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OUR Immersive Research Internship Experience

A faculty-mentored research internship experience that helps students develop broad research and professional capacities.

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Call for Campus Partner Proposals​

ABOUT IRIE

The OUR Immersive Research Internship Experience (IRIE) is a summer undergraduate research internship program available to all UMD undergraduate students.  The program is operated in collaboration with our well-established undergraduate research program, the First-Year Innovation & Research Experience (FIRE). 

 

The IRIE program has been in operation for three years (Summers 2022, 2023, 2024), typically enrolls nearly 150 undergraduate students, and often has a waitlist of more than 500 students.

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Our experience successfully operating IRIE and creating great student outcomes combined with this strong student demand has created an opportunity for us to reach out to campus partners to expand the capacity of this summer program by creating new IRIE Research Groups across campus.

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Students participating in IRIE:

  • Join one of the many IRIE Research Groups offered each year.

  • Enroll in a summer course - OURS199 - Research Internship (3 credit course).

  • Engage in eight weeks of campus-based research with an IRIE Research Mentor.

  • Engage in fifteen hours of campus-based research each week.

  • Present their final research results at the Summer Undergraduate Research Conference.​

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Launch: December 2024

Submissions Close: February 28, 2025 (end of day)

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Our annual IRIE Call for Proposals seeks to find campus partners who would benefit from hosting an IRIE Research Group.  Campus partners provide research facilities and a UMD faculty or staff member who serves as the IRIE Research Mentor and instructor of record.  OUR provides student recruitment, communication, academics, professional development seminars, and summative presentation of results achieved.  Additionally, OUR integrates the partner IRIE Research Mentor into a community of individuals to facilitate training, readiness, and support during the summer engagement.

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IRIE Research Groups

Students participating in IRIE enroll in a section of OURS199 that places them with a specific IRIE Research Group.  Most IRIE Research Groups are based on existing FIRE streams - but we also collaborate with campus partners to broaden the range of opportunities available.

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Each IRIE Research Group has:​

  • Approximately 10 IRIE students.

  • A research environment that hosts participating students throughout the eight-week experience.  This research environment is typically open four days per week during most business hours of the day in a manner that allows IRIE students to complete their weekly on-site research requirement.

  • An IRIE Research Mentor.

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IRIE Research Mentors

Each IRIE Research Group needs a clear research leader who is also the instructor of record for the affiliated OURS199 course section.   We call this person the IRIE Research Mentor.

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IRIE Research Mentors work on campus with their students for the eight-week experience, spending approximately 25 hours per week with IRIE students.  Additionally, as instructors of record, IRIE Research Mentors provide feedback on OURS199 assessments to ensure students are learning and succeeding in their research education.​

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Please note that IRIE is much more than a summer course.  This amount of undergraduate student contact time (25 hours per week) is essential to provide the mentorship experience and research outcomes we promise students.  Individuals who indicate availability for the IRIE Research Mentor position must have the time available for this level of commitment.

COLLABORATING WITH CAMPUS PARTNERS TO FORM
NEW IRIE RESEARCH GROUPS

We work with campus partners to define and launch new IRIE Research Groups each year in a manner that allows academic units, research centers, and campus faculty the opportunity to work with motivated IRIE students. 

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There are several benefits to starting an IRIE Research Group:

  • Leveraging the support of students to drive your summer research agenda.

  • Establishing relationships with UMD undergraduates interested in continuing research.

  • Empowering the IRIE Research Mentor to develop mentoring skills through the mentorship of undergraduate researchers.

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OUR drives this collaboration by providing required resources and processes and campus partners supplying other assets.

PROVIDED BY OUR

Student Recruitment

  • OUR oversees all advertising and recruiting processes.​

  • OUR manages all student applications and waitlists.

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Course Scheduling & Resources

  • OUR manages the scheduling of OURS199 course sections.

  • OUR manages instructor assignments for sections of OURS199.​

  • OUR provides a template OURS199 syllabus to all IRIE Research Mentors and offers academic support for curriculum and pedagogy.

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Student Enrollment 

  • OUR manages communications with students and ensures enrollment in the correct section of OURS199.

  • OUR manages course-based waitlists and student communication issues.​

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IRIE Research Mentor Appointments

  • OUR works with campus partners to understand how to manage appointments for designated IRIE Research Mentors.​

  • Individuals in 12-month appointments can take on this role as a part of their defined workload.  Overloads are not offered due to the time required by the role (25 hours weekly).

  • Individuals on 9-month appointments will receive an instructional contract connected to OURS199 and all aspects of the IRIE Research Mentor role.  The compensation provided is $6,500.

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Seminar Series

  • OUR provides all infrastructure and content for the IRIE professional development seminar series.

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Summer Conference

PROVIDED BY CAMPUS PARTNER

The Research Environment

  • Campus partners must have a campus location where an IRIE Research Group can safely and effectively engage in research. 

  • While each IRIE Research Group has approximately 10 students, the research environment does not need to have the ability to host all students at once as long as scheduling will allow students to complete 15 hours of on-site work per week.

  • The research environment must have the equipment and consumables to engage in the targeted research.  OUR is not able to provide funding for research costs.

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The IRIE Research Mentor

The campus partner must have an individual who can serve as the IRIE Research Mentor.

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This individual will need to:

  • Work collaboratively to finalize a syllabus for OURS199 (based on the OUR template) that outlines research objectives, expectations, and assessment deadlines.

  • Develop research-centered learning outcomes and ensure student engagement in the research aligns with those outcomes. 

  • Communicate announcements, assignments, and grades on ELMS.​

  • Facilitate the active mentorship and research activities of approximately 10 undergraduate students assigned to the IRIE Research Group. 

  • Engage students in active mentorship and research in the designated research environment for 25 hours per week in a manner that enables all IRIE students to conduct on-site research for 15 hours per week (each student). 

  • Prepare students for presentations at the Summer Undergraduate Research Conference (SURC).

PROPOSING A NEW IRIE RESEARCH GROUP

Interested in hosting an IRIE Research Group?

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Please see the guidance for submitting a proposal below.  Our capacity is limited for Summer 2025, and we do not expect to be able to launch all new proposals during this first year of collaborative operation with the campus research community.

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Should you have any questions or issues submitting your IRIE Research Group Proposal, please contact us at our-office@umd.edu.

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Components of the Proposal

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  • Primary Mentor Name, Contact Information, and Affiliation 

  • Proposed Instructor of Record Name, Contact Information, and Affiliation

  • Project Description

    • Brief Research Project Description (1250 characters or less)

      • Please provide an overview of the research problem(s) or question(s) you aim to address with your IRIE Students,  any methods and approach you aim to use to address these questions and provide the expected outcomes or impact associated with the proposed research. 

    • Learning Objectives (500 characters or less)​

      • Please provide 2-3 learning objectives should IRIE students participate in your proposed research group. For example, "By the end of IRIE, students in my research group will be able to. . .". 

    • Research Location Information (500 characters or less)​

      • Please describe the physical location (building, research lab, etc) in which you will host your IRIE Research group. Please address if the proposed research location and the equipment therein are able to facilitate the project as described.

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