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

Eligibility

STEM Research Lab Track or Clinical Immersion Track

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 Timeline

Program Expectations

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!

Financial Considerations

Application Process

Application Questions

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.

Recommendation

Questions?

For questions about the program, eligibility, or applications, please see the program information packet here and/or contact SciEd@tufts.edu

Center for Science Education at Tufts University

Undergraduate Internships

STEM+M CONNECT Undergraduate Summer Internship & Mentorship Experience

Program Details

Questions?