Mentoring a Summer Student

• The Cancer Prevention Research Training Program (CPRTP) Summer Research Experience awards 10-week summer fellowships to 25 undergraduate, graduates, and health profession (e.g. doctoral, first year medical) students annually. 
• Students will receive a stipend from our National Cancer Institute (NCI) R25E training grant award, CA056452, Dr. Shine Chang, Principal Investigator. 
• The summer program application opens annually on November 1 and closes in mid-January.
• The CPRTP Summer Research Experience is one of several programs participating in the MD Anderson Summer Experience. All programs vary in terms of eligibility, stipend, and requirements. 
• The summer program begins in June and concludes in August each year. Visit our summer program page at www.CancerPreventionTraining.org/Summer for current program dates. 
• Applicants will start their applications in the Discover system. Awardees will be appointed directly to the CPRTP as the department program, and the matched mentor will be listed as the direct supervisor in PeopleSoft. The CPRTP will handle all appointment paperwork, ePAF, onboarding, and order computer equipment. 
• Applicants do not need a mentor to apply and will list a minimum of six (6) potential mentors within the personal statement of the application.
• The mentor matching process begins in February, after notification of award. Students will receive contact information of all potential mentors and conduct phone interviews using an interview form provided by the CPRTP. The purpose of the interview is to see if the research interests of the students and faculty are in alignment, and if they are compatible. A match is made once both the student and faculty are in consensus. 

• One primary mentor is required. Two or more mentors are optional.
• The mentor must have a faculty or adjunct appointment at MD Anderson Cancer Center and preferably within the Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences.
• Instructors and Postdoctoral Fellows may serve as mentors, as long as they are supervised by a faculty at the Assistant Professor level or higher.
• The proposed summer research project must be related to cancer prevention.
• Faculty outside of the Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences may serve as mentors as long as they meet all of the aforementioned requirements and the project is related to cancer prevention.

• Invest time in student and meet frequently to discuss summer cancer prevention research project.
• Allow adequate time to attend required CPRTP activities and assignments including: Cancer Prevention Grand Rounds, Tuesday Career Conversation, Thursday Group Sessions, Informational Interviews, Elevator Speech Workshops, and other required activities.
• Allow the student to conduct research (average 40/hours per week) for summer project.
  
• Provide feedback and guidance on rehearsed elevator speech, scientific poster, and educational abstract.
• Create a budget with the student for spending the $1,000 in research support provided by the NCI and CPRTP. 
• Attend the CPRTP Summer Trainee Exposition during last week of the program, and encourage others within the department to attend. 
• Provide space, phone access, and maintain KRONOS timekeeping for trainee.
• Help the trainee create, edit and publish their scientific poster and other products resulting from this research, and citing the grant award appropriately.
  
• Discuss and advise the trainee on future career development and training opportunities.
  
• Complete an evaluation of trainee upon trainee’s exit from the summer program.

The CPRTP will manage the application, appointment, funding and fellowship requirements of the summer student, including:

• Provide career development activities including informational interviews, oral presentation skills, interviewing techniques, and other resources.
• Furnish the home department of the primary mentor with copies of application, employment, and appointment paperwork.
• Pay the student a stipend from the NCI R25E training grant award, CA056452.
• Expedite initial appointment, employment paperwork, and order leased computer equipment with the Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences (DCPPS) IT department. 
• Provide additional support of $1,000 for research expenses including: travel, conference registration, lab supplies, books, and other expenses pre-approved by the CPRTP. Students will receive detailed information about the funds approval process. Memberships, Airbnb lodging, car rental, and business cards are not covered by the R25E grant.
• Collect the student’s exit clearance form and submit it to the Office of Research Trainee Programs (ORTP). 
• Track trainee's honors and awards for grant progress reports and competitive renewal for life. 
  
  

During the interview, the student will ask:

1. What kind of science is the faculty doing now and how does it contribute to cancer prevention?
2. Will the summer project be related to cancer prevention?
3. How many students does the faculty currently mentor or committed to mentoring this summer?
4. How many additional students will  the faculty mentor this summer?
5. Will the faculty be the student's supervisor or will the student report to a postdoc or someone else?
6. How often will the student and faculty meet?
7. What are the faculty's expectations of the student?
8. In addition to helping with the elevator speech and scientific poster (presented during the CPRTP Summer Exposition), will there be any other products or opportunities resulting from this summer project?
9. What will be the weekly department activities? (e.g. lab, shadowing, editing/proofing, working with research assistant or postdoc fellow).
10. Any additional questions.

After the interview form is received, the CPRTP will contact the faculty to confirm a match.  When both the student and faculty are in consensus--a match is made.  The matched mentor will receive a project description form due by April 15. The student will receive a copy of the project description form prior to the start of the fellowship in June. If the faculty requires more time to complete the project description form, the student will receive the form during CPRTP orientation held during the first two (2) days of the summer program.  

Summer Program Start

The CPRTP Summer Research Experience will begin on a Tuesday morning in June, with a two-day orientation.

On the first day of the program, students will report to the MD Anderson Office of Research Trainee Programs (ORTP) to check-in, pick up their ID badges and complete any additional paperwork.

