PUERTO RICO CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL NEUROSCIENCE (PRCEN)

Guidelines for Admission of Undergraduate Students

Deadline  for application: 10/18/2022 Midnight (AST)

 

Applications for the academic year 2022-2023 are now OPEN (DEADLINE October 18) from undergraduate students enrolled full-time in a relevant science program of the UPR or UAGM.

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Applications should be sent to prcen.rcm@upr.edu.

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The Admissions Committee will only examine complete applications, submitted electronically to the above address before the indicated deadline.

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All applicants have to be sponsored by a UPR or UAGM affiliated Principal Investigator (PI), who is based in Puerto Rico. Projects performed with at least one PRCEN-participating PI will get priority. Applications from students working on projects performed with non-PRCEN-participating PIs will also be considered and are encouraged, as long as they meet the basic requirements of having (1) an environmental and a neuroscience component and (2) having a good fit with the specific aims of the PRCEN, as determined by the Admissions Committee.

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Major evaluation criteria will be:

• Grades (minimum overall GPA and GPA in science/math courses (= GPS) of 3.0)

• Evidence of motivation of the student to pursue a career in science

• Neuroscience and Environmental components of the proposed project and a good fit with the proposed aims of the PRCEN-CREST grant

 

Application instructions and required documents:

​Please submit electronically (to prcen.rcm@upr.edu) all the following 5 items (1 to 5):

1. The application Form (click HERE)

2. A letter of recommendation from the sponsoring PI with a brief description of the research proposal on which the undergraduate student is or will be working

3. A letter of recommendation from another Professor/PI (Recommendation letters should be submitted by each PI directly, but it will be the applicant’s responsibility to make sure that both letters have been submitted on time. )

4. Curriculum Vitae (CV), which should contain all necessary administrative information, namely: (1) full name, (2) student number, (3) enrollment status (University/campus/program/year…), and (5) email contact. Please, do not provide the SSN.

5. One-page “Statement of Career Objectives”, clearly describing short and long-term professional objectives and the intended means to reach them.

6. Most up-to-date listing of courses and grades to conduct a preliminary review of compliance with the minimal GPA and GPS of 3.00. It could be a student copy of a transcript, the official transcript, or the data provided by the university student portal (portal.upr.edu), as long as all the course names, codes, numbers of credits, and grades are included. An official transcript still needs to be sent to the following address to corroborate the preliminary information provided:

Maria A. Sosa 

Dept. Anatomy & Neurobiology, Office A561,

Main Bldg UPR School of Medicine 

PO Box 365067, San Juan P.R. 00936-5067

 

An application will be considered complete when all 5 documents have been submitted electronically to the proper email address (prcen.rcm@upr.edu).

 

Upon admission, the undergraduate research fellow and his/her mentor will sign a binding agreement form certifying that upon accepting the fellowship the student and the PI will follow all off the PRCEN’s guidelines and rules (click HERE).

 

At the end of the support period, all undergraduate fellows will submit a progress report (PR) following a standardized model and the sponsoring PI will submit a short-written evaluation of the student’s performance. Both documents will be due no later than after May 19, 2023, and must be submitted to prcen.rcm@upr.edu.  Evaluation of the progress reports will be performed by the Admissions Committee and will be an important element for potential future continuation in the program.