Visiting Scholars Program
Our Visiting Scholars at BMS are individuals who are serving in research and/or other scholarly projects supervised and supported by one or more of our BMS Affiliates.
Scholars may join BMS for the period of one year, with the potential for continuation of their role (reviewed annually) at the request of their Project Mentor. We do not offer internal funding or financial support for Scholars; these roles are entirely voluntary unless a mentor has separate funding for a given project.
To be eligible, Visiting Scholars must meet at least one of the following criteria:
Completed a graduate degree (such as a MS, MA, or PhD) or a professional degree (such as a JD, MD, or MBA) program
Be currently enrolled in a graduate degree (such as a MS, MA, or PhD) or a professional degree (such as a JD, MD, or MBA) program
Graduated from the BMS Young Scientist Program
Visiting Scholars are only accepted to work on projects relevant to the background and skills of one of our BMS Affiliates who serve as the Project Mentor (though they may join a team led by several mentors working together).
In all cases, a Visiting Scholar does not apply to the program directly and there are no application windows. We accept new scholars on a rolling basis throughout the year.
A Visiting Scholar can only join the program through the approval and request of one of our BMS Affiliates (in cases where a scholar joins a team of our Affiliates, we still ask that one of them serve as the primary mentor and point-of-contact).
Meet some of our current Visiting Scholars:
Joining BMS as a Visiting Scholar
If you meet the necessary criteria listed above, then you may request joining BMS as a Visiting Scholar by following the steps below:
Begin by reviewing the background and skills of the BMS Affiliate(s) with whom you would like to work.
Contact the BMS Affiliate(s) with whom you would like to work using their email as listed on our website. If you are well aware of their work and seeking information on whether there are current openings in a specific project, you may certainly ask. However, we advise all who join our program to also share your own ideas for a project or topic realm in which you would like to work and which is also relevant for a mentoring relationship with the Affiliate (it may be helpful to develop your project idea using this template and then sharing it as an attachment to the email).
Note: Please be considerate in the brevity and professionalism of your email. Also, we ask that you please be respectful if an Affiliate is unable to work with you or finds that your project is not fitting for their research or scholarly team.
If the Affiliate(s) to whom you reach out is/are interested and agrees to advise you on your project (or has another project for you to work on and you agree), then they may choose to request that you join their team. Please note that this request can only come from one BMS Affiliate. There may be multiple mentors on a project, but one BMS Affiliate must serve at the Project Mentor (and the point-of-contact in the program).
For those who have been requested by a Project Mentor, you will then be sent an official welcome email to our program. You must follow all requirements afterward for joining the program.
Visiting Scholar positions are one-year appointments that may be renewed annually by agreement with the Project Mentor. Renewing your Visiting Scholar position may require you to develop a new project description.
Notes on Eligibility:
If you are currently in an undergraduate degree program (such as a BS or BA), or if you have not yet started a graduate degree program (such as a MS, MA, or PhD), then you may not be eligible for our Visiting Scholars Program. Instead, for those in these career stages, we highly recommend exploring your potential for joining the BMS Young Scientist Program.
If you have at any time in the past successfully completed the BMS Young Scientist Program but have not yet started graduate studies, you are eligibly for the Visiting Scholars Program. However, you are not required to join with the same mentor you had during the YSP.
If you are an active research scientist, educator, professional in science communication, or at the professional level in other realms relevant to the mission and vision of BMS, then you may be a better fit exploring affiliation. Our Affiliates generally have advanced professional degrees (such as PhD, MD, JD, etc.), however we will sometimes consider other scholars who do not yet have such degrees (specifically when their professional realm typically requires different types of certification, experience, and skills development).
A Note on Mentorship in Our Program
The Visiting Scholar and Project Mentor relationship at Blue Marble Space is one of mentee and mentor.
While this is a professional relationship, we strive to ensure it is also one that goes beyond typical academic advising. While the Project Mentor does advise in technical and/or domain-specific realms and is available to teach skills and answer project-related questions, they also care about the overall development, welfare, and trajectories of those they support. We value our role as an organization in being able to establish these working relationships.
Please note that all Visiting Scholars and their Project Mentors are expected to hold to the standards in our Code of Ethics as well as abide by all policies of our organization.
