Mentor Shadowing Grant for Early Career Faculty

To enhance the research scholarship and aid in the career advancement of early career faculty, CAHNR is pleased to announce a competitive grant for shadowing a nationally or internationally acclaimed academic researcher in the applicant’s area of expertise. The shadowing grant is intended to provide early career faculty an opportunity to interact, engage in discussions and learn from the mentor’s professional work style and experience in enhancing research scholarship, including developing a successful research program, graduate student mentoring, initiating collaborations, team-building, enhancing grantsmanship, time management, and balancing the diverse responsibilities of an academic faculty.

The grant will provide funds up to a maximum $3,000 for shadowing a mentor within the United States for a period of one week, and covers airfare, per diem and lodging expenses. A maximum of four grants will be competitively awarded per academic year. The requirements for the grant include:

  1.  The applicant must be a full-time faculty in CAHNR.
  2. The shadowing must be completed within the first three years of the applicant’s appointment at UConn.
  3. The mentor must be a nationally or internationally acclaimed academic faculty in the applicant’s area of expertise.
  4. The mentor must not have served as the undergraduate, graduate or postdoctoral advisor to the applicant.
  5. The applicant must not have collaborated with the mentor in the past.
  6. Applicant’s CV must be submitted.
  7. A one-page justification on how shadowing the selected mentor would benefit the applicant along with the mentor’s CV must be submitted.
  8. Within three months of completing the grant, the applicant must provide a presentation on the shadowing experience and how it benefited his/her academic career.
  9. A detailed expense report along with all receipts must be submitted.

To apply for the grant, please submit the aforementioned information to Associate Dean Kumar Venkitanarayanan at kumar.venkitanarayanan@uconn.edu at least three months prior to the proposed shadowing date. A committee appointed by CAHNR Dean will evaluate and recommend the applications for funding.