Faculty

Dear campus faculty,

The Gemstone Honors Program attracts some of the most academically talented undergraduate students who enroll at the University of Maryland. Gemstone students embark on a 4-year team research project. The students spend the first year learning about research methods and processes, ethics, and other topics. The sophomore through senior years are spent conducting team research under the guidance of a faculty mentor.

During the spring semester of their first year, Gemstone students go through a process of selecting team research topics and forming teams of about 10 - 12 students to carry out research on these topics over the ensuing three years. I am writing to solicit from you, the faculty, suggestions of research topics for these projects. The Gemstone first-year students will consider your suggestions, along with topics they propose themselves, as we begin the process of team formation this year. To get an idea of some of the topics Gemstone students are currently researching, and topics from past years, please visit gemstone.umd.edu and look under the “Team Research” tab.

To submit ideas for possible research topics, please take a few minutes to complete this short online form by Monday, December 14, 2020 or go to ter.ps/gemsteam2024. As project ideas progress through the selection process, students will seek out faculty experts to help refine the project topics and scope. Of course, if you submit a project idea, you will likely be consulted to help the students craft the idea into a workable team project proposal.

I also ask you to consider becoming a mentor for a Gemstone Team. If a topic you suggested is selected by a Gemstone team for their research direction, you would be the logical faculty mentor for the project. Also, you may serve as a Gemstone mentor even if the research topic you proposed is not adopted by one of our first-year teams. The students generate some terrific ideas of their own, and faculty mentors are needed to support their research efforts.

Gemstone mentors meet with their teams weekly, providing them with guidance as they focus their research topic, pursue their research, and write their team thesis in the senior year. The mentor is available to the students for guidance, advice, and as a research facilitator. The Gemstone teams take ownership of and direct their own research projects. As a mentor, your job is to help keep teams focused on reasonable objectives and to provide encouragement and sage wisdom.

The Gemstone Program is able to provide modest financial compensation to mentors of $2,000 per semester as a salary overload payment. Most mentors find that working with these talented students is a very rewarding experience. If you have an interest in this opportunity, please contact me at lovell@umd.edu or x57107. Gemstone mentors must be University of Maryland faculty, adjunct faculty, or senior staff members. Graduate students cannot serve as Gemstone mentors.

Thank you for considering taking advantage of this very rewarding experience in support of some of our brightest and most promising University of Maryland students.

Best regards,

David J. Lovell

Professor & Director, Gemstone Honors Program

lovell@umd.edu

The University of Maryland has announced the launch of a new Research Leaders Fellows Program for faculty this fall. The program is designed to support its newest research leaders, helping promising scholars expand their impact in their fields while providing the leadership skills to compete for large-scale multidisciplinary awards.

UMD President Darryll J. Pines introduced the Research Leaders Fellows Program in his inaugural message to campus, saying, “In this time of change, we need to be prepared and competitive as new research funding opportunities arise.”

The 10-month program will be organized by the Office of the Vice President for Research (VPR) and will feature ten interactive modules that will prepare and position faculty to advance the growth of their research program to new levels of excellence. Approximately 18 Research Leaders Fellows from across campus will be selected to participate in the initial cohort.  

“The Research Leaders Fellows Program will further advance our research enterprise and prepare our faculty to lead large-scale, transformative research initiatives that achieve broad, societal impact,” said Vice President for Research Laurie Locascio. "This program is timely, because we’re at a critical juncture for public universities in general, and these researchers are at a critical point in their careers. The breakthroughs related to many of the most difficult challenges in our world today—COVID-19, racism, climate change—will come at the intersection of different research disciplines, and the convergence of many ways of thinking.”

The new program will help faculty: 

• Develop unique leadership skills 

• Build and manage large multidisciplinary research teams

• Learn approaches for creative ideation to formulate and capture big ideas 

• Connect with a peer group of similarly focused and motivated researchers 

• Receive individual, personalized mentorship from current research leaders at UMD  

• Learn from other faculty who have successfully pursued and led center-level awards 

• Discover proposal support resources available to help advance large-scale proposals

This program is specifically designed for recently tenured associate professors who have the potential to lead multidisciplinary research initiatives and direct future campus-wide centers or institutes. Nominations will be solicited from the Deans, and candidates are also encouraged to self-nominate, as well. Deans do not need to endorse or review self-nominations. Exceptions for assistant and full professors will be considered with appropriate justification. 

• Research Leaders Fellows Program - Call for Nominations (PDF)
• Research Leaders Fellows Program - Nomination Form (MS Word)

“We are committed to nurturing our young, talented researchers, mentoring them so they can lead the kind of projects that address the grand challenges of our time,” said President Pines. “They represent the next generation of leaders who will help take our research enterprise to new levels of excellence.”