Mentors

Guidelines for Mentors:

Middle and high school students sometimes seek out mentors to assist with development, planning, execution, and completion of science projects. Some projects require a mentor depending on the nature of the research. A mentor can be a scientist, engineer, teacher or other trained professional qualified in the project's research area. Parents/guardians of students CANNOT serve as mentors for their children. WRSEF does not recommend, assign, or screen (CORI check) mentors for students. Schools, teachers and parents need to be aware of students using mentors outside of the school or home environments and take whatever precautions necessary to protect the welfare of the students.

Mentoring can take many forms. It can range from giving advice and answering questions by phone or Email to assisting a student on a regular basis in the mentor's laboratory or any relationship in between. Mentors provide a positive role model for giving back to the community by volunteering to guide a student in science research. The relationship between the mentor and student is usually mutually beneficial and may last long after the project is finished.

Mentored projects are not given more consideration, but are carefully scrutinized by the judges to insure that projects are the student's original idea and are the sole work of the student and not just an inclusion in the mentor's current research. Mentored projects tend to do no better than other projects in regional, state, or international competitions.

Please contact us with questions about the mentoring process.