CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY TRAINING PROGRAM
AWARD BENEFITS AND OBLIGATIONS 2009
Renewal of Traineeships in the Second and Third years.
Traineeships are initially made for one year. Contingent on normal progress, based in part on the student and mentor annual reports, renewal will be made for a second year by the training program director. At the end of the second year, the Advisory Committee will review trainee progress for a possible third year of support.
Responsibilities of the Trainee Mentor.
Faculty involvement in the training program is essential for continued funding of the grant. Faculty are required to attend at least one MBI Arrowhead Retreat during the trainees tenure on the training grant. Current faculty are also required to submit a yearly trainee progress report. Reappointment of students is dependent upon mentor participation in training grant activities. Faculty are required to be aware of all obligations of the student as described here and to ensure that students meet these requirements.
Trainee Stipend.
Trainees receive a stipend of $20,976 per year ($1,748 a month). The Training Grant will also attempt to cover medical insurance fees and registration fees. However, NIH does not fully support these fees and if we are unable to alternate funding for the difference in fees, faculty mentors will be responsible for covering any shortfall.
Stipend checks are issued to the student between the 23rd and 25th of every month. Stipends should be supplemented by the trainee mentor and/or department to bring the level of support to at least that equal to a 49% GSR level or the recommended ACCESS yearly stipend of $27,500. Important Note About Taxes: Stipends are not taxed as received, and a W2 form will not be received at the end of the year. However, the stipend must be reported on the student's yearly tax forms. The tax instruction booklet has a section on how to report fellowship awards. Students may want to compensate for this by adjusting payroll W2 form deductions. Contact the departmental payroll office for advice.
Trainee Travel Funds.
Limited travel funds are available on a first come first serve basis for presentation of a paper or poster at scientific meetings. Limited funds are available also for intensive training courses and workshops. Applications may be obtained from the Program Office.
MBI Arrowhead Conference.
Held every October at the UCLA Lake Arrowhead Conference Center, trainees must attend and give a talk or present a poster at least once during their three-year appointment period and are encouraged to attend each year. Attendance costs for trainees are covered by the training grant.
Research Integrity Training - Chemistry & Biochemistry 203A.
Trainees in their first year of support on the training grant are required to take this course for credit during Fall Quarter.
Second and Third Year Research Seminars - Chemistry & Biochemistry 204.
Trainees in their second year of support are required present a 30 minute seminar to trainees and training faculty in the Winter Quarter. Trainees in their third year of support will be required to present a 30 minute seminar in the Spring Quarter. All trainees are required to attend each seminar in the Winter and Spring Quarter (an attendance sign-in sheet will be present) or to attend an appropriate alternate seminar that week, write a paragraph on that seminar, and submit to Christine Briganti. All trainees are required to enroll for course credit.
Mentoring Requirement.
All trainees are required also to participate in the mentoring of one underrepresented minority undergraduate student or an undergraduate student from a socioeconomically disadvantaged background during their 3-year tenure as trainees. This requirement may be satisfied in several different ways. For example, a trainee may mentor a summer student in the UCLA CARE, MARC, or PEERS Programs. Trainees can also contact Dr. Richard Weiss at X53621 to find a student. A trainee may also mentor a UCLA underrepresented minority or a socioeconomically disadvantaged student during the summer or during the academic year. We realize that both trainees and mentors encounter excellent students in the classroom. This affords a good opportunity to meet and recruit these undergraduates to laboratory research. One summer quarter of supervision, 2 quarters of academic year 199 supervision or 3 quarters of academic year SRP supervision will be considered equivalent mentoring experiences. The mentored student must write a one page report as to what was learned, signed by the student and the trainee, and submitted to the program office. Also indicate students ethnicity or background on the report.
Trainee Annual Report.
Trainees are required to submit a yearly short report prepared by the student in consultation with his or her research director highlighting progress in the thesis project and other activities relevant to the goals of the program. The activities include courses taken, seminars and meetings attended, publications, etc.
Mentor Annual Report.
A yearly report is required from the mentor commenting on trainee progress.
Former Trainee Obligations.
Until the Ph.D. is obtained, former trainees and mentors will be expected to complete annual reports and to attend the Spring Research Seminars and present if possible. Mentors will be responsible for ensuring compliance with this requirement.
Sponsored Seminars.
Seminars by leaders in the field of Cellular and Molecular Biology are sponsored by the training program. Seminar announcements can be found in the weekly notice "Events at UCLA in Molecular Biology." Trainees are encouraged to attend regularly.
Publications Acknowledgement.
Any publications that come from work done while on the training program must acknowledge support from the "Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award GM007185."