Selecting the appropriate faculty mentor is critical for a successful undergraduate research experience.<\/p>\n

Many faculty members have major research projects that are already underway, and you may be able to contribute to their research goals with your own research project. Our faculty are known for being very approachable, down-to-earth scholars. They will be excited to talk to you about your research ideas and their research projects.<\/p>\n

Remember, Hooper Undergraduate Research Award (HURA) and Student-led Projects in the Arts, Creative Activity, and Scholarship (SPArCS) applications require that you have a faculty mentor to help you create a great research plan and to help you with your research.<\/p>\n

Contacting and meeting with potential faculty research mentors<\/h5>\n
Contact a potential faculty mentor.<\/s><\/p>\n
\n
Introduce yourself in a formally written email and express your interest in the faculty member’s research; if you plan to talk to several potential mentors to find the right match with your interests, be sure that you indicate this.<\/li>\n
Attach your resume to your email (or bring it with you if you visit during office hours).<\/li>\n
Ask for an appointment to discuss research opportunities in more detail.<\/li>\n
Alternatively, find out the posted office hours for potential faculty mentors; the faculty set up these hours as times that they are specifically available to talk to students.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Always be prepared and professional when contacting and meeting with faculty. Your interactions with faculty members can be as important as a job interview.<\/p>\n
Reading the faculty member’s website or one of their recent publications would be beneficial.<\/p>\n
Be prepared to answer these questions when you meet with a faculty member:<\/p>\n
\n
Why do you want to do research?<\/li>\n
Why are you interested in the faculty member’s research?<\/li>\n
What are your future educational or professional goals?<\/li>\n
How does research fit into your goals?<\/li>\n
How much time do you have to devote to a research project?<\/li>\n
Have you taken any courses relevant to research? If so, which one(s)?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
You should also prepare a list of questions to ask the faculty member, such as:<\/p>\n
\n
What are some possible opportunities for undergraduates related to your scholarly work?<\/li>\n
How many undergraduate research projects have you mentored? What did these students do?<\/li>\n
What are your expectations for undergraduate research projects?<\/li>\n
How could I (the student) prepare for doing research?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Thank the faculty member for taking the time to discuss research opportunities with you.<\/p>\n
Selecting a faculty mentor<\/h4>\n
After meeting with one or more potential faculty members, select the one who best fits with your research project and personal style. Generally speaking, choose a faculty mentor who:<\/p>\n
\n
is engaged in research in your area of interest<\/li>\n
has a track-record of mentoring and publishing with undergraduate students<\/li>\n
has a communication style with which you feel comfortable<\/li>\n
is accessible<\/li>\n
seems genuinely interested in you<\/li>\n
has the space, equipment, and instrumentation needed for your project<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Getting academic credit for your independent research projects<\/h4>\n
Work with your adviser to determine whether your research project is also appropriate to receive academic credit toward your degree.<\/p>\n
For projects funded by the Hooper Undergraduate Research Award (HURA) and the Student-led Projects in the Arts, Creative Activity, and Scholarship (SPArCS), you will be required to register for at least one hour of undergraduate research or independent study every semester you receive funding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n
\n
\n
\n
\n
Questions?<\/h3>\n <\/div>\n
\n
\n
Contact the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity<\/a>,<\/div>\n
928-523-6656<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We hope that you will consider participating in a research, scholarly, or other creative project. The advantages of participating in research as an undergraduate include: getting an insider’s perspective into the research process gaining essential technical and non-technical skills that will benefit you now and throughout your career developing a deep understanding of who you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1627,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ring_central_script_selection":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-100","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/office-undergraduate-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/office-undergraduate-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/office-undergraduate-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/office-undergraduate-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/office-undergraduate-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/office-undergraduate-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/100\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6821,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/office-undergraduate-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/100\/revisions\/6821"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/office-undergraduate-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/office-undergraduate-research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

\n

\n

Contacting and meeting with potential faculty research mentors<\/h5>\nContact a potential faculty mentor.<\/s><\/p>\n