Information for Mentors

Caltech Mentors | Co-Mentors | JPL Mentors | Mentoring Tips | Partnership Statement

Mentoring Tips

Through the SFP programs, students are introduced to research. They come to the experience with a wide range of previous experience, knowledge, and talent. Students possess significant intellectual capacity but may lack the judgment or maturity that comes from life, academic, or professional experiences. If this is their first research opportunity, they may lack confidence. Others will have confidence but little experience and they may make inappropriate decisions about the research, procedures, or methods. Some students will come with experience or with natural talent for doing research, will exhibit maturity, and will function at the level of a graduate student. Students tend to approach this experience with a passion for science or engineering, great enthusiasm, and high expectations for the work they will do.

Importance and Value of Mentoring

• Undergraduate research should be a high quality educational experience for students.
• Students draw from classroom knowledge to tackle new problems or questions.
• They begin to understand the processes of scientific or engineering research.
• Students become intellectual partners with mentors.
• Students gain insight into the kinds of careers they want to pursue and whether they want to attend graduate school.
• Mentors gain personal satisfaction in training the next generation.
• Mentors and co-mentors give back what they gained from their own mentors.
• They welcome students into the community of scholars and researchers.
• Mentors teach skills, methods, and techniques.
• Mentors provide advice, encouragement, and wisdom to the students.
• Mentors coach students to develop new ways to approach problems.
• They encourage students to think about and reflect on their research.
• Mentors pass on the nature and culture of science/engineering to the next generation.
• They pass on scientific ethics.
• Mentors help students develop strong oral and written communication skills.

Click here for more details on the Mentor’s or Co-Mentor’s roles.

Expectations

Mentors, Co-Mentors, and students come to the undergraduate research experience with their respective sets of expectations about each other and about the project on which they will collaborate over the summer. Mentors and co-mentors have the responsibility to manage student expectations and to communicate their own expectations about how they will interact with the student. Mentors/co-mentors should define the roles and relationships within the research group for the student.  

Students often commence the undergraduate research experience with high hopes for quickly and successfully attaining the research goals outlined in their project plans. If the progress slows for any reason, they may become discouraged because they lack experience and perspective to know that “research is where anything can happen and usually does.” Mentors/co-mentors should encourage students through the periods of slow progress.

Some students hesitate to ask questions when they need explanations or don’t understand something.  Mentors and co-mentors should strive to create an environment that welcomes inquiry and questions.

Students should become colleagues in the research partnership. They should join the life of the laboratory as full members and be welcomed into the research community. Students should attend laboratory or group meetings, present their projects just as other members do, and participate in the intellectual and social exchange.

Undergraduate research is not just any summer job. Students are paid a fellowship stipend. They are expected to work on their projects as others in the laboratory work on their own research. Students receive their stipends in three equal installments during the summer; they do not complete time sheets.  Therefore, they may be in lab the same hours as other group members; they are not necessarily bound to an 8 to 5 schedule unless that is the norm in the laboratory.  The program expects students to devote full effort to their projects and strongly discourages students from holding outside jobs, taking classes, etc. As with any opportunity, students will get out their experience what they put into it.

Undergraduate research is an educational program. Projects should be developed to allow the student to take intellectual ownership. The benchmark of a good project is the potential for publication in the refereed literature. Although about 20% of SFP students make significant contributions to research and become co-authors of articles or research reports or make presentations at conferences, students often cannot achieve publishable results in the short ten-week summer period.

Undergraduate research  students are not graduate students. Some students are as capable as grad students, all have the potential for graduate work, but most have not yet developed the skills or abilities. Mentors should seek students who have the initiative, drive, and enthusiasm to tackle the project and who can rise to the challenge offered. Mentors must expect to work closely with their students until the students can function more independently.

Mentors must accommodate to the student’s level of knowledge, skill, and ability.  Mentors/co-mentors should assess the student’s level of preparation and ability. If the mentor assumes that the student has greater knowledge or experience, he/she may not provide sufficient support. Students often become overwhelmed when they do not receive the support they need, and they are reluctant to ask for assistance. Progress on the project may become slow, and students may become discouraged. Mentors should take steps to build a student’s self confidence, encourage them to ask for the help they need, and invite them into the research community.

On the other hand, if mentors/co-mentors expect too little of a student, the student has no challenge and may become bored or disillusioned with the project. Mentors and co-mentors need to find ways to stimulate and interest the student.

Mentoring takes time. Mentors and co-mentors must communicate clearly with the student. They should clearly articulate the expectations for the outcomes of the project. Time budgets should include the time to teach techniques and methods. It takes time for students to learn their way around the laboratory, meet their summer colleagues, and become familiar with the life of the lab. Investment of time at the beginning of the project will usually pay off as the summer progresses.

Many new mentors and co-mentors have commented that they were surprised by how much time it takes to mentor an undergraduate student, especially in the first two or three weeks of the summer period. Co-mentors have advised their colleagues to plan not to work on their own projects initially and to devote full time to training the student in the skills and techniques he/she will use through the summer. The early time investment pays off later when the students become more independent more quickly.

SFP enrichment activities. The SFP Office provides many activities throughout the summer to enhance and balance the students’ research endeavors. These include weekly research seminars, professional development workshops, social and cultural events, and some field trips. Participation in these activities is completely voluntary! Students are encouraged, but not required, to attend. However, students gain breadth and perspective to their research experience through participation in these special activities. Students, mentors, and co-mentors should agree on the hours the student will work and whether leaving at a particular time to attend SFP activities will impact the student’s work or the work of others.

Letters of recommendation. One of a mentor’s/co-mentor’s most important jobs is writing letters of recommendation for their students. Graduate and professional schools and future employers depend upon the accurate description of a student’s skills—laboratory, communication, teamwork. The mentor’s opinions and comments will be very important to the student’s future.

Mentors interact with the whole student. Students come to their research projects with all their other experiences and relationships. If a student is not performing well, seems disengaged from the project, or appears to have other things on his/her mind, the mentor may inquire whether things are going OK. Some students will respond to the invitation to talk, others will not. If a mentor is concerned, he/she should contact the Student-Faculty Programs Office or the Counseling Center at Caltech (626.395.8331).