Built by students who wanted research to feel reachable.
Join Research Canada started with high school students who could not find clear guidance on research fields, mentors, or next steps. So they built it: a student-led nonprofit that gets students into real research.
370+
Students helped through workshops, library events, and mentor sessions. Across five provinces and two U.S. states.
- MIT mentors
- A Princeton professor
- A Queen's University professor
- A biology PhD candidate
- A TMU professor
- A Western University medical student
What we believe
Research should start early.
Students gain language for fields they may never see in school. The earlier that happens, the further they can go.
Mentors change the map.
Meeting someone who actually does the work turns research from an abstract idea into a path you can picture yourself on.
Free means free.
Curiosity should not be limited by cost or connections. Our core programs cost nothing and never gate on experience.
The students who started it
Join Research is run by the high school students who wanted it to exist. Same people who answer your email.
Kian Bassiri
Co-Founder
Kian leads outreach and partnerships. He joined after the organization began and was promoted to Co-Founder in June 2026, on the strength of that work.
Samyar Shafiee
Co-Founder
Samyar started Join Research Canada in October 2025 and has run it since. He sets the direction the programs take and builds the technology underneath them: this site, the registration system, and the internal tooling the team uses to reach students and mentors.
Erfan Timajchi
Lead of Education
Erfan leads education at Join Research Canada. He shapes what Research 101 actually teaches across its four weeks, and works with the mentors who deliver it.
What the papers said
We did not write any of this. Two local newsrooms went and looked at what we are actually doing.
The people who make it possible
Advice, interviews, and mentorship from
And elsewhere in the network
Backgrounds in the group include work at
Where it goes next
Research 101 runs every summer. The Symposium arrives in Winter 2027. An interview series and deeper resources are in the works. The goal stays the same: more students doing real research, sooner.
Start with Research 101Host a session. Start a partnership.
We work with schools, libraries, and university departments across Canada.