Overview

Overview
McNair Research Institute
Basic Internship Requirements
Conferences
Researchers, Mentors & Topics

A major component of the McNair program is the research internship. At UTA the internship proper (with a stipend of $3,000) takes place during the summer (late May through early August) between the junior and senior year. All Scholars are required to participate in this aspect of the program, as it is crucial to developing their knowledge and research skills in preparation for future graduate study. McNair research interns are also encouraged to pursue, with the help of their mentors, the possibility of publishing their research papers in an academic (peer-reviewed) journal. The McNair program also publishes summaries of Scholars' research in the UTA McNair Research Journal, which appears the spring after the research takes place.

The foundation for a successful summer of mentored research must be laid during the previous spring semester. As this is often a student's first semester in the program, McNair staff works closely with new Scholars to help them identify faculty research mentors and appropriate research topics (although the actual research thesis and project design are jointly formulated by Scholars and mentors). Program staff meets with potential mentors and Scholars to ascertain a good fit in the projected mentoring relationship.

In the spring, research interns meet several times with program staff to help them start the research  process and to review the requirements of the summer internship. The McNair program provides research interns with a general research guide, a writing manual , and a binder of summer internship policies and procedures to help them prepare for this experience. The UTA library staff also presents an annual library seminar each spring to offer McNair interns guidance on utilizing library resources, evaluating potential sources, and publishing in academia, in addition to the opportunity to meet the subject librarians in their fields. In addition, the McNair program holds a mentor/intern orientation luncheon in April to ensure that both parties understand the nature of the McNair summer research internship. Finally, McNair staff makes every effort to inform Scholars (and their mentors) planning to conduct research on human or animal subjects of the need to meet the requirements of the UTA Office of Research's institutional review committees. The committees must approve all forms before interns may begin their work.