Summer Student Innovator Fellowship

During the 6-week program period, students will work with their assigned Gehr Center faculty or affiliate mentor on a research project. Students should read through the list of available projects on the Gehr Center website. After reviewing the list, students should identify 1-3 projects that they are interested in working on. Students may also wish to meet with Gehr faculty or affiliates regarding specific projects of interest to them.

There will also be a series of didactics led by USC faculty and seminars with healthcare leaders in the Los Angeles community during the program. Most will be on the health sciences campus however some seminars will be at locations throughout greater Los Angeles. The rest of the time will be unstructured, allowing students to work on their project and meet with their mentors.

Students are expected to participate in all didactic and seminar sessions throughout the 6-week program and continue to stay involved with the research project for an additional 4 months. Students should be prepared to commute within Los Angeles for their projects or seminars as required. Carpooling and public transportation are strongly encouraged when possible.  At the completion of the program period, each student is responsible for developing an abstract and presenting their work at a final symposium on the USC Health Sciences campus. Students are also encouraged to submit their abstract to conferences to disseminate their research in peer-review publications, blogs, or other forms of media.

After receiving an award, students will be assigned a mentor and project and will then work with their mentor to finalize their plans for the summer. Students will begin to develop a scope of work and SMART goals before the program start date.  There will be an orientation session in late spring after awardees have been selected