Technogenesis Summer Scholars Program - 2008 Program Guidelines

Program Overview:

• Undergraduate summer entrepreneur and research opportunity in innovative design, research and/or business projects for a period of ten weeks.
• Students receive a maximum stipend of $3500 (based on 350 hours of research time @ $10.00 per hour).
• Students receive free on-campus housing

Student Eligibility Requirements:

• Students are expected to conduct the research on-campus, on a full time basis, except under very unusual circumstances, and with the direct supervision of a faculty or research staff member from Stevens.
• The minimum accepted cumulative GPA is 3.0 as of the Fall Semester 2007.
• Students must be full time Stevens undergraduates who will be registered as undergraduates for the Fall Semester 2008.
• Team projects will be accepted with up to a maximum of two students per team.
• Interdisciplinary projects are encouraged, but there must be a primary faculty advisor.
• Projects that continue into the school year are encouraged. (Continued funding from Technogenesis, however, is not guaranteed beyond the summer program schedule).
• Students are expected to work on their Stevens project full time, with no other full time employment.
• Stevens Scholars are not eligible as they have other research opportunities.

Selection Process:

• Faculty/Advisors submit research topics/projects (areas of work) to Technogenesis (TG) school coordinators beginning the week of 3 March 2008. Projects may be submitted for distribution to the students up to a week before the proposal submission deadline, if necessary.
• (In the spirit of the Technogenesis theme, faculty members should identify and emphasize projects that have the potential for commercial value and/or solve a customer need.)
• A list of topics/projects with corresponding faculty/advisors will be posted on the Technogenesis website with a brief description of each. 
• Students meet with the advisor who submitted the research topic/project that interests them.
• The student and the advisor discuss and develop a project plan suitable for that student. Alternatively, students, who desire to research a specific project not listed on the website, may seek out an advisor willing to oversee their research and develop a specific project plan for proposal submission.

Student Proposal Submission Process

• The proposal should not exceed two (2) typed pages.
• Proposal Format: The proposal format must include the following sections in the specific order listed to facilitate the evaluation process:
  • Title
  • Student's Name
  • Faculty Advisor's Name (Primary advisor listed first)
  • Project Objective
  • Current status of the work if work is already underway either by the student, faculty advisor or others as well as referencing any work being conducted by others that summer in the same research area.
  • Anticipated project deliverables (i.e., reports, computer code, experimental apparatus, presentations, etc.)
  • NEW - Indicate the potential commercial value the research may have and how satisfies customer needs, where appropriate.
  • An indication of whether the student will require on-campus housing which is provided as part of the award
  • Signature of the student(s) and advisor(s)
  • Attach a copy of current/updated resume, with cumulative GPA through the Fall Semester 2007.
• Proposals must be submitted to:
  David T. Peacock,
  Deputy Director, University Enterprise Development
  Suite A, 3rd Floor, Howe Center
• Student proposals can be submitted between dates, 10 March – 11 April 2008. Notifications will be made to the students as early as possible (acceptances/rejections). The deadline for submitting a proposal is: 5:00 PM, 11 April 2008. Late proposals will not be accepted.

Faculty/Advisor & TG Coordinators Review Process

• Faculty/Research staff members must rate their preferences of student proposals if they are sponsoring the submission of more than one student proposal. The ranking should be submitted no later than submission dead line (11 April). It is anticipated that no faculty member will supervise more than two student projects during the summer program.
• Faculty should not agree to more than four (4) submissions total in which they are listed as the advisor. If the faculty member receives request from more than four students, they must chose which proposals they will agree to sponsor.
• The Technogenesis Summer Scholar Selection Committee (consisting of the coordinators from each school, Dr. Helena Wisniewski, Christos Christodoulatous  and David Peacock) will meet periodically during the proposal submission period to review proposals. Key evaluation criteria include:
  
  • Quality of the project
  • Tie to Technogenesis
  • Student’s research and academic history

Student Acceptance & Administrative Processing

• Students will be notified of acceptance by e-mail beginning 16 April 2008.
• Students should advise the Office of University Enterprise Development of their acceptance or rejection of the award no later than 25 April 2008.
• Administrative paperwork, including housing and payroll processing will begin 30 April 2008. A group meeting will be conducted at a date TBD.

Research Work Activity

• Summer research work activity can take place between the dates of 13 May through 15 August 2008.
• Students must meet with their TG faculty research advisor to discuss their individual work schedule. The typical summer research work week is 7 hours per day, (9-5 with 1 hour lunch break), 5 days per week, (M-F). Students should discuss planned time off for vacation etc. Students are required to work a total of no more than 350 hours, limited to 35 hours per week, during the above period. The hourly rate is $10.00 per hour.
• Summer academic course activity outside of the TG summer research program must be approved by the student's faculty advisor. (We do not recommend students take any more that 1 evening course per session)

Final Report & Ceremony with Poster Board Exhibition