Following ORTP check-in, students will report to the CPRTP for orientation, from 10am to 5pm on Tuesday and 8am to Noon on Wednesday. Following orientation, the mentor (or home department support staff) will pick up the student and escort them back to their home department, where they will remain until the conclusion of the summer program.  The CPRTP will coordinate the student pick-up with the home department, prior to the start of the program.

Students will work full-time, Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm. The home department will manage the student's timekeeping, and the student will not receive paid time off, vacation, or holiday pay. In addition, the student's will not be required to clock-in and clock-out. 

The summer student will collaborate with the faculty mentor on a cancer prevention and control research project, participate in mandatory weekly educational and career development activities, present a 90-second elevator speech and scientific poster during the CPRTP Summer Trainee Exposition, and present a poster at the MD Anderson Final Summer Event, at the conclusion of the fellowship.

Summer mentors will be invited to participate in an evaluation of the summer student and notify the CPRTP if they would like to continue mentoring summer students in the future. 

Reappointment

Mentors may continue working with the student, compensated on mentor funds or uncompensated, after the conclusion of the summer program. The home department must notify the CPRTP (preferably by July 1), if they intend to reappoint the student after the end of the summer fellowship. The CPRTP will complete a department transfer and terminate funding support by the end of the summer program. In addition, the home department must order new equipment for the student OR contact 4info to extend the lease of the summer equipment. Finally, the student must report to ORTP to receive a new ID badge and the home department must contact UTPD to grant door access. 

Mentoring a student is a major investment of time and energy. These resources will help establish and nurture this relationship, as well as address any challenges. In addition, please contact the CPRTP summer program manager, if you need additional training and guidance.   

• Tips for Mentoring a Summer Student, Pat Sokolove, Ph.D., Deputy Director, Office of Intramural Training Education (OITE), National Institute of Health
• The NIH Guide for Training and Mentoring
• Guide to Training and Mentoring by Michael Gottesman, NIH Deputy Director of the Intramural Research Program (IRP). 
• National Cancer Institute Mentoring Resources

• One primary mentor is required. Two or more mentors are optional.
• The mentor must have a faculty or adjunct appointment at MD Anderson Cancer Center and preferably within the Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences.
• Instructors and Postdoctoral Fellows may serve as mentors, as long as they are supervised by a faculty at the Assistant Professor level or higher.
• The proposed summer research project must be related to cancer prevention.
• Faculty outside of the Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences may serve as mentors as long as they meet all of the aforementioned requirements and the project is related to cancer prevention.

Use one of the following search methods to locate potential summer mentors and list a minimum of six (6) choices on a separate page of the personal statement.

1)      Select from the list of Previous CPRTP Summer Mentor & Projects (see the tab below). 

2)      Search the faculty pages of the five (5) departments within the Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences (DCPPS) listed below. Each faculty name on the department page is hyperlinked to the faculty profile which describes their research.

1. Department of Epidemiology Faculty
2. Department of Health Services Research Faculty
3. Department of Behavioral Science Faculty
4. Department of Clinical Cancer Prevention Faculty
5. Department of Health Disparities Research Faculty

3)      Using the MD Anderson Faculty Search engine at http://faculty.mdanderson.org, search by faculty name OR research keyword (e.g. colon cancer) using the Faculty Name box.  

The following are MD Anderson faculty, grouped by department, who have previously mentored and/or agreed to mentor a CPRTP summer student. The directory below includes a link to the faculty profile page and keywords describing the research. 

Upon notification of award, the CPRTP will review your mentor choices and provide copies of your application to the faculty.  The faculty will review your application and determine whether they are available for an interview.

When making this determination, faculty will consider the following:

• Your previous research experience (if any)
  
• Whether your research interests are in alignment with their current projects
• Ability to work independently 
• Whether you are seeking lab experience or basic science experience
• Whether their current research is in cancer prevention
• Their current work load (e.g. upcoming grant submissions)
  
• Their summer travel schedule (e.g. upcoming conferences)
• The number of students they are currently mentoring
  
• Available space within their department

The faculty will inform us which students they are interested in interviewing.  We will provide you with an interview form, interview questions, faculty contact information, and a deadline for interview results. In most cases, you will interview the faculty's senior research scientist, lab manager, program manager, postdoctoral fellow or instructor.  These individuals work directly with the faculty mentor and will take an active role in mentoring the summer student, while managing daily activities. In these scenarios, the faculty mentor will act more as a supervisor and oversee the summer research project. In contrast, other faculty mentors will interview and subsequently work directly with the summer student.

Once we compile all interview results, we will begin matching students and contact the faculty to confirm a match.  When both you and the mentor are in consensus--a match is made.  Finally, we will have the matched mentor complete a project description form, which will be provided at CPRTP orientation during the first day of your fellowship. 

The following resources will help CPRTP summer students make the most of their mentoring relationship. 

• Thoughts on Choosing a Research Mentor, NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education
• National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN), a national network of mentors and mentees from all biomedical disciplines relevant to the NIH mission.
• Mentoring - NIH Working Group on Women in Biomedical Careers
• How to be a Good Mentor and Mentee by the Fellows Committee (FelCom) -  NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education. A quick guide for making the most of your time with your mentor(s).