Center for Advanced Materials Research

Facilitating Effective Research Program

The overall undergraduate research experience is ultimately shaped by the nature and quality of specific interactions: those between the undergraduates and faculty, between undergraduates and graduate students/research staff, and between the undergraduates students and other undergraduates. Maximizing the quality of each of these interactions optimizes the overall "success" of the undergraduate research program for each participant.

IWe have previously addressed the issue of undergraduate-undergraduate interactions, and our faculty members are strongly committed to (and have an excellent record in) the creation of highly positive and meaningful undergraduate research experiences. It is toward the improvement of the nature and quality of undergraduate-graduate student/research staff interactions that we offer the Facilitating Effective Research (FER) Program.

The Facilitating Effective Research (FER) Program has 2 primary, and complimentary objectives:

to provide a more meaningful and productive experience for participating undergraduates, and
to provide interested graduate students and staff with the training and experience essential for the effective management of research activities (at Brown and elsewhere).

It is hoped that the materials included below are relevant and useful to a wide range of academic disciplines and research fields. Feel free to adapt the materials to meet your particular research and mentoring needs. Please contact CAMR@brown.edu with questions and/or comments about the program. The FER program is funded by MRSEC grants from the National Science Foundation.

Introduction | Program Material | Apply | Past Program