Summer Research Assistantships (SRAs) are made available annually on a competitive basis to students enrolled in Brown University's Program in Liberal Medical Education. This is an excellent opportunity to become engaged in a biomedical research project under the supervision and mentorship of a Brown faculty member [e.g. Instructor rank or above]. Students who are awarded an assistantship will usually carry out their research project on campus or at a Brown-affiliated hospital between June-August. Applications for a student and a faculty member to work abroad together will be considered only when both the faculty and the student will be on site together.
Support for a 10-week summer research assistantship to work with a faculty is $3,000 for PLME students (partially funded by a $500 contribution from the faculty sponsor). Other employment is usually not authorized during the defined work-week tenure of the assistantship, and academic credit cannot be obtained for work performed under this form of support. It is permissible to use the research done during an assistantship as an element of a thesis to be presented toward a degree, and to obtain academic credit if the student decides to develop and continue the project as independent research during the academic year.
Favorable consideration by the SRA Committee is based on a well-delineated research program involving experimental methods and hypotheses which are appropriate to the student's educational and research background.
PLEASE NOTE:
A faculty member may sponsor only one student per year (i.e. may submit a letter of support on behalf of one student only). The faculty sponsor provides a $500 contribution towards the student stipend.
A student may only submit one summer research proposal per year.
A student who is awarded an SRA and also receives another fellowship from the University (e.g., UTRA, Royce, Mellon Mays) or from another source (e.g., Pfizer) will be asked to choose one.
IMPORTANT DATES
| OCTOBER |
Notification of this opportunity is emailed to students. |
| FEBRUARY |
Completed applications are submitted to the PLME Office. |
| MARCH |
Proposals are reviewed by the SRA Committee, and awards announced in April. |
| BEFORE SEM I |
Student submits a short written summary/report of their project by the first day of the fall semester. Faculty sponsor completes a short evaluation of the student's experience. |
STEPS TO APPLY
- STUDENT FINDS A FACULTY SPONSOR
A list of biomed faculty who have expressed an interest in serving as sponsor/mentor for an SRA will be uploaded to this web site in October, and a notice emailed to students. You are not restricted to working with the faculty sponsors on this list. However, the research must be conducted at Brown University or at an affiliated hospital, under the direction of a sponsor/mentor with a Brown University faculty appointment [e.g. Instructor rank or above]. Applications for a student and a faculty member to work abroad together will be considered only when both the faculty and the student will be on site together.
Contact Brown faculty whose research is of interest to you. Discuss a possible project that you might carry out as a summer research assistant, and inquire about a faculty member's willingness to serve as your sponsor/mentor. Students may only submit ONE research application, and are urged to identify the faculty sponsor/mentor early in the academic year (i.e., in Semester I before Winter Break) to allow time to thoughtfully plan out a research proposal .
- SUBMIT APPPLICATION: Once you decide on a faculty sponsor/mentor and a research topic, please carefully follow the Proposal Guidelines below in proposing your project.
- STUDENT SUBMITS SHORT WRITTEN SUMMARY/REPORT of your project by the first day of the fall semester.
- FACULTY SUBMITS EVALUATION OF STUDENT PERFORMANCE by the first day of the fall semester.
- Download the application.
- The cover page includes the student's name, class year, and the name of the faculty sponsor/mentor beneath the title of the project.
- A brief description of the project (written by the student) should be 2-3 printed pages maximum. Please write the proposal in the "active voice."
- The project should propose a study which can be performed within the allotted 10-week period. However, as noted above, sometimes the summer research is developed by the student and continued as an independent study during the academic year. If you plan to extend your research as an independent study or honors project, outline clearly in your proposal what you plan to complete in the 10-week period and what you intend to carry over beyond the summer assistantship.
Applications will be accepted/judged in biomedical science projects only. A committee, composed of faculty members from the discipline who will evaluate the applications, have suggested the following guidelines:
Suggested Guidelines for Biomedical Sciences
Your proposal should involve a relatively self-contained study that allows for independent work, i.e., the proposal should not represent a research technician's position. Although your proposed project may be based on ongoing research in your sponsor's laboratory, you should prepare a research protocol that indicates you have learned to:
1. Formulate a hypothesis
2. Choose experimental methods to test the hypothesis
3. Understand methods of data analysis to reach conclusions
4. Summarize clearly and concisely the research in a final report.
State specific aims, methods of procedure, significance of the research, and results obtained by others. Explain your approach to the research problem, clearly delineating the research design, methodology, types of controls necessary, methods of analysis, endpoints, etc. At the applicant's discretion, he/she may include up to 4 references regarding plans for research (i.e. methodological background).
- Research proposals should include a statement of the student's background, noting pertinent courses and research experience to indicate the appropriateness of the proposed research program to the student's educational level.
- The letter from the faculty sponsor/mentor containing: a brief evaluation of the project, a formal statement that the necessary space, equipment and supplies will be available, and arrangements have been made to provide the student with faculty guidance and supervision. As a general guideline, it is expected that the student and faculty mentor will meet a minimum of once a week so that there are structure opportunities to discuss the ongoing work. If the faculty mentor foresees an extended summer absence, the period away should be addressed in the faculty letter, indicating how the student will be supported in the faculty's absence.
- Confirmation of the faculty/department contribution of $500 towards the student stipend.
- If there is a second faculty sponsor/mentor involved in supervising the student's assistantship, a letter should be submitted by that faculty member as well as the primary sponsor.
If your project involves human subjects or animal subjects , please provide documentation of Brown University IRB or IACUC approval with your application. (For human subjects, this includes data collection from living individuals through interaction or intervention, or data collection of identifiable, private information through secondary data analysis.) Please provide documentation that verifies approval by the respective IRB of the institution where the research will be carried out, if other than Brown University. For guidelines on use of human subjects, visit http://http://research.brown.edu/rschadmin/hrpo.php
Please do not hesitate to contact Susan Toppin, Sr. IRB Manager (863-9206) or Susan Carton-Lopez, IRB Manager (863-9639).
Anne Cushing-Brescia, MD
Director, SRA Program
Hilary Sweigart
Manager, SRA Program
863-9790
OTHER SOURCES FOR SUMMER RESEARCH
Summer Research Assistantship in Emergency Medicine
Undergraduate Teaching and Research Assistantship (UTRA) program is offered by the Dean of the College. Students whose research does not fit into the biomedical sciences category are strongly urged to pursue an UTRA.
The Lisa Raiola '84 Student Research Fund was established in 2006 as part of UTRA funding administered by the Dean of the College Office. The endowment indicates: "First preference is for student research in the area of Biomedical Ethics, with secondary preferences for research in Public and Community Health or the Life Sciences. The Fund shall provide research opportunities to Brown undergraduate students including those participating in the Program in Liberal Medical Education."
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