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Mentoring Undergraduate Researchers (MUR) Institute

Undergraduate research is often considered a “high impact practice,” with well-documented benefits such as improved academic outcomes and retention (Mieg et al., 2022). These experiences have been shown to benefit all students, and in particular traditionally underrepresented students (Bangera & Brownell, 2014; Finley & McNair, 2013). From 2020-2022, the Eberly Center and the Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholar Development (OURSD) partnered to develop and run the Innovative Models of Undergraduate Research (IMUR) Faculty Fellowship Program, aimed at creating inclusive research experiences that could scale beyond the traditional 1:1 faculty-student model. Following the success of this program, we wanted to expand our professional development around undergraduate research to CMU’s 8,600+ graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, many of whom will mentor undergraduate students in research. 

The Mentoring Undergraduate Researchers (MUR) Institute for CMU graduate students and postdoctoral fellows was developed jointly by the Eberly Center and OURSD based on the research and resources generated from IMUR (see below). After its first successful launch in May 2023 and a second iteration in January 2024, we are pleased to announce that the MUR Institute will be an annual program, running every January before the start of Spring semester.

Program Information

Mentoring Undergraduate Researchers: an Institute for Graduate Students & Postdoctoral Fellows

REGISTER HERE !

Next iteration: January 9-10, 2025, 9:00am – 12:00pm
Are you interested in learning how to effectively mentor undergraduate researchers? Would you like to develop your own mentoring identity and skill set? This two-day institute will prepare graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to design a project and mentor undergraduate students in research. Participants will leave with a toolkit of strategies to answer the following questions:

  • What is inclusive and effective mentoring?
  • How is mentoring similar to and different from teaching?
  • How do you negotiate your own identity while mentoring?
  • How can you help undergraduate researchers develop habits of mind and skills?
  • How do you determine appropriate research goals and scope projects for individual students?
This program is open to all CMU graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. You do not need to be actively mentoring undergraduates to attend - we welcome folks of all experience levels.
The MUR Institute happens every January, on the Thursday and Friday morning before the start of Spring semester. The next event will be January 9-10, 2025, 9am-12pm. The event is in person and takes place at CMU’s Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation. 

Registration for the Institute will be available during the Fall semester by going to seminars.eberly.cmu.edu. (Check out our other programs for graduate students and postdocs as well!)

Agenda

Day 1 Agenda (3 hours, breakfast included)

  • What is mentoring? How is it similar to and different from teaching?
  • How can we create inclusive undergraduate research experiences?
  • How do you negotiate your own identity while mentoring?

Day 2 Agenda (3 hours, breakfast included)

  • Undergraduate research and the development of epistemic skills
  • How do you determine an appropriate project for a student?
  • Workshop your project (no prior work is needed)

 

“I've thought a lot about how epistemology affects the levels and types of projects I work on with different students. I've also reused worksheets that were distributed during the training. With each student I think about the skills, technical and non-technical, I want my students to learn, how to cultivate those skills, and how to know if I'm meeting those skills.” Aja Carter, Mechanical Engineering

“Mentoring vs teaching discussion was helpful! The research institute was also surprisingly helpful with grad students (the ones I work with are early in their program and not that far off from junior/senior undergrads, epistemologically). I led a discussion with the other students in my lab about mentoring after attending the institute and the section about epistemology was interesting to people.” McKenna McCall, Software and Societal Systems Department

Prior to and following the institute, participants completed a brief survey measuring their self-efficacy with regards to being an effective inclusive research mentor.

Results of a Wilcoxon signed rank test indicate that students’ mean self-efficacy scores for being an effective inclusive research mentor were statistically significantly higher after the institute (M=76.5 SD=15.0) as compared to before the institute (M=58.6, SD=22.1) (Z=4.37, p<0.001). 

Results of a Wilcoxon signed rank test indicate that students’ mean self-efficacy scores for being an effective inclusive research mentor were statistically significantly higher after the institute (M=76.5 SD=15.0) as compared to before the institute (M=58.6, SD=22.1) (Z=4.37, p<0.001). 

Undergraduate Research Design and Assessment Toolkit  (link)

This resource documents our experience engaging with instructors during the IMUR Fellowship. The toolkit serves as a guide in designing and implementing inclusive undergraduate research experiences (URE) at scale, that is, moving beyond the traditional one-to-one student to mentor model. This guide is intended for both instructors mentoring students in UREs and the educational developers supporting such instructors. We have included our process, program materials, lessons learned, as well as sample artifacts created by the instructors.

Mentoring Opportunities via the Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholar Development

For undergraduates new to research, the Summer Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship (SURA) provides tuition-free elective credit to undergraduates at Carnegie Mellon for research or creative inquiry under the direction of a Carnegie Mellon faculty member. 

The Highway to Undergraduate Research in the Academic Year (HURAY), another introductory program, provides paid academic research for work study-eligible students in all fields of study in the fall and spring semesters.

For more advanced CMU undergraduates, the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) provides full-time paid summer research opportunities with CMU faculty.

Finally, Small Undergraduate Research Grants (SURG) provide funding for materials and supplies for mentored undergraduate projects in all fields of study.

Faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students interested in learning more about our programs should email us at OURSD-general@andrew.cmu.edu. Additionally, those who have an available undergraduate research position outside of our programming may reach out for additional advertising on our website!

  • Bangera, G., & Brownell, S. E. (2014). Course-based undergraduate research experiences can make scientific research more inclusive. CBE Life Sciences Education, 13(4), 602–606.
  • Finley, A., and McNair, T. (2013), “Assessing Underserved Students’ Engagement in High-Impact Practices,” Association of American Colleges and Universities, available at http://www.aacu.org/assessinghips 
  • Mieg, H. A., Ambos, E., Brew, A., Galli, D., & Lehmann, J. (Eds.). (2022). The Cambridge handbook of undergraduate research. Cambridge University Press.