; machine learning; decision making; the influence of clinical needs on technology development; the limitations of technology for clinical applications; understanding the effect of unknown environments of data collection and health informatics. | |
96h for one TA over two terms (T1 & T2) | Biomedical Engineering Seminar. BMEG 598 is a required course for all BMEG graduate students; therefore, to avoid a conflict of interest, the TA for this course must be a non-BMEG graduate student. Applicants from other departments are encouraged to apply. |
* Course Specific Information & Requirements
BMEG 374:
This course will enable students to develop a proficiency in fundamental genetic, molecular, and tissue engineering techniques that will prepare them to work in the field of cellular bioengineering. Students will also gain experience designing experiments and tools related to these essential cellular bioengineering techniques.
Desirable skills/experience for the BMEG 374 TA includes some or all of:
Culture and experience working with E coli
Animal cell culture:
Lab safety, aseptic technique
Passaging and seeding/plating cells
Cell viability
Genetic engineering techniques:
DNA/RNA isolation
PCR, gel electrophoresis
Molecular cloning including transformation/ transfection of cells
Gene editing (i.e. CRISPR)
Additional asset to have:
Sequencing
Protein engineering techniques:
Isolation, quantification, separation
Fluorescent tagging
Proteomics
Additional asset to have:
Western blotting
Immunoprecipitation
Proximity-dependent labeling
Remuneration & Classification
Remuneration is at the standard hourly TA rates agreed upon with the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 2278 (CUPE 2278).
Senior Teaching Assistant (STA): $41.70 per hour (A Senior TA is a graduate student who is registered in a masters’ or doctoral program at the University of British Columbia and required by the University to perform lead hand duties as a Teaching Assistant. These duties typically include coordinating other Teaching Assistants and providing guidance, technical knowledge, and subject matter expertise to other Teaching Assistants.)
Graduate Teaching Assistant 1 (GTA 1): $38.99 per hour (A GTA 1 is a graduate student who has completed two (2) years’ service as a graduate student teaching assistant.)
Graduate Teaching Assistant 2 (GTA 2): $37.53 per hour (A GTA 2 is a graduate student with less than two (2) years’ service as a graduate student teaching assistant.)
Undergraduate Teaching Assistant 1 (UTA 1): $25.63 per hour (A UTA 1 is an undergraduate student in a bachelors degree program at UBC who performs Teaching Assistant Duties with substantial student contact.)
Undergraduate Teaching Assistant 2 (UTA 2): $23.48 per hour (A UTA 2 is an undergraduate student in a bachelors degree program at UBC who performs Teaching Assistant duties without substantial student contact.)
Exam Invigilator: $23.11 per hour
Senior Exam Invigilator: $27.82 per hour
A note on TA Preference
TAs at UBC are represented by the Canadian Union Of Public Employees Local 2278 (CUPE2278) and a Collective Agreement between UBC and CUPE2278 is in effect. Under this agreement, previously appointed TA’s must be given preference (for a certain number of teaching years) over new applicants. Once CUPE 2278 members (i.e., previously appointed TAs) have been considered for available positions, new applicants are considered for any remaining positions. All positions are offered on the basis of union preference and merit based on the competencies listed above. Please note that applicants should apply before the stated deadline in order to be reviewed for eligibility as preferred candidates.
Please consult the CUPE2278 Collective Agreement for more information on how TA preference is determined.
https://hr.ubc.ca/working-ubc/collective-agreements-and-terms-conditions-employment
Applicants should be aware that generally not all applicants will be offered TA positions.