MNRS Mentorship Grant Award

The purpose of this award is to create opportunities for mentorship of doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty by established researchers at another institution within the MNRS organization. The goal is to facilitate a mentoring relationship between new or junior investigators and senior faculty who reside at different institutions to facilitate the former’s  research abilities to prepare for a productive research career.  The MNRS Mentorship Award of $1,000 can be used for expenses involved in working with their mentor, such as telephone, postage, travel, honorarium, or other training expenses needed to develop a focused program of research that results in refereed publication and external grant funding. Applications should be submitted by the mentee with the support of a designated mentor who has agreed in writing to serve in this capacity.  This mentoring relationship will be formally sponsored by MNRS for one year, with special recognition provided at the Annual Meeting. 

New!
Deadline for applications are: August 1, 2009, December 1, 2009 and April 1, 2010 -- Apply Online Now!

Eligibility of the Mentee:

1. MNRS membership
2. Doctoral students, post doctoral fellow, new investigator (e.g., without R01 level funding), or senior faculty pursuing new research direction
3. Commit to a one-year program of active mentorship

Eligibility of the Mentor:

1. A senior investigator who has demonstrated experience in attaining research funding and has scholarly productivity in the same or related area as the proposed topic for mentorship
2. Appointment at a different institution than the mentee
3. Commitment to sponsor and promote the mentee
4. Commitment to a one-year program of active mentorship

Application Process:

• MNRS sends out an annual request for applications for the MNRS Mentorship Award by e-mail at a designated time of year.
• The application should include the following information:
  • Cover sheet with name, institution, street & e-mail address, telephone and fax numbers of applicant and mentor
  • 3-5 page, single-spaced narrative addressing:
    1. Applicant’s background and academic experience
    2. Description of research program or area of planned research
    3. Previous work in the area (if any)
    4. Significance of the research
    5. Long-term research objective (to cover a 3-5 year period)
    6. Short-term objectives with measurable outcomes (e.g., abstract or manuscript submissions, proposal development) for the period of the mentorship award (one-year) 
    7. Description of how the mentorship award will meet short-term and long-term research objectives
    8. Mentor selected and the rationale for selection
    9. Workplan for the mentee including timeline

d.      NIH biosketches of the applicant and mentor

e.      Letter of support from mentor

f.      Letter of support from mentee's doctoral or postdoctoral advisor (if relevant)

g.      Brief (1-page) budget and justification for the mentoring experience. An honorarium must be budgeted for the mentor. If an honorarium is not budgeted, this must be justified

• Applications will be reviewed by the Grants Review Committee. Three mentorship pairs will be selected each year.

Responsibilities of the Mentor and Mentee:

1. Mentors are expected to be accessible to the mentee and to respond to communications in a timely manner.  They are encouraged to give the mentee an expected time frame of when they will be able to complete review of requested materials. 
2. The mentor and mentee will be expected to write a final report at the end of the 1-year mentorship period describing the nature of the mentorship provided or received, type and amount of contact, what was accomplished, barriers encountered in the process, and strategies used to overcome barriers. 
3. Mentors and mentees will be expected to complete evaluations at the end of the 1-year mentorship period, and to provide recommendations for how to improve the process. 

MNRS Responsibilities:

1. MNRS will provide mentoring grants of $1,000 which will be awarded to the mentee's school. No indirect cost recovery is allowed.
2. MNRS will provide space at the Annual Conference for mentors and mentees to meet during the award period.
3. MNRS will reduce the conference registration fee (50%) for the mentor and mentee during the award period.

MNRS Recognition