GLOBAL HEALTH SUMMER RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
GLOBAL HEALTH SUMMER RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
The University of Chicago Center for Global Health (CGH) is an interdisciplinary program dedicated to improving health and well-being through education, research and training, and service in partnership with communities in the United States and around the world. As so many academic disciplines are needed to address the challenges of global health, CGH leverages the unique institutional strengths of the University of Chicago to bring together faculty and students from different schools and programs on campus.
CGH is excited to announce its annual Summer Research Fellowship Program. This opportunity will allow promising undergraduate and graduate students to take part in a 10- to 12-week Fellowship where they will benefit from first-hand experience working with researchers in Chicago and potentially one of our partnering sites abroad. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fellowship Program will be designed to take place remotely for Summer of 2021, and fellows may consequently choose to undertake Global Health projects that have a local, state-side focus in recognition of the fact that “local is global.”
Our prestigious partnerships offer a strong local mentoring infrastructure as well as longitudinal and well-defined projects. The objective of this Fellowship is to provide students at different levels and from different backgrounds practical exposure to medical and global health research with a strong foundation in faculty and peer-to-peer mentorship. Students will gain valuable experience in collecting and analyzing data, relating to people of different backgrounds and experiences, collaborating with other researchers and peers, understanding and synthesizing research literature, formulating hypotheses, orally presenting results, thinking and working creatively and independently, and applying knowledge to real-world situations.
STRUCTURE
The University of Chicago Center for Global Health Summer Research Fellowship program uses faculty mentorship and peer-to-peer partnership to educate scholars on the importance of a collaborative global health team environment and emphasizes factors that are vital to developing medical and global health professionalism. A group of 2 to 3 competitive students, made up of undergraduate and graduate students, will be selected for each of the Fellowship projects. Working as a team, guided by a University of Chicago mentor and potentially a site-based mentor, scholars will learn the nuances of research design, implementation, analysis, and presentation of final products including oral presentation formats, abstract development, and formal academic writing.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it will likely be necessary for Fellows to participate in research activities remotely. However, the Center for Global Health will continue to monitor national, state, and University travel guidelines and consider the possibility of sending Fellows abroad for onsite research experiences with our partners should the COVID-19 situation improve.* Importantly, should travel be permitted, students may still elect to complete their Fellowship remotely. Ensuring the health, safety, and well-being of all Fellows and research mentors is our priority.
FUNDING
Each undergraduate Fellow will be awarded $4,000. This stipend will be distributed in one lump sum through the Office of Career Advancement prior to the start of the Fellowship. A completed and signed Mentor-Mentee Commitment form is required in advance of funding distribution. Post Fellowship, students may be eligible for additional CGH funding to present findings at external conferences and/or academic meetings.
REQUIREMENTS
Students selected for the Summer Research Fellowship Program are required to participate in the following components:
· Attend pre-brief and debrief orientations on either end of the fellowship
· Attend CGH Summer Research Fellowship Preparatory Seminars:
o Seminar One: Introduction to Research (focus on scientific integrity and the process of experimentation)
o Seminar Two: Research Methods Bootcamp
o Seminar Three: Preparing Your Written Report
o Seminar Four: Preparing Your Presentation
· Submit a final report paper detailing research procedures and outcomes
· Scientific reporting is essential to any research activity. Reports are required to contain an introduction, methods section, and results/discussion. These hopefully will lead to future scholarly work, presentations at conferences, and publication. Students will:
o Present a ten-minute oral presentation to peers, mentors, and CGH faculty
o Submit an abstract for the CGH Global Health Day Research Symposium
o Submit an abstract for the annual meeting of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) and/or other professional academic meetings
TO APPLY
*Please log in to your UChicago account and review the guide here*, submit your resume, the attached form, and follow application instructions in said guide.
If an international student is located in the U.S. while complete an internship for an organization outside the U.S. they will need CPT. Please see below for further info.
CONTACTS
Laura Swain (lswain@medicine.bsd.uchicago.edu)
Program Coordinator
UChicago Center for Global Health
Jo Falk (jo1@UCHICAGO.EDU)
Fried Senior Program Director, Careers in Policy and Social Impact
UChicago Career Advancement
*Please note that current University guidelines restrict international travel. If a student is awarded a stipend for an on-site internship outside the U.S., they must successfully petition the University for an exemption to this policy in order to receive their funding. All petitions will be reviewed by the Study Abroad Risk and Security Assessment Committee (SARSAC).
SARSAC will only give exemptions to students who had existing travel plans to return to their home countries/countries where they have long-term residence permits, and have now secured an internship there. Students will need to indicate as well that they will not need to apply for a work permit in such situations. Exemptions will not be given for new trips. As part of the petition, students will be required to submit a budget worksheet indicating that any stipend they receive will not be used to travel to the site of an internship outside the U.S.
If an exemption is given, students may not use University funds to purchase international airfare or other international travel arrangements.
For questions regarding the petition process, please contact Eugene Chan, Senior Assistant Director, International Careers at eugenechan@uchicago.edu.
For country-specific information, the U.S. Department of State Travel Advisories can be found at https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories.html/, the CDC website can be found at https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices and the International SOS ratings can be found at http://internationalsos.com where one can log in with UChicago’s membership number: 11BCAS084635.