WISCIENCE
Wisconsin Institute for Science Education and Community Engagement

Research Professional Development

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WISCIENCE fulfills requests by the UW-Madison community to give presentations and provide consultations to support research mentor and mentee training in STEM for departments and programs across campus.

Research Mentee Training Opportunities for Undergraduate Students

Exploring Research in STEM  – INTEGSCI 150

Offers an overview of the research process and opportunities to build skills in reading scientific literature. Understand different approaches to science and to be flexible in thinking about gathering evidence or solving problems. Supports articulation of research interests, identifying potential research mentors, and writing professional emails to secure research opportunities. Explore STEM careers and pathways that can come from engaging in research.

| undergrad, credits 1 |

Entering Research, Part I – INTEGSCI 260

Seminar course for sophomore or transfer students to begin independent research in science, technology, engineering or mathematics. Taken concurrently with 1-3 research credits with faculty member. Supports independent research experience.

| undergrad, credits 1, must have a confirmed faculty research mentor |

Entering Research, Part II – INTEGSCI 261

Seminar course for sophomore or transfer students continuing independent research in science, technology, engineering or mathematics. Taken concurrently with 1-3 research credits with faculty member. Supports independent research experience.

| undergrad, credits 1, must have a confirmed faculty research mentor |

Biological Interactions Summer Research Program

Provides intensive, full-time bioscience research and professional development for undergraduate students as they prepare for graduate school and research careers in biology.

| undergrad |

Finding a Mentor

A resource with tips to help guide you in your process of finding a mentor.

Guide to Undergraduate Research

A guide for undergraduates who want to engage in research on campus and need help navigating the process.

More Resources

Events

  • Oct
    18

    Find a Mentor Workshop @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm BioCommons, Ground Floor of Steenbock Library
    Register Here

    Need help finding a research experience on campus? Join us to learn how to find the right experience for you and gain insights from fellow students.

  • Nov
    10

    Find a Mentor Workshop @ 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm BioCommons, Ground Floor of Steenbock Library
    Register Here

    Need help finding a research experience on campus? Join us to learn how to find the right experience for you and gain insights from fellow students.

  • Nov
    17

    Find a Mentor Workshop @ 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm BioCommons, Ground Floor of Steenbock Library
    Register Here

    Need help finding a research experience on campus? Join us to learn how to find the right experience for you and gain insights from fellow students.

See more events

Peer Leader Drop-In Hours

See all drop-in hours

Research Mentor Training Opportunities for Graduate and Postdoc Students

Research Mentor Training – INTEGSCI 660

The Research Mentor Training seminar, offered in collaboration with the Delta program, gives you space to reflect and reinvigorate and provides concrete tools to support a successful mentor/mentee relationship. The course is designed for graduate students, postdocs, and faculty who are mentoring an undergraduate, and it’s meant to be taken alongside as you mentor, so you get just-in-time support and can try out what you’re learning.

| graduate & postdoc, credit 1 |

Graduate and Postdoc Research Resources

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Research Mentor Training Resources for Faculty & Staff

Research Mentor Training

Mentor training can make the difference between a mutually beneficial, productive mentoring relationship and one that is draining for the mentor and discouraging for the mentee.

| faculty training |

Faculty & Staff Research Resources

  • Entering Research Learning Assessment (ERLA)

    The Entering Research Learning Assessment (ERLA) is a set of parallel research trainee and mentor surveys that assess trainee learning gains in the seven areas of research trainee development articulated in the Entering Research conceptual framework. Items to assess trainee gains in equity and inclusion awareness and skills expand upon the scope of previously available multidimensional research trainee assessment tools and the parallel survey results can be compared to measure the degree of alignment between research trainees’ and mentors’ assessments of trainee learning gains.

  • Entering Research Curriculum

    The Entering Research conceptual framework is grounded in the literature on research trainee development and research program effectiveness. It includes learning objectives in seven areas of trainee development that incorporate several theories shown to be relevant to various aspects of research trainee development.

  • Evaluating Entering Research

    WISCIENCE provides centralized common assessment and evaluation surveys that use the Entering Research Learning Assessment (ERLA) to promote and systematize the evaluation of undergraduate and graduate reserach experiences and training programs.  These surveys are available to all trained facilitators of Entering Research (ER), regardless of whether they are using ER activities in their implementations. Programs using the ER curriculum can also used standardized program/course evaluation questions designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum in training program and workshop implementations.

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