Call for BEACoN Research Mentors

A side-by-side portrait of two pairs of people — on the left, two women smile together against a sage green background, and on the right, a young woman and an older man smile together against a teal background.

Applications are now open for faculty to serve as mentors for the 2026-27 BEACoN Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program, run by Culture and Institutional Excellence (CIX). Centering underrepresented students, but open to all undergraduate students, BEACoN seeks to make research experience accessible by providing funded research opportunities working one-on-one with a faculty member.

The timing of the program is changing both to accommodate semesters and to allow faculty more time to get IRB approval for their research projects. As such, we are now soliciting applications for faculty mentors (tenure-line and lecturers) at the link below (deadline: Friday, July 10 by 5 p.m. PT).

Please apply at this link: https://tinyurl.com/BEACoNMentor26-27

All selected proposals will be advertised via the CIX website to students, who would then apply by mid-September. Faculty who receive student applicants will then get to select which student they would like to have as a mentee/research assistant. Matches will be finalized by mid-October with research mentorships during the final 5 weeks of Fall semester and the entire Spring semester.

Faculty who are selected for BEACoN will receive an additional work assignment effective 10/30/2026 through 5/19/2027 for a total salary of approximately $2,000 paid over the course of the assignment in monthly paychecks.

Students who are matched for this initiative will receive financial aid awards totaling $4,000 ($1,000 toward the end of Fall semester and $3,000 during spring semester).

Click here for an example of how selected project descriptions will be posted on our website for students to choose from.

Faculty who were BEACoN Research Mentors in AY 25-26 and/or who have been mentors three times in the past five years are most welcome to apply, though priority may be given to those newer to the program (depending on number and strength of applications received).

We look forward to reading your applications and hope you consider serving our students in this way!

For any questions or further information, please contact kbennion@calpoly.edu