Sponsors & Advisors
Community and Academic Sponsors/Advisors
Funded research will have both academic and community sponsors and advisors.
Community sponsorship and advising may be provided by staff members of local, national, or international government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). These organizations must have substantive interest in the research question, the capacity and commitment to make use of the findings, and relevant staff expertise, which they are willing to share with the student-scholar. The staff member who serves as advisor should have substantial intellectual and programmatic stake in the project, and a commitment to act on its implications for policy and practice.
Students may obtain academic sponsorship and research advising from School of Medicine faculty, other Stanford faculty, faculty from other institutions, and/or community-based researchers with appropriate qualifications. When a student obtains an academic advisor who is not a Stanford faculty member, he/she must also obtain approval of that advisor and sponsorship of the project from a Stanford faculty member. Students should discuss this arrangement with PriSMS staff prior to submitting their proposals.
Academic advisors are expected to have a dynamic, ongoing role in the development, conduct, and evaluation of the research. Because of the time investment required to ensure a project's success, it is anticipated that they will have a significant, intellectual and/or programmatic stake in the projects they sponsor.
Advisors, community sponsors, and scholars should work closely together in throughout the project period.
Working with Community Partners
Students may take one of several paths to develop successful projects. Examples of these paths are:
- Continue an ongoing relationship with a community organization
where the student has worked as a staff member or volunteer. Based on her
or his experience in the organization, a student may propose to examine
a question or problem that confronts the organization. As the community
partner, the organization will be expected to commit personnel and
other resources to the project, as appropriate, and pursue the outcomes
of the study.
- Pursue an existing relationship between Stanford
SOM/PriSMS and a community organization. To meet the goal of strengthening ties
with our local
communities, the CPMS program will develop relationships with community
organizations invested in health issues that would benefit from
partnering with the School of Medicine. These organizations will
have prioritized
their research needs so that interested students may explore opportunities
for collaboration.
- Establish a new relationship with a community organization
to pursue a research question originating in other academic/experiential
pursuits. Applicants may propose studies to investigate community
health issues
that they develop from their interests. To do so will likely
require a longer planning period. In order to design a successful
proposal,
applicants will first have to identify a suitable community partner
and develop a collaborative relationship based on mutual interest.
As in the first path, the organization will be expected to serve
as the community partner on the project. The PriSMS program will
provide
assistance in identifying appropriate organizations.
