The faculty mentor will receive a $500.00 stipend to use as needed to support the research of their student.
Faculty mentors are agreeing to supervise and assist the scholar with his or her research project, including writing a paper for possible publication and presenting at the Undergraduate Research Symposium held in March.
Scholars are expected to publish a paper in the Journal of Undergraduate Research (JUR). As part of the submission to the JUR, mentors must complete and submit the Submission Approval Form, which is available on the JUR website under the Submissions link, with the paper. Submission Approval Forms may be faxed to 392-5420 or mailed to Creed Greer, UF, PO Box 112032, Gainesville, FL 32611. For more information, please visit the JUR website, or contact Creed Greer at cgreer@ufl.edu.
If the student and mentor are working on confidential research and/or research that involves obtaining a patent, a paper is not immediately required. Once the research is made public or a patent is obtained, the student is welcomed to publish in the JUR. Also, some printed journals stipulate that an article cannot be published in another journal. The student and mentor have the option of determining which journal the paper will be submitted to first. The JUR accepts papers that have been published in other journals or might be published in the future.
If the student plans to submit a paper to a professional journal other than the JUR, a final report is due that outlines the challenges and successes of the research project. This paper must be submitted and approved by the faculty mentor. This final report is due to Donna Jackson, USP Administrator, 321 Infirmary Building, Appril 1. Faculty mentors will be contacted in mid and the end of each semester to verify that the scholar is in good standing. Those scholars not in good standing will not receive their stipend. If at any other time in the process, you feel your scholar is not making adequate progress, please contact Donna Jackson, at djackson@aa.ufl.edu.
Undergraduate Research Database
The University Scholars Program has a database of projects that interested undergraduate students can view. The faculty mentor should enter or update their project by logging into the Undergraduate Research Database. If you need assistance with updating or entering your project, please contact Donna Jackson by email at djackson@aa.ufl.edu
Mentoring Tips from the Experts!
- Remember, this is the first research experience for many of the USP scholars.
- This is usually more of an educational experience for the student rather than a productivity experience for the PI. Happily, sometimes both occur.
- Do not accept a student unless you and/or a grad student or postdoc can spend significant time with them.
- Meet regularly, at least once every 2 weeks to monitor progress.
- Assign readings, presentations, and if possible have them present a poster at a national meeting.
- Ban Facebook in the lab!
- Let students learn to self-manage their projects.
- Encourage artist/scholars to see the connections of their work as viable research endeavors to advance their individual fields.
- Teach the student to learn divergent thinking and reasoning to develop a priori hypotheses, then convergent and associative reasoning to develop testable hypotheses and creative ideas.
- Use texts and e-mails about matters other than research to build trust.
- Be supremely supportive and provide validation for the hard work your student is expending. Unsolicited assurance can help instill confidence.
- If possible, pair with a graduate student to the mutual benefit of both.
Scholar requirements and expectations
For more information about the requirements and expectations for Scholars, click here.