Role of the Research Mentor
The strength of the Pritzker School of Medicine’s Summer Research Program is its close collaboration between faculty mentors and students. To ensure a better understanding of the expectation of the research mentor’s role, the Pritzker School of Medicine offers the following suggestions:
- The student's project should be of a reasonable scope to ensure that the student will be able to describe results in the required presentation at the Summer Research Forum, and, where possible, obtain publishable results.
- The student should not be assigned as a research technician to accomplish someone else’s project in the lab.
- The lab mentor needs to invest sufficient time in the student, including weekly conferences to discuss results and,where necessary, help to focus (or refocus) the direction of the project.
- The student should produce a monthly progress report for the mentor, and if necessary, describe changes in the direction of the research project.
- The student and the research mentor should discuss the written report that is to be provided to the Pritzker School of Medicine at the close of the program.
- During the last week of the program the research mentor should discuss with the student how the information should be presented in the Summer Research Forum, including a practice presentation to members of the lab.
- The research mentor should schedule time to attend the Summer Research Forum to provide any necessary feedback to the judges or others in attendance.
- The research mentor is responsible for validating the student's online assignments. This is important for students to receive their stipend.
Research mentors must contribute $400 in non-federal funds to the project.
