HHMI Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships

The University of Richmond announces a call for nominations for the first cohort of STEM Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows (SSUR Fellows) in its new multi-disciplinary summer research program for first- and second-year students. This opportunity is designed for highly motivated first- and second-year students who are considering research careers in any of the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines or in interdisciplinary areas that arise from these disciplines. This program is funded by a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). 

HHMI-funded STEM Summer Research Fellows are UR students who have demonstrated superior academic performance and have strong potential for success in research. Fellows perform research with a UR faculty mentor in any of the STEM areas, receive financial support for summer research, research supplies and travel to national or regional conferences to present results, and form the core group for the Fall Science Symposium. SSUR fellows will be chosen based on the quality of the proposed research, their academic records thus far, faculty recommendations and enthusiasm for interaction with other students both within and between traditional scientific disciplines. The selection committee wishes to fill the cohort of 22 student researchers with applicants who represent a wide variety of STEM research at UR.

Nominations

Full-time tenured or tenure-track UR faculty may nominate one or more students for a STEM Summer Undergraduate Research (SSUR) Fellowship. Each student nominee should meet all selection criteria, which are described in detail below. A nominee is expected to be eligible to work with the faculty sponsor for 10 weeks during the summer of 2009. Successful applicants are also expected to participate in the 2009 Fall Science Symposium. Any first- or second-year student may be nominated for this program whether a prospective “science” major or not. The selection committee strongly encourages nominations of students who are members of groups traditionally underrepresented in the sciences or mathematics.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities of the faculty mentor:

• To mentor the student’s research project during the summer of 2009.
• To verify that the student completes the program requirements, including any required documents for HHMI annual reports.
• To mentor student participation in the 2009 Fall Science Symposium.

Responsibilities of the SSUR fellow:

• To undertake a full summer research experience with the UR faculty mentor in 2009 (10 weeks, 40 hrs a week).
• To present the results of the research project the 2009 Fall Science Symposium.
• To complete documents about the research experience, upon request, in order to fulfill reporting obligations to HHMI.

Nomination Materials

Nominations for the SSUR Fellowship program must be received by February 6, 2009. Nominations must include the following information, submitted by the faculty mentor. The information should be placed in a single pdf file and submitted electronically to Laura Runyen-Janecky with a copy to Kathy Hoke:

1. For all applicants:

• Application and Project Description: A completed Undergraduate Research Application. The project description should be co-prepared by student and mentor. Please note that this is the same applications as the School of Arts & Sciences, undergraduate research program summer fellowship.
• Transcript (BannerWeb version is acceptable)
• Letter from the Faculty Mentor: A one-page letter of recommendation from the faculty sponsor. The letter should address the student’s academic performance, potential as a researcher and any additional qualities that should be considered in evaluation of the nominee.

2. For sophomore students only:

• Career Plans.  A concise statement (100 words or less) regarding the student’s motivation for a career that includes research. This should be written by the student. Preference will be given to students intending to pursue PhD or MD-PhD degrees after graduation.
• Progress Report.  If the student is applying for a second year of support from HHMI, a progress report of both the previous summer’s activities and ongoing research activities should be included together with a brief plan of how the second year of support will extend the research.  This report should be co-prepared by student and mentor.

3. Optional for all applicants:

• A brief statement about cross-disciplinary ramifications of the proposed project, co-prepared by the student and faculty mentor. For all applicants, the committee will be looking to fill the cohort with students who have wide interests across STEM areas and who are interested in learning about other research areas outside of their discipline, in either formal or informal contexts. Since one goal of the program is to foster interdisciplinary and quantitative science collaborations, the committee will be looking for some projects that are interdisciplinary in nature, particularly those that span at least two of the traditional disciplines of biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, or computer science. For example, whereas any mathematics project is eligible, one in which the researcher has identified applications in the life sciences is preferable. Likewise, whereas any biology project is eligible, one in which the researcher has indicated an interest in learning about computer science approaches is preferred.

Criteria for Evaluation of the Nominations

The SSURF Selection Committee, comprised of University of Richmond faculty in biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics and computer science will select the Fellows.

The following criteria will be used to rank the nominations:

• Quality of proposed research
• Potential for a career in research
• Academic performance in the sciences and mathematics
• Motivation for Ph.D. or Ph.D./M.D. training and a career including research (sophomore students only)
• Cross-disciplinary nature of the research project

The applications of nominees not selected will be automatically forwarded to the Undergraduate Research Committee for consideration of one of their summer fellowships unless applicant requests otherwise.
 
Benefits of the SSUR Fellowship

SSUR fellows will have the opportunity to pursue research with UR faculty and participate in activities with the other HHMI-supported fellows. These activities are designed to expand the student’s capacity for research.  Furthermore, there will be additional opportunities to to encourage cross-disciplinary research within a collaborative and interactive environment.

SSUR Fellows will receive:

• Summer stipend:  $4000 (plus an additional $500 is available for students who live on campus).  Please note that federal and state tax obligations will reduce the net amount of this award. This amount will vary based on the information that the student provides the Student Accounts office.
• Funds for student travel to a meeting:  $750
• Funds for supplies to be administered by faculty mentor (see below)

Faculty mentors will receive:

• $1000 for incidental supplies for the support of SSUR Fellow on-campus research activities.

Questions about the HHMI-SSUR fellowships or selection process should be directed to Dr. Laura Runyen-Janecky.