The Mentor Service in the Chemistry Division of CUR matches individuals seeking information about starting, sustaining, or re-initiating undergraduate research programs to faculty who have successfully done so. Normally, those requesting mentors are newly hired faculty, but we have arranged mentoring relationships for graduate students and post-docs as well as for established faculty who are interested in restarting a research program or moving in a new direction.
The contact person for this program is CUR chemistry division chair Amy Deveau.
Send Amy a brief description of your research interests and she will identify two to four prospective mentors on the basis of similarity of research interests and career experiences and share them with you. You will then be able to choose the mentor that seems to fits his/her needs most effectively and contacts him/her to define the mentoring relationship.
CUR mentors can provide assistance in a variety of ways including, but not limited to, the following:
For new or established faculty
- Advice concerning the kinds of projects that are often successful in undergraduate environments
- Advice concerning professional development goals
- Recommendations for preparing tenure and promotion dossiers
- Selection of appropriate funding agencies for research ideas
- Review of preliminary research grant proposals
- Feedback on successful strategies for managing undergraduate research students
For graduate students or postdoctoral fellows
- Advice concerning the job application process and timing
- Review of job application materials, including cover letter, vita, teaching and research descriptions
- Consultation about choosing a career at a PUI
The CUR mentoring service is only available to CUR members; there are reduced membership rates for graduate students and post-docs.