The U.S. National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) program draws on the power of mentoring to empower science, technology, engineering and mathematics graduate students to become leaders and innovators. Through the program, trainees receive not only technical training in their specific fields but also highly personalized mentoring from faculty across a wide range of disciplines. The program emphasizes a holistic mentoring model, including academic guidance, career counseling and skill-building for interdisciplinary collaboration. Traineeship mentors, typically faculty members and researchers, work closely with graduate students to foster their growth as independent researchers while also helping them navigate the complexities of academia, industry and other STEM-related career paths. This approach enhances trainees' professional and personal development.
By prioritizing mentorship, the program provides emerging STEM researchers with the leadership skills needed to work across disciplines and identify solutions to our society's most critical challenges.
Featured traineeships:
Collaborative NRT at four South Dakota universities supports trainees through a multi-level mentorship program
In a unique, deeply collaborative and mentorship-focused project, four South Dakota universities — the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, University of South Dakota, South Dakota State University and Dakota State University — are providing graduate students with the scientific knowledge and professional skills and training needed to develop high-impact solutions in the fight against counterfeiting. Students not only engage in training on the technical aspects of the cyber strategies and physical methods used to combat counterfeiting but also learn to assess what strategies and methods align with human behavior. The approach includes an integrated and multilevel mentorship program to provide trainees with ongoing feedback and guidance, promoting retention and timely matriculation. As principal investigator Jon Kellar explains, "This traineeship program is the first of its kind in the country aimed at producing the next generation of science-based leaders in the fight against counterfeiting and disrupting the illicit economy."
Neurotechnology NRT centers trainee support in both faculty and peer mentoring
Advances in neurotechnology hold lifechanging promise. Bringing these innovations to life demands input from researchers in technical fields like physics, electrical and chemical engineering and bioengineering, but there are significant barriers to entering the neurotechnology field. At Stanford University, the NeuroTech program, led by principal investigator Eduardo Chichilnisky focuses on developing emerging leaders in these technical fields and empowering a "new generation of neuroscientists who will bring technologies to fruition in academia, medicine, and the private sector." Both peer and faculty mentoring play a critical role in this NRT program. Students work closely with faculty mentors to customize their academic path and gain exposure to interdisciplinary research. In addition, the "peer/pods mentoring approach" pairs new trainees with advanced students or alumni based on shared backgrounds or research interests, providing an immediate support network that is essential to retention and program success.
Leveraging mentor teams to understand the mechanisms of biofilms
At Montana State University, an NSF Research Traineeship project focusing on the communities of microorganisms attached to surfaces is exploring how understanding these "biofilms" can have widespread impact on a wide range of engineered and natural systems, including agriculture, industry and human health. Driven by principal investigator, Brent Peyton, trainees are engaged in exploring the properties of extreme biofilm systems across multiple disciplines, developing professional, communication, teamwork, research and problem-solving skills that are broadly applicable across a variety of industrial and academic research careers. Mentoring plays a critical role in this process; graduate students work with a mentor team to personalize their training, and broader mentoring strategies support students in a holistic educational experience that thoughtfully prepare participants to thrive in a variety of research careers.