Primary and Co-Mentor Selection

It is required for each trainee to be co-mentored by both a basic scientist and a clinician. Check out our current faculty mentors.

Laboratory Experience

Short-term trainees spend the majority of their time conducting a research project. The supervising faculty mentor is responsible for structuring the experience to allow completion of at least a portion of the project during the summer session.

• Trainees receive formal hands-on training in either animal or human subjects research.
• The faculty mentor meets with the trainee at least once per week to monitor progress and provide guidance.

Campus Events Participation

Student Research Forum
All students participating in the short-term training program are required to present a summary of their research during the KU Medical Center Student Research Forum held in April following their training. Students are judged on the quality of the presentations, and awards are presented to those who receive the highest ratings. To fulfill this requirement, short-term trainees often return periodically to their host laboratories during the academic year to prepare their presentations.

Summer Program Journal Club Sessions
Short-term trainees interact regularly with full-time trainees during weekly summer program journal club sessions hosted by a faculty mentor. For each session, three students are selected to review a peer-reviewed research article in advance and prepare to critically discuss the study’s aims, results, data interpretation and conclusions. Some sessions focus on specific professional development topics such as preparing a research presentation, manuscript writing and research ethics.

Trainee Luncheons
Short-term trainees are invited to the monthly full-time trainee luncheons during the summer. These meetings provide a forum for discussing a wide range of topics relevant to young scientists pursuing careers in biomedical research. Recent topics have included “How to Choose a Post-Doctoral Mentor,” “Managing a Grant Budget,” and “Preparing and Submitting a Research Report.” Two luncheons are specifically scheduled for both groups. At this event, each short-term trainee gives an informal report on their research project, and all are asked to complete an anonymous evaluation of the program.

Tracking Activities and Accomplishments

Trainees must submit a record of their activities and accomplishments every quarter:

• Seminars attended.
• Presentations given.
• Workshops attended.
• Career development activities.
• Publications, including unpublished papers: provide the status of manuscripts as well as the trainee's role in its development.
• Cross-training exposures: provide a short summary detailing what you focused on/learned and how it relates to your research.
• Trainees must create and update a LinkedIn account to assist the Neurological and Rehabilitation Science Training Program in tracking their career activities and accomplishments after graduation. We reserve the right to request this information at any time over the next 15 years.

Proper Grant Acknowledgement

As a Neurological and Rehabilitation Sciences T32 Program trainee, you will be expected to acknowledge and cite the grant for any and all presentations, publications and posters you produce, while funded or after, if the work was done even in part during your time as an appointee in this program, using the following text:

Research reported in this publication was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number T32HD057850. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.