STEM+M CONNECT Undergraduate Summer Internship & Mentorship Experience
The Center for Science Education (CSE) and The Office for Multicultural Affairs (OMA) at Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM) present an opportunity for Tufts sophomores and juniors to participate in the National Institutes of Health funded STEM+M CONNECT Program (CONNECT for short). CONNECT is a multi-tiered mentoring and preparation program intended to help bridge key academic transition points (high school to college, college to medical school or graduate school), particularly for first-generation college students and low-income students. Through internships and mentoring, STEM+M CONNECT aims to build career awareness, a sense of belonging in STEM+M, and to grow social and professional networks. The STEM+M CONNECT experience for undergraduates is a paid internship that offers an immersive experience in the STEM research and medical professions. This program was formerly called SEPA STEM Mentors and SCIP.
There are three major components to the STEM+M CONNECT Undergraduate Summer Experience:
- An 8-week paid internship: Work as a member of a STEM research lab OR participate in a clinical observership experience in various patient care settings at Tufts Medical Center.
- Professional development activities and mentoring from TUSM faculty.
- Mentoring: Serve as a near-peer mentor to high school students participating in the STEM+M CONNECT High School Program during the summer and following school year. Mentoring is a valuable experience for both the mentee and the mentor; mentors often derive as much benefit from the experience as mentees, and is particularly important for students from underrepresented backgrounds in STEM+M. We hope mentoring relationships develop that last beyond the program!
This 8 week summer internship will run from June 9 to August 1, and undergrads are expected to be present in their labs or clinical settings full-time (outside of mentorship duties). At the end of the program, the undergrads will present their work to CONNECT high school students and staff.
To learn more about our CONNECT undergrads from summer 2021 check out this article.
To learn more about the STEM+M CONNECT High School Summer Program, click here.
Program Details
Students enrolled in programs through the Tufts Center for STEM Diversity are highly encouraged to apply, as are first-generation college students and students from low-income backgrounds. Additionally, interested applicants must meet the following criteria:
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- Be a current sophomore or junior at Tufts University
- Be a U.S. Citizen or permanent resident (i.e. Green Card holder)
- Excited about mentoring high school students
- Enrolled in a STEM major or interested in a STEM or health sciences career
- No previous research or clinical experience is required, but applicants must demonstrate a strong interest in STEM research or clinical experiences
- Commitment to DEIJ initiatives
You will be asked to choose one of the two tracks of the STEM+M CONNECT Internship:
| STEM Research Lab track | Clinical Immersion track | |
| You might choose this track if... | You are interested in a future career in research science, engineering, or other STEM field. | You are interested in a future career in healthcare delivery. |
| How you will be placed | You will be responsible for searching for and applying for positions in labs of your choice (Tufts CSE staff will help!). You can work in a lab on any Tufts campus, or at a different research institution in the Boston area. | The Clinical Immersion track has a pre-set schedule of clinical rotations. |
| About the experience | You will work as a scientist in a research lab daily for the duration of the program. You will have an opportunity to work as a lab member, contributing to the scientific research goals of the lab. The field of research and your specific project will vary depending on what lab you choose. There is a lot of exciting research happening at Tufts—this is your chance to be a part of it! Past STEM+M CONNECT undergrads have worked in labs in neuroscience, biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering, computational cognitive development, public health and community medicine, prosthodontics, molecular biology, microbiology, and electrical and computer engineering. | You will have the opportunity to shadow physicians and other medical professionals while observing patient care and procedures in a variety of clinical settings. These include outpatient internal medicine clinics, sub-specialty clinics (such as Cardiology, Gastrointestinal (GI), Infectious Disease (ID), Palliative Care, Pulmonary, Nephrology, and Rheumatology clinics), the Emergency Department, intensive care unit (ICU), and pharmacy.
While you will not be able to directly care for patients, you will have a chance to practice clinical skills and procedures in the Simulation Center, and participate in other educational activities. |
| Daily activities | Lab responsibilities and schedules vary depending on the research lab. Likely activities will include reading scientific literature, designing experiments, learning laboratory technical skills, analyzing data, and taking part in lab meetings. | Shadow clinicians, observe patient care and procedures, attend structured educational experiences. |
| Scholarship/ Project | At the end of the program, you will prepare a presentation of your work over the summer and share with CONNECT high school students and staff. | You will complete a capstone project on a topic of interest that you would like to explore in greater detail. You will present your project to CONNECT high school students and staff. |
| Mentorship | You will be mentored by other members of the lab, including graduate students, postdoctoral students, research associates and/or staff scientists. You will also meet weekly with Dr. Revati Masilamani, Co-Director of the CSE and Director of the Tufts Pre-College Lab Science Investigations (LSI) summer program, for support as you navigate the world of lab research. | In addition to shadowing clinicians, there will be a number of opportunities to meet with medical professionals and students in both formal and informal settings where you can ask questions, learn about different career paths in the health professions, and how to navigate them. |
Program start date: June 9, 2025
Mentorship Training Workshop: June 13, 2025
Dates of STEM+M CONNECT High School Summer Program: June 30, 2025 to July 25, 2025
- Please note that these dates include a weekend day on Saturday, July 5 during which you will lead a Tufts campus tour and game night for the high school students, and may include other weekend days if you choose to hold mentoring check-ins on the weekend.
Program end date: August 1, 2025
The timing of CONNECT reunion events in Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 will be determined at a later date.
Upon acceptance into the program, you will be required to sign a contract that outlines your expected duties.
