Opportunities for Summer Research Support for Faculty and Students
There are multiple opportunities for summer support in mentoring undergraduate research students facilitated through several different award mechanisms currently administered through the
Office of Integrative Research in the Sciences.
A brief description of each program is provided below for your convenience, and additional application materials are below as you have interest.
NSF-RII Summer Faculty Fellowships
Opportunities are available for 6 Furman faculty members to receive summer support from the National Science Foundation through South Carolina’s NSF Research Infrastructure and Improvement (RII) award for research generally supportive of the state’s emphasis on biofabrication.
The South Carolina theme is specifically devoted to the eventual development of vascularized artificial organs using stem cells harvested from adipose (fat) tissue.
At Furman, any supportive research activity would be considered appropriate for consideration, whether in the area of computer modeling, instrumental measurements developed for
in vivo or biological environments, materials science with biological applications, human development, ethics associated with the implications of artificial organs, stem cell use, etc.
Six $11,000 awards are available for the summer of 2012 that include:
(1) $6,000 faculty summer salary (10 week research commitment)
(2) $4,500 student summer stipend (with emphasis on supporting underrepresented minority (URM) students from Furman or other South Carolina HBCU campuses)
(3) $2,000 supplies funding
Applicants must submit a 3-page research description and abbreviated CV, and be willing to mentor at least one URM undergraduate student from Furman or other SC institution.
Faculty with research interests in any relevant area supportive of the NSF-RII effort are encouraged to apply (see attached application).
Please contact Dr. Wheeler with questions regarding the appropriateness of a particular research topic to the SC theme; the intent is to be as inclusive and broad in supporting this theme as possible at the PUI campuses.
NIH-INBRE Summer Matching Fellowships
As a matching component to our NIH-INBRE renewal, 2 Furman faculty conducting work in biomedical research (i.e., research generally supported by institutes within the National Institutes of Health or other health/medically-related work) will be provided with summer research fellowships in the amount of $17,500 each which includes:
(1) $11,000 faculty summer salary (10 week research commitment)
(2) $4,000 student summer stipend
(3) $3,500 supplies funding
Applicants must submit a 6-page (max) research proposal and NIH Biosketch for external review/evaluation. More detailed application instructions are provided on the attached application; please contact Dr. Wheeler with any questions.
Merck/AAAS Research Fellows Program
Chemistry and Biology faculty are eligible to apply for student support in the form of $4,000 student research stipends with $500 supplies funding for undergraduates conducting summer research at the Biology/Chemistry interface. Projects that are truly collaborative between faculty in both departments are most desirable, although any project that is conducted at the disciplinary interface and which involves at least some interaction (e.g., consulting) between Biology and Chemistry faculty will be considered for award. A total of four student fellowships are available for the summer of 2012. Faculty members wishing to apply for Merck/AAAS funds are asked to submit a brief project description (to reduce additional work, similar to Furman Advantage,
see attached application). Please contact Dr. John Wheeler or Dr. Eli Hestermann (Furman PIs) with any questions.
Programs ending with the close of the 2012-2013 school year:
HHMI-BRIDGES Distinguished Mentors Award
Two awards are provided each year to recognize Furman faculty who have made significant contributions in mentoring undergraduates in all areas of research and scholarship.
These awards comprise $10,000 in total support over a 1-year period ($5,000 in supplies to support research/scholarship/creative endeavors, $5,000 discretionary).
Interested faculty should contact Dr. John Wheeler for application materials.
The deadline for application submission for this year’s competition is January 27, 2012.
Faculty from all academic departments are eligible to apply.
Previous awardees include Dr. Tim Hanks (Chemistry); Dr. Victoria Turgeon (Biology); Dr. Brannon Andersen (EES); and Dr. Gil Einstein (Psychology).
HHMI-BRIDGES Undergraduate Research Program
As previously distributed by Dr. Eli Hestermann, opportunities are available for
all Furman faculty from laboratory science/math departments to serve as research mentors for Furman students participating in the
HHMI-BRIDGES Research Fellows program.
Student participants will have just completed their freshman year in the spring of 2012, and are committing to a 10-week summer research program (including a 3-week HHMI
Introduction to Research May Experience course or equivalent), and a full academic year of research averaging approximately 8 hours/week.
Students receive a $3,500 summer stipend, free on-campus housing, a $1,500 stipend per academic term and $300 to support travel to a professional meeting.
Faculty receive a $1,000 Honorarium (irrespective of number of students mentored) and $1,000 in supplies funding per student mentored.
If interested in serving as a student mentor, please contact Dr. Hestermann as quickly as possible; student interviews with faculty are occurring now and will continue through the month of January.
In addition to serving as mentors for Furman undergraduates, we are also seeking faculty willing to serve as research mentors for students from the
South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Math
(6-week residential summer program for 8 visiting high school students) and supervisors for high school science/math teachers (6-week paid summer research experience for 3 high school teachers).
Each SC GSSM student and high school teacher is provided with a $500 supplies allowance awarded directly to the faculty mentor, and the faculty mentors receive a $750 Honorarium.
If interested in serving as a mentor to a GSSM student or teacher, please contact Dr. Wheeler.