Transitional Learning Community Building Through the HHMI Future

Scientists and Clinicians Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program

Offered through UNC-Chapel Hills Office for Undergraduate Research
Virginia K. Hench and Patricia J. Pukkila
http://www.unc.edu/depts/our/hhmi.html
As part of the HHMI Science Learning
Communities program, the HHMI-Future
Scientists and Clinicians (HHMI-FSC)
fellowship was designed to enhance the
culture of undergraduate research for
high-ability students from low-income
backgrounds who were not seeking research
experiences that matched their talents. The
purpose of the HHMI-FSC program is to
foster an intellectual community that
empowers Carolina Covenant Scholars to
engage in biomedical research; think
critically about their own research; and
effectively communicate their findings.
Every fellow is placed in a PI Mentors lab
and paired with a graduate student or
postdoc Co-Mentor, who trains the fellow at
the bench and guides them to relevant
literature. The full immersion experience at
40 hours per week for two consecutive
summers allows fellows to integrate into
their lab community. Students who had
prior part time lab experience said the full
time experience allowed them to feel more a
part of the lab family. One off-site field trip,
along with weekly skill-building workshops
and journal clubs serve as collaborative
learning spaces amongst fellows. This
transitional community helps them grow
accustomed to communicating both
complex scientific concepts and the joys of
research to their peers. Fellows became
interested in the Carolina Research Scholar
Program (CRSP) and encouraged one
another to complete the one CRSP course
requirement together so they could
represent. In an effort to expand the
learning community beyond the cohort of
12, fellows took an active role in recruiting
future FSC fellows at the winter holiday
party. Overall, their activities contributed to
a dramatic increase in applications for
summer fellowships from Covenant
Scholars in both science and non-science
disciplines. We work with UNCs
Evaluation, Assessment and Policy
Connections (EvAP) team to get feedback
from participants and determine whether
programming is appropriately suited to
meet long-term goals. Overall, survey
feedback from fellows, Co-Mentors, and PIs
indicated high satisfaction with the
program after year one. As one student
wrote, this whole experience was truly
enlightening. We expect that the HHMI-
FSC students will continue to serve as
valuable role models for other
economically-disadvantaged students on
our campus.
Abstract
Winter 1 Summer 1 Winter 2 Summer 2
Community
building why do
you want to be a
scientist?
Recruit
students &PIs
Selection committee matches
competitive students to labs; PIs
and Co-Mentors interview the
candidate & decide if the match is
appropriate
Collaborative
programming with
HHMI Future Teacher
interns
Fieldtrip to
NIEHS
End of summer
symposium: Fellows
give 10 minute long
research talks
End of summer
symposium: 2
nd
year
fellows present
posters & 1
st
year
fellows give talks
Returning fellows promote
the fellowship program at
the Covenant Scholar
winter holiday party
9/12 fellows register for
the Carolina Research
Scholar Program (CRSP)
and enroll in Modes of
Inquiry
Orientation &
introductions to new
fellows
First assignment encourages
students to explore their
personal connections with
current research. (See 2012
Fellow comment below)
If the mentee is excited about the work, it makes
it infectious. I was excited about where my
mentee started and where she ended up. My
student had a little frustration, and she wasnt
used to being frustrated about finding her
answers to research questions, but she was
receptive to the guidance she was given.

- A Postdoc Co-Mentor

We would love to have __ in the lab until she
graduates. It has been a pleasure having her and
she has really progressed in her understanding of
scientific method and independence.

-PI Mentor

She has been and continues to be great. She'll be
an author on at least one paper before she leaves
the lab.

- -PI Mentor

I think communicating your research over time has
gotten easier too. I think once youve gotten into the
project and understand more about whats going on,
you can talk about it more effectively.

-2011 Fellow

I really enjoyed this assignment because Im
extremely excited to have found this article!! So,
thanks! :) Also, I just wanted to let you know that my
mentor is absolutely awesome! I worked in a lab
before and I had a pretty good mentor for a short
time, and a really disinterested mentor for a long
time, so its so refreshing to have someone that is so
passionate about her project and so involved in my
growth and experiences as well as being someone
who is so understanding with me as I learn so much
at one time!!!

-In an email from a 2012 Fellow

The number of Covenant
Scholars receiving non-
HHMI undergraduate
research fellowships
increases 3-fold
Second year fellows take on
leadership roles by leading
journal clubs and workshops
on topics about which theyve
become experts
10/12 fellows
continue working
in their respective
labs during the
academic year
Fieldtrip to Advanced
Liquid Logic, an RTP
biotech firm
Fellows engage in weekly
activities designed to help
them find their confidence
and improve their science
communication skills
Co-Mentors pick landmark
papers in molecular biology
and immunology for weekly
journal club
On a scale from 1 to 5, the
mean score was a 4.0 for
the experience providing
readiness for more
demanding research
Program Timeline: Fellows spend 2 summers working fulltime with postdoc & graduate student co-mentors
Challenges
looking
forward: how
can we assist
more students
in making the
work-study to
research
transition?