Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program (SURF)
Boston
The Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program was established to provide students with opportunities for mentored learning. By working closely with faculty on a scholarly project, you will apply critical thinking skills in formulating significant questions, proposing potential solutions, testing the proposed solutions, and effectively communicating the outcome of your work to others.
SURF Objectives
SURFing will help you to develop the confidence, creativity, and intellectual skills necessary for you to become a future scholar, educator, and leader in your field.
The activities of the Program are designed to provide you with opportunities for:
- creative growth in the process of recognizing current problems in their field and generating new ideas for possible solutions.
- intellectual growth in the discovery of original knowledge in order to solve the problem.
- development of your oral and written communication skills in order to relate the results of your work to the general public and to others in your field.
- development of confidence in your ability to actively contribute to knowledge in your field and to educate others regarding that knowledge.
SURF Eligibility
You are eligible if you have matriculated at the College and completed your second year of studies. If you are a transfer student, we ask that you complete one academic year at MCPHS prior to accepting a position in the Program. Preference will be given to applicants who have achieved an overall grade point average of at least 2.5 on a 4.0 scale.
The application requires you to:
- select three Faculty from the published list of research opportunities with whom you would like to work.
- submit two letters of recommendation, at least one of which must be from a Faculty member of the College.
- submit an essay (two-page maximum) describing why you are interested in the Program, what you hope to achieve through the Program, the characteristics you possess that will help you to succeed in research, and your goals for the future.
The Application Deadline is February 15, 2008.
The SURF Advisory Board will select finalists to be interviewed. Fellows will be selected based on their application materials and their interview. Notificaion of Fellowship Awards will be made on April 1, 2008.
Responsibilities of Undergraduate Research Fellows
Since research and discovery varies among disciplines, you will get a unique experience from the Program. However, all Fellows will be expected to:
- submit a written proposal, prior to receiving funding, describing the problem you want to investigate, your ideas for possible solutions, and the techniques you would use to test the validity of the proposed solutions (Your research mentor will aid you in this process).
- devote full effort to your project. Fellows are expected to work forty hours per week on their project for the ten weeks of the Program.
- submit a written abstract of your work.
- submit a written report of your final results at the completion of the Program.
- give an oral presentation of your project at the MCPHS undergraduate research seminar in the fall.
The research portion of the Program is scheduled to run from May 19 to July 25, 2008.
Compensation
The Fellowship provides a stipend of $4,000 plus monies to help defray travel expenses to a conference at which you will present your work.
Application
Individuals interested in learning more about the Program should direct questions to:
Lawrence Gracz, PhD
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
School of Pharmacy - Boston
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
179 Longwood Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
lawrence.gracz@mcphs.edu