Finding a Faculty Mentor and Developing a Project

You must identify a faculty mentor and, together with your mentor, develop an idea for a research project in the life sciences. You are encouraged to check MU Web sites with faculty research listings. You are not, however, limited to faculty who appear in these listings. You are strongly encouraged to consider faculty mentors both outside of and within your undergraduate major department.

Your faculty mentor must be able to guide you in the development of your project and mentor you in the laboratory setting. Some projects are best served by faculty co-mentors. If you have co-mentors, one mentor should agree to be the primary mentor. You should request recommendation letters from both faculty mentors. You may wish to include a third letter from a science class instructor if your mentors have not had you in a class.

Your project may be suggested by a course you have taken, the research interests of your faculty mentor, or an idea of your own that challenges you to further exploration. You and your mentor should agree on the nature and scope of your project, your method of inquiry, a timetable, and the means by which you will meet your personal educational goals. If you have questions about the appropriateness of the research project (e.g., does it fall within the general guidelines of life sciences research) you should discuss the project with the Program Director, Linda Blockus, prior to application. Your project should be hypothesis driven and provide a significant intellectual and educational experience. You must demonstrate a clear relation between your project and important research questions in the life sciences.

The Committee looks favorably on project proposals that are developed and written by the student; however, the initial idea for the project need not be student-generated. The project idea may come from the faculty mentor.

Your faculty mentor will need to provide a letter of recommendation. Please make sure your faculty mentor reads the “Faculty Mentor Information” section.

Student Eligibility

Applicants must be MU students who have completed at least two semesters as an MU college student prior to the start of their internship. They must intend to work on a life science research project (basic, theoretical or applied, in the field and/or laboratory) with an MU faculty mentor. Students who will graduate in May 2008 are ineligible for funding. Students graduating in August or December 2008 may apply for Summer 2008 funding, but are ineligible for Academic Year funding.

Current MU freshman ARE eligible to apply, if they will have completed two semesters as a full-time student at MU (Fall 2007 and Winter 2008). It is expected that freshmen will have been working with their faculty mentor for at least three months prior to the application deadline and that their project will be suitable for a research internship. Freshman applicants will be evaluated separately from sophomores and juniors.

Students who have received prior funding from LS UROP programs (including MURF and Molecular Imaging) may apply for additional funding to continue their project with their faculty mentor or seek another mentor/project to broaden their experience. However, applicants who have already had a full year of LS UROP funding may receive lower priority than new applicants.

Students do not have to be majoring in a life sciences discipline to be selected; however, the Committee does expect that the applicant have sufficient background in the life sciences, either through formal coursework or informal learning and/or research experiences, to be able to appreciate the implications of their research to the field of life science.

There is no limit to the number of students that may apply to work with one faculty member. However, the Committee expects that the faculty member will make appropriate arrangements for mentoring the students. It is also expected that the faculty mentor will provide the committee with recommendation letters that clearly compare the students applying to work under his/her mentoring. As final award decisions are made, the Committee members value this input from the mentor.

If you have questions on eligibility, please contact Linda Blockus at BlockusL@missouri.edu or 882-5979.

Intern Selection and Notification

It typically takes four to six weeks to thoroughly review applications and make final selections. As soon as final decisions are made, we will attempt to quickly contact students by e-mail. All students and faculty mentors, regardless of their status, will receive official notification by campus mail (faculty mentors) and U.S. mail (students).

We expect to fund approximately 20-25 students for the summer and 20 for the academic year. We anticipate some students will be funded for both periods. We anticipate 60-90 applications for each period. Students need to indicate on their application form if they wish to be considered for summer, academic year, or both.