Undergraduate research course mentor info
Eligibility
Only full-time faculty members (professor, assistant professor, associate professor, senior lecturer or lecturer) are eligible to supervise undergraduate research.
Course expectations for students
The time commitment students are expected to make will vary by the number of credits that students are taking. As a general guide, one hour of course credit = three hours of commitment/week on average.
Mentor responsibilities
Safety
Mentors are responsible for ensuring that students have completed all required laboratory safety and/or responsible research conduct training. Note that this is a requirement in the co-requisite course Introduction to Research Practice that all directed study students will take.
Learning outcomes
Mentors should help ensure that students achieve the following learning outcomes:
- Understanding the research question on which they are working, and how it fits into a larger body of neuroscience research.
- Participation in data collection and analysis.
- Production of a document or a scientific presentation (poster or talk) on their research project.
Grading
Mentors will provide a letter grade for the student at the end of the semester. Both the students and mentors will be emailed the evaluation guidelines and procedures before the end of the semester. Generally, mentors are free to assign a grade as they see fit based on the student’s work in the laboratory. Students are also required to submit documentation of their research experience to receive credit, both to their course Canvas site and to the mentor. This can be included in the grading evaluation at the discretion of the mentor.
Research documentation
Students may complete their research documentation in one of the following ways:
- Present a scientific poster as the first author at a conference or research event. Students will submit an 8-inch by 11-inch copy of their poster, along with details of the conference/event.
- Present a slide talk at a conference or meeting. Students will submit copies of their slides and the text of their talk. Slides can be submitted as a pdf (4 slides per page) printed from the presentation software (such as PowerPoint). Text should be submitted as a pdf document.
- A written summary (or reflection) of their research experience. Instructions for completing this reflection are provided to the students.