Summer Research

Your summer fellowship includes a stipend and summer housing on campus.  If you are funded by an NIH grant you will have to fill out and submit timesheets in Workday for approval every two weeks.  You will have to apply for summer housing and interim housing if you need to stay on campus before or after your fellowship through the Office of Events and Summer Programming (https://www.bowdoin.edu/events/summer-programs/housing.html).  I prefer all students to work the same 8 weeks, June-July, which we will coordinate once fellowships are awarded.  Your summer fellowship requires that you work ~40 hours per week.  We will have weekly meetings/journal clubs where you will share what you been working on, get input on any hurdles you are facing, and share your plans for future directions in your research.  We will also read and discuss papers relevant to your research project and practice giving research presentations.  In addition to discussing research papers in lab meetings, we will also discuss two papers on the importance of diversity in cognitive neuroscience. We will each present on a rotating basis.  Everyone should read the papers each week, even if they are not presenting, and contribute actively to the discussion.  I prefer to meet on Mondays.  Please come see me the first day of your summer research to arrange a time to meet.  In addition to your research responsibilities, I also expect you to participate in additional research activities including the welcome session for summer research students, training, and discussing your research with other summer biological research fellowship students.  You will not be required to do the lab safety training as it is not necessary for our research.

Additional Background Training for Federally Funded Research

In addition to completing Bowdoin’s IRB Social & Behavioral course, if your summer research is funded by an NIH grant you will need to complete the Responsible and Ethical conduct of Research training and send your completion certificate to me and cc Laura Pilgrim (l.pilgrim@bowdoin.edu).

Presentations

You will be required to give a talk at some point in July on the research you will be doing in the lab at the summer biological sciences summer fellowship presentations.  You can present individually or as a group.  Remember who your audience is (Neuroscience and Biology faculty and students) when you are preparing your presentation.  You will do a practice talk for the lab the week prior to the presentation to get feedback.  I also encourage you to do a practice talk for your peers.

Students participating in summer research will also present their research at the annual President’s Summer Research Symposium in the fall.  You can present individually or as a group.  Please follow the directions about abstract submission and poster printing emailed to you by Mike Danahy.  Please see this website (https://colinpurrington.com/tips/poster-design/) about making a poster and attached template (see template).  Please email me your abstract and poster draft at least a week prior to the deadline to get feedback.

You are also encouraged to present your research at the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience  (FUN) (https://www.funfaculty.org/postersession), Society for Neuroscience (SFN) (https://www.sfn.org/meetings), or the Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) (https://www.cogneurosociety.org/annual-meeting/) annual meeting.  This will give you an opportunity to practice presenting your research and an excellent opportunity for networking and making connections prior to applying to graduate school.  This opportunity is important for you to gain exposure to the broader field of cognitive neuroscience, to receive feedback from other researchers, and to identify potential research areas and mentors for graduate training.  If you presented at the President’s Summer Research Symposium you should use the same poster, but the size requirements are different (see FUN, SFN, and CNS requirements).  Please email me your abstract and poster draft at least a week prior to the deadline to get feedback.  There are Bowdoin funds as well as lab funds for students to attend a conference.  I can help you become a society member, submit your abstract, register for the conference and pay conference fees.  At the conference you are representing yourself, me, the lab, and Bowdoin and you should attend the talks and poster sessions, dress, and act professionally.

Final Report

You will be required to submit a one-page final report to Gina Pappas (gpappas@bowdoin.edu) at the end of the summer.  Examples of final reports from previous summer research students can be found on the Student Fellowships and Research website (https://www.bowdoin.edu/student-fellowships/recent-winners/bowdoin-funded/2023-2024.html).  You should read some of the final reports in Neuroscience to get an idea of what is expected for your final report.  Your final report should explain the background and research rather than what you did in the summer.  You should follow the template posted on the Student Fellowships and Research website for formatting (https://www.bowdoin.edu/student-fellowships/summer-opportunities/research-fellowships/final-report-information.html).  Each student must write their own final report regardless of whether they were working on a project together.  In order for me to provide feedback, please email me your report as a .docx so I can insert comments at least a week prior to the deadline.

You are also encouraged to be a co-author on any published papers that result from your research.  In order to be considered for co-authorship, I expect you to contribute substantially to the project and work with me to write the paper.  To continue our collaboration and to co-author papers, please provide me your permanent email address before you graduate.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to the Aly Lab, Columbia University and the Chrastil Lab, University of California, Irvine for the example lab manuals.