You are expected to be fully present for the 8 weeks of the program, working the equivalent of 9am - 5pm, 5 days a week. Please note that the actual hours of the research internship will be dependent on the research project and lab that is selected; many scientific approaches go beyond normal business hours. The time of check-ins with mentees is determined by you and will likely be held in the evenings during the week, or during the day on weekends if you choose.
The mentorship component of this program is important and we expect you to fully engage in your mentorship duties so that you can effectively support your mentee. These mentorship duties include:
» A mentorship training workshop prior to the start of STEM+M CONNECT (Friday, June 13)
» Weekly mentee check-ins (these happen mainly during weekday evening hours but you will set the schedule)
» Weekly check-ins with the other CONNECT undergraduate mentors and CSE staff to discuss mentoring highlights and problem-solve challenges.
» Meeting your mentees on their first day on Tufts Medford campus for the residential MMS or LSI programs to give a campus tour and lead a game night (Saturday, July 5).
» Participation in 7-10 bonding events and workshops throughout the STEM+M CONNECT summer program
» Co-facilitation of one workshop during the STEM+M CONNECT summer program
» Presentation of your lab research project or clinical capstone project during the week of July 21
» Participation in 3-5 CONNECT reunion events with mentees during the 2025-2026 school year
Important info about the STEM Research Lab track: YOU will select a research lab that fits YOUR interests. We will help you with this, but YOU will be responsible for identifying and contacting potential labs. Having a full stipend from the STEM+M CONNECT internship allows you to expand your search to labs that may not have the funds to support undergraduate researchers. Prior to the start of your internship, Dr. Masilamani from the CSE will meet with the lab P.I. (Principal Investigator, i.e. the professor that leads the lab) to explain the mentorship program and duties of the STEM+M CONNECT undergraduate participants outside of their lab internships. Additionally, you are expected to have a conversation with your lab P.I. to confirm their expectations for the summer. We will provide guidelines for this conversation and a contract that both you and your P.I. will need to sign and return to us.
This program is funded by an NIH grant, and as such, participants are asked to complete surveys and interviews that help us evaluate the efficacy of the program. While this is not required, it is an important part of the program!
Participants in the program will be provided with monetary compensation of $5,000, which can be used towards housing, food, and transportation costs. An additional $100 is provided upon completion of research study related tasks as outlined in the study information sheet, if the mentor chooses to take part in the study.
Applications open on December 2, 2024! Please click here to start your application. Please note that you should be able to leave the application survey and return to your saved responses. However, we cannot guarantee the system will work as expected. Therefore, we highly recommend that you write out the short answer responses in a separate document so that you have access to them in case any of your responses are lost.
Applications open:December 2, 2024
Applications close: February 2, 2025 at 11:59pm
Interviews with the top candidates will be held in mid-late February and final decisions will be sent by March 1, 2025.
In addition to your contact and personal information, the application requests that you respond to the following questions:
- In 500-600 words, please tell us why you are excited about participating in the STEM+M CONNECT Undergraduate Summer Program and what you are hoping to gain from the experience.
- STEM Research Lab Track only: Have you had any prior research experiences? If so, please describe them. What type of research are you interested in pursuing with this program? (Note: no prior experience is required for this opportunity!)
- STEM Research Lab Track only: How will this research internship further your career goals?
- STEM Research Lab track only: Name three Tufts faculty members you would like to work with (in their lab). These faculty can be at either the Medford campus or the medical campus downtown. Please note that you will be responsible for making the initial contact with labs to inquire about a position for the summer in the lab. We will support you through this process.
- Clinical Immersion track only: Have you had any prior clinical experiences? If so, please describe them. What types of clinical experiences are you most interested in gaining? (Note: no prior experience is required for this opportunity!)
- Clinical Immersion track only: How will this clinical immersion experience help further your career goals?
- What are your thoughts on how a mentor can impact someone’s life?
- In what way do you think past experiences you’ve had could contribute to your role as a mentor?
- What, if any, experience do you have working with students from groups historically underrepresented in STEM and medical fields (e.g. BIPOC students, first-generation college students, students with disabilities, students from low-income backgrounds, etc.)? Why do you feel you would make a good mentor for these students?
We recommend that you write out your responses to the short answer questions before starting the application so that they are saved elsewhere.
In place of a letter of recommendation, a recommendation form filled out by a professional supervisor, faculty or staff member is required. Choose someone who can commit on your skills, interests in STEM+M and mentoring, and character. If you do not feel like one person can comment on all of these areas, you may provide two email addresses for two recommenders. Only one recommendation form is required though. The form will be sent automatically to the email address you provide for your recommender in the application so please be sure to enter it correctly!
- Recommendation Form Questions:
- What is your relationship with this student? How do you know them and for how long?
- Tell us about this student and their character. Some qualities we are particularly interested in include:
- Enthusiasm for STEM or medicine/health, and mentoring young people
- Ability to mentor Boston-area high school students who are also interested in STEM+M and come from backgrounds underrepresented in STEM+M such as first-generation college students and low-income students.
- Reliability and maturity; how well they respond to critical feedback
- Communication skills and how well they work with others.
- How do you think this student will benefit from this program
- Optional- If you have any additional thoughts or information on why this student is ready for a research or clinical internship, and what qualities they have that indicate they are ready, please feel free to add them here.
Questions?
For questions about the program, eligibility, or applications, please see the program information packet here and/or contact SciEd@tufts.edu