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The CCIMR Program is sponsored by the Materials Research Laboratory located at The application process for CCIMR 2005 is being run together with the INSET internship program. All applicants will be automatically considered for both programs. Please follow this link if you wish to apply.... The Community College Interns in Materials Research (CCIMR) program is a cooperative effort between the Educational Outreach component of the Materials Research Laboratory (MRL) at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) and Central Coast Community Colleges (Alan Hancock College, Santa Barbara City College, and Ventura College). The goal of this program is to provide an eight week summer research internship to community college students and faculty. Prospective undergraduate research interns are recruited by community college science faculty early in the Spring. The students come from Biological Science, Chemistry, Computer Science, Engineering, Earth and Planetary Science, Math and Physics. Applications from these students are screened by a selection committee made up of community college faculty and MRL educational outreach personnel. The final group of participants are selected based on their demonstrated interest and experience in collaborative activities, their demonstrated interest in science in general, their scholarship and their exposure to basic science courses. Students from groups traditionally underrepresented in the sciences are encouraged to apply.Concurrently, MRL educational outreach staff recruit potential lab situations for the interns. The interests and backgrounds of each intern are considered relative to the research focus of the sponsoring lab. Even when precise matches are not possible, interns with general interest in science have thrived in labs with a focus apart from their specific interest. Ultimately the selected interns are placed with a mentor from the sponsoring lab. The CCIMR program also provides two community college faculty and MRL educational outreach staff representatives to act as mentors to the undergraduate interns. The community college faculty may also be placed in a research group with a research mentor and take on their own research projects. Maintaining weekly contact between the student interns and the community college faculty and MRL staff is the highlight of the program. Three weekly meetings with the interns and staff take place outside of the laboratory environment.
The focus of these meetings is on:
Student interns present their research objectives and activities through formal oral presentation using PowerPoint to their peers and mentors. The end of the program is a poster presentation of the intern's research results and experiences. It is a widely announced event which is the culmination of the eight week internship. Results of their research are also posted on a web site. The CCIMR project has completed its ninth summer. The program's effectiveness is demonstrated by the success the interns have in their ensuing academic and professional careers. The CCIMR internship program is a unique research opportunity for community college students made possible by funding from the National Science Foundation and the Materials Research Lab. Finally, the program would not be possible without the dedication and cooperation of the MRL Faculty, graduate students, and staff.
For additional information about the CCIMR program please contact
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