REU Mentor Resources

What you need to know about mentoring an REU intern

  • Be familiar with your intern's schedule.
  • Know your intern's background, skills and previous training.
  • Know the project and other mentors the intern has been assigned to.
  • Identify specific project deliverables, but remember to remain flexible.
  • Appreciate the time and rate of adapting to a new work environment.

As a mentor, you can expect the following from your REU intern

  • Inform you of the hours she will be working, vacations, and days she will be reporting to work late.
  • Arrive EARLY for testing, not just on time and NEVER late!
  • Be properly dressed and prepared for subject testing.
  • Keep a log of tasks and document progress on the tasks. (This should be done by both the mentor and intern.)
  • Attend regular progress meetings with mentor(s) and/or submit bi-weekly progress reports.
  • Contact you as soon as she has a problem with something.
  • Keep all files on the shared drive so that mentor(s) can have access; this is important when the intern is not available and the file is needed.
  • Be thinking of tasks she wants to do.
  • Be in charge of her project by the end of the REU program.
  • Be willing to learn new skills (e.g., software skills, management skills, etc.)
  • Follow the lab rules; be aware that the lab rules apply to everyone (the lab rules will be covered at the New Intern Orientation)
  • All mentors should have a tolerance for error so that interns feel comfortable discussing problems with their mentors as soon as they arise.  For example, if an intern breaks something, they should be able to tell their mentor.

Best practices for mentoring undergraduate researchers

Additional resources

Support for this program is provided by the National Science Foundation, Grant EEC 1852322.

Education > Undergraduates > ASPIRE > Mentor Resources