SOMAS-URM: The Evolution of a Mentoring and Summer Research Program

The need to enhance recruitment and retention of students in the sciences to strengthen the economic and scientific foundation of the United States was recently underscored by the National Science Board. The SOMAS Program (Support Of Mentors And their Students) addresses this need using a two-pronged strategy: 1) Junior faculty receive mentoring and instruction in launching research programs that engage student collaborators; and 2) College students are introduced to discovery in the neurosciences by conducting original research with their professors. Junior faculty from predominantly undergraduate institutions are invited to submit applications to obtain summer research support for undergraduate students who will spend 10 weeks collaborating with the faculty member on projects of common interest. Awards cover a travel and a supply budget, summer student housing, as well as faculty and student stipends. The faculty mentors and their students are to use the travel support to attend the joint Annual Meetings of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) and the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience (FUN). Faculty Awardees are required to participate in the Survival Skills and Ethics Workshop held at the SfN Meeting to prepare them to write grants aimed at supporting their research programs. Students are to present their summer research findings at the FUN Poster Session held jointly with the SfN Meeting. Students are also required to attend Survival Skills Workshop sessions that focus on ethics in research and that provide tips on applying to graduate school. The SOMAS-URM Program presently emphasizes recruitment and retention of underrepresented groups to enhance participation in scientific discovery by the full range of the American population.