Duncan Family Institute Mentored Junior Faculty Fellowship in Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences

Guidelines for Mentors' Letters of Support

To ensure that the Duncan Family Institute meets the highest standards in selecting faculty fellows and to enhance the review process, please use the following guidelines when writing a Letter of Support for your faculty fellowship applicant.

Please address these applicant review criteria:

1. Promise: Does the candidate show promise for initiative and growth in research?  Is the candidate able to demonstrate a trajectory indicating the potential to design and implement innovative studies and to seek peer-reviewed research funding?  Does the candidate possess a strong record of scholarly achievement?  Does the candidate show evidence of scientific productivity and of excellent written and oral communication skills?
   
2. Scientific quality: Is the proposed research of high quality?  Are the aims and hypotheses of the research clear and promising?  Would these be considered strong and relevant by a study section reviewer
   
3. Mentors, Resources and Support:  Are the mentors' expertise and research environments suitable for the proposed research?  Does their expertise represent complementary areas of strength and emphasis?  Are the applicants’ timeline and resources realistic and adequate?  Will suitable space and equipment be provided by the primary or other mentor?  Does the faculty mentor indicate a time commitment to the applicant?  Do the mentors indicate how they will work together with the applicant in the mentoring process?  Will the applicant have guaranteed access to existing data, patients, tissue samples, etc.?

State how you would rank the applicant’s overall ability and potential. Top 10%? Top 25%?

Describe the degree of mentoring capacity you currently have.

• How many proteges at each level (predoctoral, postdoctoral, junior faculty) do you advise?
• How often will you meet with the applicant if he or she is appointed?

In a separate paragraph, please outline your previous mentoring experience.

• List any dissertations you have chaired.
• Mention number of postdoctoral trainees you have advised, what their important projects are and where they are today.