PROPEL Information for Mentors

The PROPEL program was developed to make research, teaching, and work-study opportunities transparent and equitable. Read more about the PROPEL mission, history, and the team in About Us.

PROPEL works in rounds timed in accordance with the semesters and course ADD/DROP deadlines. There are distinct phases to each round.

1. Mentors post projects to the website.
2. After the project posting date closes, students can apply for positions.
3. Mentors review the applications, interview students, and offer the position.
4. Students are notified when the position is filled.

2024-2025 Round 1 (Aug/Sept)
Project posting: 8/12/2024 - 8/30/2024
Students apply: 9/02/2024 - 9/09/2024
Application review: 9/09/2024 - 9/23/2024

2024-2025 Round 2 (Nov/Dec)
Project posting: 11/01/2024 - 11/17/2024
Students apply: 11/18/2024 - 11/25/2024
Application review: 11/26/2024 - 12/16/2024

2024-2025 Round 3 (Jan/Feb)
Project posting: 1/10/2025 - 1/30/2025
Students apply: 2/01/2025 - 2/08/2025
Application review: 2/09/2025 - 2/23/2025

2024-2025 Round 4 (April/May)
Project posting: 3/26/2025 - 4/11/2025
Students apply: 4/12/2025 - 4/21/2025
Application review: 4/22/2025 - 5/09/2025

"...Research has demonstrated that undergraduates who participate in research projects and positively interact with faculty are more likely to pursue and attain post-baccalaureate degrees as well as subsequent careers as faculty or research scientists." This article discusses some of the challenges faced by underrepresented students Evidence-Based Strategies for Improving Diversity and Inclusion in Undergraduate Research Labs and ways to improve student recruitment and experiences

These suggestions are from an article led by UMass graduate students Nigel Golden and Kadambari Devarajan Ten simple rules for productive lab meetings

1. Define lab mission and objectives
2. Identify roles and rules
3. Be accessible and inclusive
4. Be supportive
5. Be respectful and practice civility
6. Manage conflict
7. Be open and curious
8. Be mindful and present
9. Be aware of biases
10. Be flexible and adaptable

These suggestions are from a blog post by UMass graduate student Emma Dauster in That's Life[Science]

1. Make time
2. Give them assignments in which you have an interest
3. Establish expectations clearly, early, and frequently
4. Review performance and revisit expectations regularly
5. Be open to their interests
6. Build a community in your team
7. Value the perspective of each team member equally
8. Provide multiple avenues of grievance mitigation
9. Give them training
10. Understand that their lived experiences are likely very different from yours

Many labs now have a lab expectation and values document to share with students or have them sign. A popular starting point is Mariam Aly's The key to a happy lab life is in the manual. Here is her Current version on Github. Here are two sample contracts—one developed at Oregon State University and another developed at Northern Illinois University.

Students can apply to up to 5 projects, but many students are as interested in obtain experience as they are in a particular project. Students have the option to opt into making their profile available to all mentors. If you wish to view the profiles of other students who did not apply go to Mentor task > Student info.

Here is the link to Mutual Mentoring project. This project is support through a grant from the UMass Office of Faculty Development for 2024-2025 "A Bottom-Up Network for Developing Transparent Policies and Mechanisms for Equitable Access to STEM Undergraduate Research Experiences" to bring together faculty from departments in the Colleges of Natural Sciences and Engineering to learn faculty experiences and traditions in different disciplines and from scholars nationwide. We will use these practices in our roles as mentors, teachers and more broadly in our communities to effectively mentor diverse undergraduate researchers.