TruScholars Undergraduate Research Program

The Office of Undergraduate Research will once again sponsor the TruScholars Summer Undergraduate Research Program during the summer of 2012.  The purpose of the TruScholars program is to foster collaborative faculty-student research to enhance student learning and promote the culture of research, scholarship, and creative activities at Truman. Projects supported by this program should exhibit the potential for scholarly publication, presentation at a regional or national conference, public performance or a gallery showing. Up to 25 students will be supported as TruScholars in 2012.

The formal part of the 2012 TruScholars program will coincide with the eight-week Summer Semester, beginning June 4 and ending July 27, 2012.  During this time, students should devote full-time effort to their project and faculty mentors should be continuously available for consultation and collaboration.  There are no restrictions, however, against completing additional work for the research project outside of the formal program period.

Eligibility
The TruScholars Program is available to full-time students in all disciplines.  Students must have completed their freshman year by May 2012, be in good academic standing, and plan to graduate no earlier than December 2012.  Faculty and students must be able to attend all of the mandatory TruScholars program activities (see below).

Because of the expected intensity of the research experience, students may not be enrolled in any courses for the summer term. 

Required Program Elements

• Wednesday, March 21, 2012, 5-7 pm: Orientation Meeting  & Dinner

• Attendance at least two of three workshops (all 11:30 am - 1 pm):

  • Friday, June 15, 2012: Applying to Graduate School

  • Wednesday, June 27, 2012: How to Give a Professional Presentation and/or Poster

  • Tuesday, July 24, 2012: Disseminating Your Work

• Saturday, August 25, 2012 (all day): TruScholars Research Symposium and Banquet – Students make oral presentations about the results of their projects to a general audience. Afterwards, we will all celebrate accomplishments of the projects at dinner. 

Other non-mandatory program activities may include weekly brown-bag lunches, colloquia, workshops, and community-building activities; these optional activities will be open to all Truman students engaged in research during the summer.

Stipends
Students: $3000;  Faculty: $1500

Student stipends will be paid in three installments:
June 15, 2012-$1500; August 15, 2012-$1000; September 15, 2012-$500.

Faculty may mentor any number of students in the TruScholars Program, but will receive a maximum stipend of $3000 for mentoring two or more students.

Students may not divide the stipend among multiple members of a research team; each member of a potential research team must submit a separate application.

Supplementary Funds
Students who are accepted into the 2012 TruScholars Program will be provided with up to $500 each from the Office of Student Research for expenses necessary to support their research projects.  This may include books, lab supplies, travel to research sites, software, etc., but not for travel to conferences.

Selection Criteria
Applications will be reviewed by the Office of Student Research Steering Committee. Students and mentors will be informed of the success of their application by February 29, 2012 and a contract for acceptance of a TruScholars position will need to be signed by March 13, 2012. Applications will be ranked according to quality on each of the following criteria (not necessarily in the following order):

• Overall quality of the project description, including how well the goals, rationale, and research plan are articulated.

• The potential of the project to provide educational value to the student and/or new insights into the discipline.

• The suitability and preparation of the student for the project.

• Recommendation letters submitted by faculty/staff.

• The demonstrated ability of the faculty member to successfully mentor undergraduate research/scholarship projects.

• Availability of the mentor to the student during the TruScholars Program period.