Student Research Application Information

The University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine offers a competitive program for current Penn Dental students to engage in a basic laboratory or clinical research project. Research students are required to work full time in July and August with a faculty preceptor on a mutually-agreed upon research project. Students are expected to write the project application with guidance from the preceptor. Applications for research projects are reviewed and ranked by the School of Dental Medicine Research Committee. A maximum of 12 projects will be accepted for funding. The School of Dental Medicine will provide a stipend of $1000/month for 2 months.

The purpose of this program is to give interested dental students a chance to experience both basic and clinical dental research, from a "hands-on" perspective, by participation in an on-going faculty research investigation. It is the goal of the program to aid the development of dental students who want to pursue research-orientated careers in the oral health field by providing an interactive experience with active research faculty.

Requirements
Current students are eligible providing that they are in good academic standing and are able to spend the months of July and August full-time on their project. Students that are interested in research but are expected to participate in clinic during the summer months must be able to spend a significant amount of the months of July and August on their project. The summer research program will be combined with other clinical training during July and August.

Weekly meetings of students and preceptors are held in July and August to provide required training in Laboratory Safety and Bioethics in Research, discuss information about research fellowships available through dental organizations and the federal government, and to assess progress. Each student gives an informal presentation about their project. Students are required to attend these meetings. A final report, approved by the preceptor, is required from each student by the end of August.

All summer research trainees are required to give a poster presentation at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine and Vernon Brightman Student Research Society (VBSRS) Annual Oral Health Fair in the Spring. Contact Dr. Francis Mante or the VBSRS for details.

List of Preceptors
A list of research investigators is available for the summer research program. Students can make arrangements to do a research project with local faculty outside of the School of Dental Medicine if first discussed with Dr. DiRienzo, Assistant Dean for Student Research.

Submission of Applications
To be considered for a summer research training stipend, a student must submit a proposal describing the project (maximum of five printed pages). The proposal must be written by the student with guidance from the research preceptor. Proposals for summer research projects must include the cover-page (available for download in Word or PDF format) signed by the student's preceptor, the preceptor biosketch (standard NIH form, available for download in Word or PDF format), and any IRB approval letters for the use of Human Subjects or Vertebrate Animals. The cover-page and preceptor biosketch forms can be downloaded as Microsoft Word form documents by clicking on the above links or can be obtained from Dr. Joseph DiRienzo, Assistant Dean for Student Research, Room 245, Levy Building.

An electronic copy of the entire application must be sent to Dr. Joseph DiRienzo as an attachment in pdf format. In addition, the original printed and signed copy of the coverpage must be delivered to Dr. Joseph DiRienzo, Room 245, Levy Building. All materials must be submitted no later than 5:00 PM on Monday, March 31, 2008.

Travel Funds
A maximum of four travel stipends ($500/stipend) will be given by the School of Dental Medicine to students that plan to present their research at the American (AADR) or International (IADR) Association for Dental Research annual meeting. To be eligible for travel funds students must submit an electronic copy and original printed copy, signed by the preceptor, of the abstract to the Assistant Dean for Student Research. Abstracts must be received at least two weeks prior to the submission due date for the meeting. Students will be notified if travel funds will be available before the submission due date.