INSuRE+E

The INSuRE Education track (INSuRE+E) seeks to educate undergraduate and graduate students in research methodology and working in teams in the context of a research course offered at the academic institutions. Agency problem mentors offer research problems and provide subject matter expertise for those problems, while faculty mentors are responsible for academic oversight. INSuRE+E is offered to all NCAE institutions with 4-year undergraduate or graduate programs both in the Fall and Spring semesters. INSuRE+E projects typically last one semester long, but two-semester projects (e.g., capstone) are possible.

Problem Mentor (PM) Responsibilities

  1. PMs are expected to attend an Open House at the beginning of the semester in order to meet with students who are interested in their proposed research problem and answer questions or discuss possible directions for the project.
  2. Prospective PMs who are interested in mentoring student teams on students’ self-proposed projects are expected to attend Open Houses at the beginning of the semester and submit their bids evaluating the project value through EasyChair.
  3. During the course of the semester, PMs are expected to meet with the teams they supervise on a regular basis (ideally weekly or biweekly) in order to discuss their progress and challenges as well as to provide guidance as needed.
  4. All technical directors are expected to attend the midterm and final presentations of their teams.

Faculty Responsibilities

  1. Towards the end of Summer and Fall semesters, each institution needs to submit an estimate of students who will enroll in the INSuRE+E class in the Fall and Spring respectively.
  2. All matters pertaining to the course are the responsibility of the supervising faculty member at the respective institution. In particular, this includes providing feedback to students on the oral and written presentations of their work as well as assigning grades.
  3. All faculty members are expected to attend the midterm and final presentations of their teams.

Program Operations

Below describes the INSuRE+E program's operation timeline. The details of each phase of the timeline is documented below as well.

  • Problem Descriptions. Each semester, new or updated research problem descriptions will be solicited from the Problem Mentors and published on the INSuRE Hub. Every PM may submit their problem(s) through the link any time, but at least 2 days before the Open House. Alternatively, a student team may submit its problem through the link at least 1 week before the Open House, so prospective PMs may review the problem statements and decide on possibly mentoring the team.
  • Open House. For each Fall and Spring semester, an Open House will be held virtually with PMs meeting with students to discuss and to answer questions on their proposed problems. Similarly, at least one student from each student team that has proposed problems will meet with prospective PMs to discuss the proposed problems in greater depth. Fall Open Houses are held on the second Friday of August, and Spring Open Houses are held on the second Friday of January.
  • Bid Submission. Following the Open House, students from the academic institutions form teams and bid on research problems that they are interested in. A minimum of 3 bids is required for each team. Prospective PMs who are interested in mentoring student teams on projects that students have proposed will also submit their bids, indicating the level of their interest and assessment of the project value. There are no limit on the number of bids submitted from the prospective PMs.
  • PM Feedback. PMs will be notified through EasyChair on the bids that their problems have received, and each PM is given 24 hours to provide feedback to the INSuRE administration through EasyChair.
  • Problem Assignment. A matching of student teams to specific research problems is done across the program and is announced 2-3 days after the bids are due.
  • Proposal Submission. PMs and their assigned student teams will soon meet to outline the research direction they intend to pursue. Based on the discussions, each student team will then prepare and submit a project proposal.
  • Research Process. For the remainder of the semester, student teams carry out the proposed research agenda. Student teams and their PMs meet on a regular basis (ideally weekly or biweekly) to discuss the progress.
  • Milestones. Semester milestones include midterm and final reports and presentations where the teams report on the status and the results of their efforts. All students, faculty, and PMs are expected to attend and to comment on the presentations.

INSuRE+E Operations Timeline

 

Updated: Dec 6, 2024