Summer Research Apprenticeships

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Faculty Application Deadline: 1 February by 11:59 PM 

Each year the College awards up to five Summer Research Apprenticeships to Bates faculty who wish to hire Bates students as research assistants during the summer.   Each grant provides funding for student wages (FOR SUMMER 2025, please budget at $14.65/hour) for up to 320 hours (e.g., 40 hours per week for  eight weeks) during the summer ($5,120). Students pay for room and board with these wages.

Preference is given to projects that would otherwise have no student involvement. Normally no more than one grant may be awarded to a single project. These grants are competitive; faculty members in all academic departments are encouraged to apply. A faculty applicant may have a student research assistant in mind, or the dean’s office can run a competition for students for the position. Students may begin working full time in Short Term ONLY if they are not enrolled in a Short Term course.

This and related internal awards provide the faculty member with a choice of either professional development funds or a personal stipend (funds cannot be split among the two choices) of $1,000 per Bates student up to a maximum of three such awards (i.e. max of $3,000 per faculty member per summer, across all mechanisms of student support). If the faculty member chooses to receive this money as professional development funds, the funds can be used in support of this project or any other appropriate project within three years; restrictions on use are similar to those outlined for the Bates Faculty Development Fund.  If the faculty member chooses to receive this money as a personal stipend, note that this is taxable income subject to that individual’s normal tax rates and rules. This applies to faculty who mentor Bates-only students. If a faculty member is drawing summer salary from an extramural grant, the only option for that faculty is to select the professional development funds.

Faculty members who wish to select a student research apprentice during the summer may submit an application form and proposal. The proposal must include an abstract and a statement describing the research goals and methodologies, the anticipated student hours needed, and the project timetable with the begin and end dates of the project (these dates will be used as the basis for the payroll contract) as well as the specific involvement of the student research apprentice.  Please submit your application and proposal materials electronically by 11:59 PM on February 1.

The Committee on Faculty Scholarship reviews proposals, considering the degree of faculty commitment to providing students with genuine research opportunities, and the benefit of the research experience to the student’s college career.

Students hired as Research Apprentices must meet with sponsoring faculty members as soon as they receive notification of their awards. Faculty and students should discuss the scope of the project, the schedule and other details of the work before the student agrees to participate. Students are paid hourly (hours must not exceed 40 per week). Hours are submitted through the Garnet Gateway with the Faculty researcher approving the hours.

1. Students who have Summer Research Apprenticeships are ineligible for other grants. Students cannot use research grant funding to receive academic credit for summer research.

2. Research Apprenticeships are intended to give students an opportunity to engage in long-term, intensive research. Students are expected to work eight to ten weeks full time during the summer (up to forty hours per week). Projects may begin in Short Term, however, the student CANNOT be enrolled in a Short Term course at the same time.

3. Because this is a job, all work must be conducted in Maine due to tax implications. Work can be conducted on the Bates campus or remotely, as long as that remote work is done within the state of Maine.

4. Each faculty sponsor must also submit a one-page written evaluation of the student’s work, and comment on the overall success of the project within two weeks of the completion of the project. For reporting requirements see below.

5. Each student participant also must submit electronically their abstract and report to their sponsor for approval (see reporting requirements below) and to present his/her project during the Back to Bates Poster Session unless they are studying off campus in the fall. Students must also complete the online SURE survey, if they are working in STEM fields.

6. All future grants are contingent upon receiving these reports.

Please refer to researcher reporting requirements for both faculty and student for a comprehensive list of what is needed and the timeline. The questions on that template are examples, and you can work with those as however relevant to your research/project.

Submission of Approved Abstract and Reports. Please submit the abstract and all reports ELECTRONICALLY by sending pdf files to Alison Keegan (akeegan@bates.edu) in the Dean of the Faculty’s Office. Any future grants are contingent upon these reports.

Faculty must submit an application form and attach in a PDF the required materials by 11:59 on 1 February.