Orientation and Site Logistics
For all students, the nine-week program begins
with a week-long orientation in Nashville on the Vanderbilt campus. 
The sessions will begin with an overview of the program and an introduction to the main learning science concepts that underpin all the research projects.
Students will also attend introductory sessions
with the technical communication and ethics experts.
Social events and getting-acquainted games and activities are also a vital part of the orientation because they allow students to build a team atmosphere among a group that will be dispersed to several locations and then communicating in a virtual environment.
Laboratory and industrial field trips may also be
incorporated, as possible, for students to gain exposure to the variety of career
choices for bioengineering related fields.
After the orientation, students will go to the one of three sites where their project and faculty mentor reside to begin their research. Faculty mentors will meet with the students regularly to guide their projects. Students will have access to the faculty mentors’ laboratories, graduate students and other researchers with knowledge of the domain in which they are placed.