SURF-IT 2010 – Program Information for Faculty
Faculty Eligibility: Faculty applicants must be Academic Senate members. Projects with two or more faculty members are eligible, although one faculty member should be clearly designated as the mentor to the undergraduate. Faculty mentors who participated in previous summers may participate, offering either follow-on projects or new projects. Faculty members may submit more than one proposal; in rare cases faculty members are granted more than one project or more than one student on a project.
The faculty member will be expected to take an active role in mentoring, supervising, and evaluating the student. Mentors should provide guidance on issues related to research conduct, discuss possibilities for graduate school and career, and establish clear expectations for the student’s work. A written evaluation of the student will be expected halfway through the summer; a satisfactory evaluation at that time will be required for the student to receive the second half of the stipend. While the SURF-IT Fellows may receive day-to-day mentoring by graduate students or postdocs, substantial personal interaction by the faculty member is expected. Faculty members will also be encouraged to give a shorttalk to the SURF-IT students about some aspect of their work, about doing research, or about careers and graduate education.
Project Selection: The selection of projects for advertisement to the students will depend on the project’s readiness and its relevance to Calit2’s mission. The project should be operational, already “up and running” with its own funding and space, because this program will fund only the student stipends. In the past, most faculty proposals have been accepted.
Student Application and Selection Process: Once the projects are selected, students will be invited to apply and to express interest in order of preference for up to four projects. They will be asked to submit a personal statement, the names of two references, and their ranked preferences among the four projects. They will also be asked for permission to access their transcripts. Prospective faculty mentors will then be invited to review and rank the student applicants who expressed interest in their projects. Calit2 will match student applicants to projects based on the faculty recommendations and the student application materials. Calit2 may choose to consult with the prospective faculty mentors, but Calit2 will make the final decisions.
Preference will be given to UCI students who have junior or senior standing and will be returning to UCI in the fall. Sophomores or freshmen may be admitted in special cases. SURF-IT Fellows from the previous years are eligible, but preference will be given to first-time applicants. Students already working with the faculty member are eligible, but their appointment is not guaranteed. There is no minimum GPA requirement, although GPA will be a factor. Faculty applicants may impose prerequisites or preferences as to the student’s prior course work or experience. Awards will be made only to students who make a full-time commitment to the fellowship – we strongly discourage participation in summer classes or outside jobs, and SURF-IT fellowship awards will not be divided.
Program Activities & Timelines: The program will include seminars based on the individual projects, seminars on research & career issues, and a closing symposium at which students will present their results, as well as social activities. Some of the activities may be coordinated with other summer programs managed by UROP. Attendance at SURF-IT seminars is mandatory for the students; faculty attendance is encouraged. The schedule will be as follows: February 24: faculty project proposals due
March 3: selected faculty projects announced to students
April 12: student applications due
Late April: student and project final selections announced
June 21: Program Begins – Orientation
August 27: Symposium: closing presentations by students
For general information about the SURF-IT program including activities in previous years, please visit the program web site: