Call for Gemstone Program Projects and Mentors
Dear campus faculty,
The Gemstone Honors Program attracts some of the most academically talented undergraduate students who enroll at the University of Maryland. Gemstone students embark on a 4-year team research project. The students spend the first year learning about research methods and processes, ethics, and other topics. The sophomore through senior years are spent conducting team research under the guidance of a faculty mentor.
During the spring semester of their first year, Gemstone students go through a process of selecting team research topics and forming teams of about 10 - 12 students to carry out research on these topics over the ensuing three years. I am writing to solicit from you, the faculty, suggestions of research topics for these projects. The Gemstone first-year students will consider your suggestions, along with topics they propose themselves, as we begin the process of team formation this year. To get an idea of some of the topics Gemstone students are currently researching, and topics from past years, please visit gemstone.umd.edu and look under the “Team Research” tab.
To submit ideas for possible research topics, please take a few minutes to complete this short online form by Monday, December 14, 2020 or go to ter.ps/gemsteam2024. As project ideas progress through the selection process, students will seek out faculty experts to help refine the project topics and scope. Of course, if you submit a project idea, you will likely be consulted to help the students craft the idea into a workable team project proposal.
I also ask you to consider becoming a mentor for a Gemstone Team. If a topic you suggested is selected by a Gemstone team for their research direction, you would be the logical faculty mentor for the project. Also, you may serve as a Gemstone mentor even if the research topic you proposed is not adopted by one of our first-year teams. The students generate some terrific ideas of their own, and faculty mentors are needed to support their research efforts.
Gemstone mentors meet with their teams weekly, providing them with guidance as they focus their research topic, pursue their research, and write their team thesis in the senior year. The mentor is available to the students for guidance, advice, and as a research facilitator. The Gemstone teams take ownership of and direct their own research projects. As a mentor, your job is to help keep teams focused on reasonable objectives and to provide encouragement and sage wisdom.
The Gemstone Program is able to provide modest financial compensation to mentors of $2,000 per semester as a salary overload payment. Most mentors find that working with these talented students is a very rewarding experience. If you have an interest in this opportunity, please contact me at lovell@umd.edu or x57107. Gemstone mentors must be University of Maryland faculty, adjunct faculty, or senior staff members. Graduate students cannot serve as Gemstone mentors.
Thank you for considering taking advantage of this very rewarding experience in support of some of our brightest and most promising University of Maryland students.
Best regards,
David J. Lovell
Professor & Director, Gemstone Honors Program
