PLEASE USE THIS “TEMPLATE” and Headers FOR YOUR MENTOR LETTER on your letterhead – needed for all Project Scientist actions as well as for Assistant Research Scientist and Promotions to Associate Research Scientist actions

July 1, 2017

TO:DIRECTOR Name

ORU Name

FROM: MENTOR Name

Title

RE: Mentor Letter for XXXXXX, Ph.D.

Recommended Action: Normal Merit and Reappointment (or Promotion to, or No Change as, etc)

As the mentor for Dr. High IQ, at the Center for Advanced Research, I am recommending a reappointment and normal merit advancement to Assistant Project Scientist, Step II, salaried at $74,200 (07/01/14 scale B/E/E), at 0%-100% Variable effort, effective July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2017.

Biography(include ONLY for Promotions and Career Review Actions - not used for Merit files)

Dr. IQ attended Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, where he received his BS degree in Engineering (2002), his MS degree in Bioengineering (2004) as well as a PhD (June 2009) in Bioengineering. Since August 2009, Dr. IQ has been a postdoctoral fellow in the UCSD Department of Bioengineering in the Brain Engineering Center, under the joint mentorship of Drs. Gabe Starshine and William Freewheeler. He was appointed to my laboratory as an Assistant Project Scientist, Step I, at ORU on July 1, 2013.

Research and Roles (Description, roles and impact of research work in this review period)

Dr. IQ has done exceptionally well this review period. He has led the modeling effort …..and has focused on three topics; i) ………, ii) …………..and iii) ………… He for the first time discovered………….which is extremely challenging. In these simulations, he found that ……………………. This is an extremely important finding for …….. and he has contributed significantly to the understanding of ………………….. My group plans to perform the first experiment using ……………………based on these novel modeling predictions. The …………for this experiment was obtained through a highly competitive international process. The potential of this modeling work was recognized by the ……………………….and they have awarded him a grant to test his idea on world’s highest energy short pulse laser………..at the Laboratory for …………………..

Publications, Roles, Citations, Impact Factor

Dr. IQ has published eight new articles (UCSD BioBibl #A.I.6 – A.I.13) in high quality journals including two in Physical Review Letters since his last review, the prestigious journal for…. He is first author (project leader) on four of these publications. In 2013 he also gavean invited talk (#A.III.21) at a major plasma physics meeting (International Conference on Plasma Science) of which only 20% of papers submitted are accepted. His article about …. has an impact factor of…

NEW Bibliography Form Section B.IV Additional Major Research Products(Please list other work of significant impact to your Academic Field. [e.g., patents (List US Patent Number), patent licenses; software, databases, websites; devices, hardware, structures, fabrications; research leading to legislative action, policies, business processes].) List from oldest to newest.

Please describe the significance of anything that your mentee has listed in the new Section B.IV of the Bibliography Form

Promotions to Associate Research Scientists: required

  • At the Associate Research Scientist level and above are in the “Professor equivalent” series, independence of research and funding are key. Please pay particular attention to highlighting this idea as much as possible within these as well as the other sections.
  • Be factual and display your novel accomplishments, independence, contributions and detail your role as related to the “intellectual force” you contribute/d to your research and publications. At this level, you should be separate from a mentor. You need to explain your former mentor situation and your transition of the work to you.
  • The candidate must explain your specific role in all collaborative and coauthored works when they are not first or senior author.

Funding

Dr. IQ’s salary is currently, and will continue to be, funded by my Department of XXXXXX grants. He has applied for ….. grant as a Co-PI based upon ……. project and will…..

Please describe candidate’s grants, roles and related UCSD collaborators briefly in this section. Describe their track towards independence as applicable and/or success in obtaining support for research and other creative activity, including support for graduate students, should be addressed. In addition, their role on grants should be indicated (e.g., Principal Investigator, Co-Principal Investigator, or Co-Investigator, with the number and identity of other co-investigators specified).

At the Associate Research Scientist level and above are in the “Professor equivalent” series, independence of research and funding are key. Please pay particular attention to highlighting this idea as much as possible within these as well as the other sections.

University and ORU Service,External Service, Presentations, and Organizations

Dr. IQ provides day-to-day supervision to two graduate students (names…). He has done an excellent job in mentoring these students and has recently published a paper with one of them. AlthoughService is not required under this series, Dr. IQ has served as a reviewer to various plasma physics journals. In 2013, he was also invited to review proposals submitted to the National Science Foundation.

Note: For Project Scientist and Assistant Research Series: if you have anything for this category you can mention it here - but not technically required until the Associate Research Scientist level and above, but recommended

Please provide a summary of service, particular role and the broader significance of this service in the context of the university, the division or the community. Summary should specify and evaluate administrative service within the ORU, on the campus, and within the University of California.

NOTE: Teaching/Mentoring - Teaching, although technically not required in the Research/Project Series, can count somewhat as service. Also, describe if they are teaching a formal course for UCSD? If so, a Joint Lecturer appointment is required with the Lecturer Department. Please indicate.

Similarly, contributions to student welfare through service on student–faculty committees and as advisors to student organizations should be recognized as evidence, as should contributions furthering diversity and equal opportunity within the University through participation in such activities as recruitment, retention, and mentoring of scholars and students.

Describe roles and significance/impact of any new External Service, Presentations, and National/International Organizations/Committee Service

Service to the community, state, and nation, when the work done is at a sufficiently high level and of sufficiently high quality, as provided as part of your special capacities as a scholar and in areas beyond those special capacities, should likewise be recognized as evidence for advancement. Academic service activities related to the improvement of elementary and secondary education represent one example of this kind of service. Please indicate whether they hold an appointed or elective office in professional organizations, on professional publications, or within community, state, national, or international organizations in which professional standing is a prime consideration for appointment.

Publicity and Other National and/or International Recognition

Describe any roles and significance/impact of any new Publicity and Other National and/or International Recognition. Please provide any evidence/documentation of this activity to accompany this document.

Visa Status

Dr. IQ currently has an H1B Visa valid until December 6, 2014, which will allow him to remain in the US and work on all of the training activities and research projects as proposed. Currently, the Department of XXXXXXX is planning on submitting and an H-1B extension for Dr. IQ at the appropriate time.

Future work and goals to support the requested action

Describe future work, goals and expectations for the next reappointment/promotion cycle.

Note: WORK IN PROGRESS (Section C) of the UCSD Bio-Bibl Form - Section C will now ONLY officially be used for 4th-Year Appraisals and 6th-Year Readiness Assessment actions.

You can discuss WIP (submitted) items if you wish from the Research Statement here along with brief comments that update work and identifyany collaborators that are involved.

Summarize plans and timing for additional publications, if additional support is needed for thisproposed action.Reiterate the significance of these future works and any National/International significance.

Statement regarding any comments from PSSRP or CAP committee letters from last review needing to be addressed this time.

When preparing your documents for submission, please focus on documentation regarding any prior committee comments here from the prior letters provided. Please add a paragraph that clearly addresses any progress resulting from PSSRP or CAP Review Committee comments from the last Review.

Summary

In summary, I would like to strongly recommend Dr. IQ’s normal merit advancement and reappointment to Assistant Project Scientist, Step II due to his outstanding contributions in ……… During the upcoming 2 years, we will also focus to prepare him for his 6th-Year Readiness Assessment in consideration of a possible promotion at the next review cycle, etc. as applicable.

The End

Note - UCSD Policy Reappointment criteria for the Project Scientist and the Research Scientist Series’were provided for your reference in the email you previously received. Any language you can use from those criteria to talk about what you do would be great!