REG dates

2026
1. Sep
  1. Fall 2026 Phase 2
    
    September 17, 2026
    
    SONA opens for Phase 2 - All studies will begin to show up on SONA
2. Oct
  1. Phase 1
    
    October 12, 2026 - Thanksgiving Day Holiday
    
    The University is CLOSED for the long weekend - In-person studies will not be available
  2. Reading Week
    
    October 12 to 16 - READING WEEK
    
    The University is open however there are no classes! Time to catch up on all that reading!
  3. Halloween
    
    Halloween!
    
    Have a great and spooky weekend as we celebrate All Hallow's Eve
3. Dec
  1. Last Day
    
    December 8, 2026 - Last Day of Fall Term - SONA CLOSES at 5pm
    Sona closes at 5. Ensure that you have completed and assigned all of your credits by this date.

SONA and Ethics training

Training will occur as outlined in Sign-Ups

All graduate and undergraduate students and RAs who wish to use SONA are required to use their own SONA Researcher Account. Remember that you may notlog in using another researcher's account. To obtain a SONA Researcher/RA account, you must complete a training session (see below for further details).

The full researcher training session is now offered online for graduate students and Honours Thesis students. To register please email the Research Experiences Group (REG) Coordinator. If you completed the RA workshop and will now be using SONA as an Honours Thesis student you will need to complete the online Full Researcher Training session.

TCPS2 Requirement

All research conducted using REG/SONA adheres to the ethics guidelines set out in the Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS): Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans, 2nd edition (TCPS 2 2022) associated with the TCPS 2 is a new online tutorial called Course on Research Ethics (CORE). CORE is comprised of 9 modules, is self-paced and includes interactive exercises and multi-disciplinary examples. A certificate of completion is provided.

All Faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate student researchers are required to complete the online tutorial in order to receive your SONA Researcher account so it is highly suggested that you complete the tutorial prior to your SONA training session. It takes approximately 3-4 hours to complete which can be spread out over multiple sessions if you prefer.

Please complete the CORE tutorial as soon as possible and upon completion download a copy of your TCPS2 certificate for your files. This then can be uploaded to the new ethics system when submitting applications.

PLEASE NOTE

Waterloo researchers (faculty, staff, and students) will need to demonstrate completion of the updated TCPS 2 CORE 2022 training. If you have already completed the 2022 training, there is no need to complete it again. If you have not completed the 2022 training, please find time to do so to avoid delays in the review. The TCPS 2 CORE 2022 tutorial can be taken at: https://tcps2core.ca/welcome and takes no more than 2 hours to complete. Please see our training page for more information at: https://uwaterloo.ca/research/office-research-ethics/ethics-training/requirement-human-research-ethics-training

Full Researcher training(Faculty, Grads, NSERC or Honours students, Lab Managers)

There will be a combined session of researcher / RA training being completed this term. Please see initial dates listed below and follow the link to sign up.

Please contact regadmin@uwaterloo.ca for more information.

Dates

FALL 2026 — There are initial dates set up for SONA Researcher and RA trading below.

September 24, at 10am

September 25, at 2pm

September 28, at 10am

Setember 30, at 2pm

There is a spot on the sign-up to list interest if these dates do not fit. All sessions are In Person and one hour long. Please upload your TCPS 2 2022 certificate if possible when signing up for the session.

Please select this link to go to the survey and see the current available sessions.

RA Training dates. -> If you need RA training outside these dates, please contact regadmin@uwaterloo.ca

Please follow the link above for dates and to sign up.

REG dates

REG dates

September 17, 2026

October 12, 2026 - Thanksgiving Day Holiday

October 12 to 16 - READING WEEK

Halloween!

December 8, 2026 - Last Day of Fall Term - SONA CLOSES at 5pm

SONA and Ethics training

Training will occur as outlined in Sign-Ups

TCPS2 Requirement

Full Researcher training(Faculty, Grads, NSERC or Honours students, Lab Managers)

Dates

Please select this link to go to the survey and see the current available sessions.