Research Mentor News, July 2017

BUILD Associates PREP: July 17 to 28

The BUILD Associates will be participating in a two-week Preparing for Research Excellence Program (PREP). They will gain personal development and professional skills and training to prepare them to be active participants in your research group placement starting in the fall semester.

If you have an Associate joining you this fall, you should have received an email requesting information about special trainings your student might need, a research question for your student to look up during their literature search activity, and an empirical article you want them to review.  If you are available, we would also like for your Associate mentee to meet with you or a representative from your lab during the PREP period.  Please contact Dr. Selena Nguyen-Rodriguez with this information or with any questions or concerns you might have.


Remind Your Scholars: Forthcoming Deadlines for Your Mentees

The Summer Research Symposium will take place on Friday, July 28, from 5:30 to 8:05 pm. Please join and support your BUILD Scholars and meet their families. It will mean a lot to your mentees and their families for you to be there.

Also, your mentees have projects due for the Symposium. Please help them meet their deadlines.

  • Sunday, July 16: The draft of their poster is due. Your Scholars will receive feedback from the Graduate Assistants and BUILD training faculty. We hope you can also provide guidance on your Scholars’ poster.
  • Sunday, July 23: The final version of the poster is due for printing.

In addition, deadlines for submitting abstracts for presentations at SACNAS and ABRCMS are coming up quickly. Please encourage your mentees to prepare and submit theirs on time:

  • SACNAS: July 14, 2017, by 5:00 pm Pacific Time
  • ABRCMS: Sept. 8, 2017, by 11:59 pm Pacific Time

Summer SURGE & PREP Program Updates

The Summer SURGE programs for Scholars and Fellows began June 6 and the PREP program for Associates begins July 17. Year One Scholars visited our R1 partner, the University of Southern California, on June 29 (keep an eye out for highlights posted on the website later this month). Both Year One and Year Two Scholars and Fellows will also be touring our other R1 partner, the University of California Irvine, on the 20th of this month. Associates will be touring labs on the CSULB campus on July 25.


Elevator Speech Contest

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The Winners of the Elevator Speech Contests, 2017

SURGE 1 and 2 Scholars competed for best Elevator Speech aimed at a scientific audience and lay audience on June 20. The winning speakers, listed below, received a coveted chocolate medallion. Honing their elevator speeches helps Scholars speak more clearly about their research and this contest not only gave them the incentive to give their best but also highlights what good elevator speeches can look like.

  • Rhea Mehta, First Place, SURGE 1, Scientific
  • Gregory Kouris, Second Place, SURGE 1, Scientific
  • Joshuah Gagan, First Place, SURGE 2, Scientific
  • John-Edward Poli, First Place, SURGE 1, Family & Friends
  • Do (Diane) Kim, Second Place, SURGE 1, Family & Friends
  • Edward Thai, First Place, SURGE 2, Family & Friends

In addition, Katherine Henson won the “Children’s Choice” award and received a box of Kellog’s Frosted Flakes.

Congratulations go out to all our finalists who made it to the final round: Scientific – Tatiana Avila, Reah Chiong, Ariel Gilligan, Jesus Hoil, Jacquelyn Villalba and Jason Watts; Family & Friends – Carlos Alvarado, Kenneth Bush, Stephanie Leal, and Andrea Luna. Scores for everyone’s presentation were very close!

You can view photos from the contest on the BUILD website. Video highlights are coming soon.


Summer Research Symposium

Save the date for the Third Annual Summer Research Symposium to be held on July 28, starting at 5:30 pm. You are encouraged to attend in support of your BUILD Scholars who will be presenting their posters at the event, and meet their families. If you haven't already, you should have received an email invitation with the RSVP link (if you have a trainee in the Summer program). If not, you can RSVP here. It will mean a lot to your mentees and their families for you to be there.


Coming Next Issue …

  • Highlights from the USC & UCI Tours
  • Video Highlights from the Elevator Contest

Be Prepared

If you'd like to know what is coming up in the BUILD Learning Community for your mentee, download the current syllabus. This will give you a heads up on what events your mentee is required to attend and therefore will not be available to work in your lab at that time. This page will be updated each semester with the new syllabi.

Communicating with BUILD

We invite your news about your BUILD Trainee and any questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions about BUILD.  If you have any of these, in relation to being a BUILD Research Mentor, or concerns about your BUILD Student, please contact us at BUILD.mentors@csulb.edu.  Be sure to keep an eye out for the June newsletter.