REG dates

2026
1. Jan
  1. WT 26
    
    January 5, 2026 - Winter Term Begins
    
    Sona Will open January 6
  2. Phase 1
    
    SONA Opens Phase 1
    
    SONA Opens for Mass Testing and Pre Screen only - All other studies will be January 12, 2026
  3. Phase 2
    
    January 12, 2026 - SONA opens for all studies
    
    Studies will begin to appear starting today and update regularly. Please check back often
2. Feb
  1. Family Day
    
    February 15, 2026 - Family Day
    
    University is Closed for the Family Day Holiday. This rolls into Reading week

SONA and Ethics training

Training will occur where 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

Beginning January 1, 2024, all 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 information.

Dates will be confirmed

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

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

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

If you require training but cannot attend one of the these dates, please contact regadmin@uwaterloo.ca

REG dates

REG dates

January 5, 2026 - Winter Term Begins

SONA Opens Phase 1

January 12, 2026 - SONA opens for all studies

February 15, 2026 - Family Day

SONA and Ethics training

Training will occur where outlined in Sign Ups

TCPS2 Requirement

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

Dates will be confirmed

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