Information for Faculty
Your Role in Supporting a Scholar's Research
The University Scholars program supports promising, curiosity-driven students on their path to intellectual independence. Faculty prepare students for this undertaking by helping them build the necessary tools, skills, experiences, and mindsets at an early stage (first and second years) and providing the space and intellectual freedom to develop their own independent research project with the mentor’s support (third and fourth years).
UScholars faculty mentors may wish to do some or all of the following with their mentee to help students achieve these aims:
- Clearly establish expectations and devise a work plan—if desired, a mentee-mentor “contract” can ensure alignment between all parties
- Orient students to resources and processes germane to your lab/field
- Establish a mode for regular communication (e.g., weekly meetings, monthly progress reports, conference calls).
- Encourage students to ask questions and share ideas at all stages of research
- Emphasize the importance of documenting and communicating of research
- Discuss intellectual property issues or authorship expectations
- Offer insight, feedback, and recommendations for continued growth as a researcher
- Encourage students to present their research, including at a UScholars Friday Lunch Talk (program requirement)
- Encourage your student to publish their contributions or present their work beyond Penn
Faculty contribute to the University Scholars program as research mentors and/or by serving on the program’s Faculty Council. Faculty advise students throughout the research process and provide the space and intellectual freedom for students to develop an independent project. Faculty also equip students with the necessary tools, skills, experiences, and mindsets needed to conduct independent research within the student’s field of interest. The inspiration, guidance, and encouragement that faculty mentors and Faculty Council members provide are central pillars of the University Scholars experience.
Faculty Council Membership
The University Scholars Faculty Council help cultivate a curiosity-based, passion-driven research environment that emphasizes communication of knowledge across broad disciplinary boundaries comprising the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, engineering, and biomedical fields. The Council ensures the continuance of the program’s success in providing students with exceptional undergraduate research opportunities.
The Faculty Council support the program in the following ways:
- Advising students on scoping their research interests and guide them toward an appropriate colleague for the mentoring they need to have a successful independent project (i.e., finding them a great lab, or helping them refine their topics to ask the right questions before they connect with a research mentor)
- Attending the occasional Friday Lunch Talk to connect with students, appreciate the kinds of research they are doing, and ask questions about their work
- Co-facilitating a workshop for UScholars, including an annual grant funding workshop
- Participating in our Selection Committee, once a year in the Fall semester, to review applications and interview second- and third-year applicants to the program
- Serving on the Funding Committee each March to review proposals for summer funding
- Advertising office hours for UScholars (these may be the same as your normal office hours)
- Attending twice-yearly Council meetings for updates on the program
If you are a Penn faculty member interested in joining the University Scholars Faculty Council, please contact the UScholars Faculty Director, Dr. Alain Plante (aplante@sas.upenn.edu) to learn more information.