For prospective faculty mentors

• ERAS is a two-term introductory program designed for first-year students to explore hands-on faculty-mentored research in the sciences, with a focus on students who have not previously had opportunities to engage in research outside the classroom.
• Students are matched with faculty mentors by program staff based on a variety of factors. Students and faculty do not set up their own matches.
• Be sure to read the full description of the program before deciding whether to participate.

Factors to consider in deciding whether to be a mentor

• Read the program description and purpose.
• Review the eligibility guidelines for faculty mentors. 
• This is an hourly paid position. You as the faculty mentor will be the student's job supervisor and will need to sign off on timesheets. 
• The program pays the student wages but does not provide funding for costs associated with the research.
• You may assign a graduate student or postdoctoral fellow to supervise the student, but you are the primary mentor and are responsible for ensuring that students have adequate supervision.
• Dartmouth ERAS is intended to provide students with hands-on research experiences. Projects that are literature-based or more theoretical may be less appropriate for students in this program.
• First-year students have different levels of preparation and scientific background, and students in the program will need supervision and mentoring from you.
• If your research is more appropriate for students farther along in their studies at Dartmouth, there are other research programs offered through SURFD .

How to enter the matching process

• Submit a project to the online ERAS faculty project database. 
  • Link to the database and instructions on how to add and edit projects.
  • This is NOT the same database as the general faculty research project database.
• When the database opens to students, they will contact you to arrange interviews.
• At the end of the interview cycle, faculty will be provided with a list of interested students and asked to indicate which students they would be willing to mento. See below for more information about this form.
• Program staff match students with faculty mentors based on multiple criteria.
  • Faculty and students do NOT arrange their own matches.
• After the first round of matching is completed, there will be a smaller second round of interviews and matching. Faculty who are not matched with students in round 1 may opt to enter round 2.

See the application timeline below.  

• At the conclusion of the interview period, students submit forms listing the projects that are of interest to them.
  • Faculty then will be provided with a list of interested students and asked to indicate which students they would be willing to mentor.
• In completing the form, consider which students might benefit most from the experience. Some may impress you with stellar science backgrounds, previous research experiences, and ability to clearly articulate academic and career goals. Many students, however, have not had access to previous opportunities and may benefit the most from the experience.
• Matches are made by the program staff based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to student and faculty preferences.
  • Faculty and students do not arrange their own matches in this program.

Tips for the interview process

You may manage the interview process in whatever way you want. If a large number of students contact you, options include:

• Conducting interviews via Zoom rather than in person
• Offering group interviews
• Pre-screening applicants (e.g. asking for additional information, requesting that they submit a video statement about their interest in the sciences and/or your project)
• Asking other members of your research group to conduct interviews (particularly if students will be working with a specific graduate student or postdoctoral fellow)
• Interviewing only those students who contact you prior to a given date (if you plan to do this, please note the date specifically in your online project description)

If you opt not to interview all students who contact you, encourage them to broaden their search by exploring scientific disciplines that they might not have initially considered.

During the interview

• Summarize the basic concept of the project.
• Describe some of the tasks the student might be doing.
• Explain whether the student will be working independently, in collaboration with you, supervised by someone else in the lab, or working as part of a group.
• Be clear as to whether the student needs to be available during specific times (e.g. weekly lab meeting), would need to commit blocks of time (e.g. to complete an experimental process), or whether the time commitment is more flexible.
• Make sure the student understands the time commitment involved with working on your project.
• Ask the student about their academic interests and goals.
• Consider whether the student would be a good fit for your research term. You may want to suggest that they contact past undergraduate researchers to hear what the experience was like from a peer.