Welcome to SyBBURE Fall 2025!!
Program Dates: August 20 – December 4, 2025
Schedule
(note: all times in CST)
Fall Welcome Party
Wednesday, August 27 – Free foods & hanging out
Begins at 5:00pm in the Stevenson Courtyard (rain backup location FGH132)
Opening Thinktank
Tuesday, Sept 2 – Opening talks and SyBBURE highlights
Begins at 12:25pm in Featheringill Hall 134
Recurring Events
Subgroups: weekly based on your groups’ schedules
Starting week of Sept 2 (check calendar for room number & time)
ThinkTank: Tuesdays 12:25-1:05pm
Starting Sept 2 in Featheringill Hall 134
A typical ThinkTank schedule will look like this:
12:25 – 12:35 pm – Hang out + Announcements
12:35 – 12:55 pm – Activity/topical talks
12:55 – 1:05 pm – VIX team work time
Creative Office Hours: optional weekly event on TBD from 9:00-4:00 pm
Starting week of Sept 9 in Gidhub 1
Each Creative Office Hours will have one or two scheduled workshops.
Come work on personal projects or VIX with your fellow SyBBUREites!
Closing Week
Monday, December 1 - VIX Videos Due
Friday, December 5 – VIX Showcase
Monday, December 8 - Final Presentation Uploaded to Box
Holidays
Thursday, November 27 – Thanksgiving
Pay Information
If you are a paid research fellow over the fall/spring semester, you will be paid $10/hour. You will need to submit a timesheet every 2 weeks through UKG, which can be accessed through your Oracle account. You can submit a maximum of 8 hours/week (average). If you get close to hitting the maximum for SyBBURE pay for the semester, your SyBBURE hours will be limited or cut off. At this time, you can continue to work in your lab as a volunteer, or your lab can opt to fund you for the remainder of the semester.
If you are doing research for credit this semester, you may still submit a timesheet, but only for the hours worked after you complete your obligation to your research for credit.
Community Standards
Know your participation responsibilities.
Know everyone’s name!
Be cool to one another.
Show up, be engaged.
Be honest and ethical.
Do good work – devote 10 hrs/wk during the fall & spring (8 hrs paid hourly + 2 hrs of mtgs**) and 40 hrs/wk during the summer to SyBBURE. You can request up to 2 personal days over the summer by filling out this request for time off form.
Take responsibility.
Communicate (absences, lateness, etc.).
Fulfill all participation requirements (see below).
Provide constructive feedback to peers and the program.
Participation Requirements and Opportunities
Independent Research Project(s) – The crux of the program is conducting research under the guidance of a Vanderbilt faculty member and moving towards independence on that project. See below and the Research page for more info.
Proposal Presentation (summer only) – A 5 minute, 2 part presentation in front of your fellow students and Team SyBBURE that details your (1) research plans and (2) goals and timeline for the summer only. Format information can be found here.
Sign up on the presentation schedule linked below and upload your presentation to the listed 3 places by 6:00 pm the day before you present.
Sign-up for your presentation slot
Upload to your individual folder in Box
Upload to the Box proposal presentation folder
Put your presentation slides after the slide for the spot you signed up for in the Google slide deck
Written Project Proposal – Everyone does this at the beginning of the summer. It is due Tuesday June 10 at 12:00 pm.
If you start a new project in the fall or spring, also complete the two-page Project Proposal. Due two weeks after you start a new project.
Find more info here
Upload to the Box project proposal folder
Upload to your individual folder in Box
Subgroup – Weekly 1-hour meetings with ~3 or 4 peers and a Team SyBBURE member. Your group selects the time and location and will start the week of September 2. Every other week you will give an update of your research progress, but talk with your leader for more details. Each time you present your research, you will also include an update of progress on your goals (see ‘Goal Setting’ below).
Learn more on the Subgroup wiki page
Lab Notebook – All students are required to keep a lab notebook. It can be physical or electronic. If you need a physical one, ask!
Final Presentations –
Fall/Spring – Everyone submits a presentation in the visual abstract style at the end of the semester.
Format
Upload (Also upload to your individual folder in Box)
Summer – Everyone presents at the end of the summer. Most people present posters, but there are limited spots available for oral presentations that you can apply for by submitting a one-page abstract.
VIX Project – Everyone participates in a team-based design project with peers in the program. Spend the semester pursuing team-based projects that accomplish the goals you set at the beginning. Form teams, define your project with your team and craft a Project Roadmap, then submit weekly updates to help keep you on track. You’ll give a presentation at the end of the semester showcasing the work your team has done. See below and the VIX page for more info.
VIX Team Formation – Form your team of humans with similar goals and interests.
Complete team formation here Due Monday, September 15 @ 12:00 pm
VIX Project Roadmap – All VIX teams will compose a Project Roadmap featuring a mockup (sketch, diagram, or 3D model) of their final product. Since the mockup is a big undertaking, you will have a week to focus on that before building the rest of your roadmap.
Upload mockups here – Mockup due Monday, September 29 @ 12:00 pm.
Upload roadmaps here – Roadmap due Monday, October 13 @ 12:00 pm.
VIX Notebook: Keep track of your efforts in a physical or electronic notebook. You may use a google doc, a written notebook, activity sheets, powerpoint slides, etc.
TVixTok: Instead of a notebook, you can keep us updated on what you are working on with short (1-3 minute) weekly videos. TVixtoks are TikTok style explainers of your progress from the week, and helps us know how to help you.
VIX Final Showcase – tell us about your progress this semester on your team-based design project by preparing a 3 minute video and giving a 3 minute live demo of your final product. You are free to creatively decide what your video and demo look like! December 5, 2025
Holistic Development – This comprises activities related to your professional and personal development with our unique SyBBURE community. Optional activities are as noted.
Thinktank – Show up and participate. We’ll use this time for VIX teams to meet and check in with their Team SyBBURE project consultant, get to know peers in the program, and learn about an array of topics.
To sign up to give a Topical Talk during Thinktank, ask @Bryce Keating through Slack.
Goal Setting – All students Set Goals at the beginning of each term around your research project(s), your professional and personal development, and your community engagement.
Proposal presentations include a slide with 2-3 goals per category. Each time you present to your subgroup, include your progress on meeting your goals.
Learn more about how to set SyMART goals here.
Documenting Progress
You may choose how you do this, but you must keep track of your weekly progress and communicate it to team sybbure and other students somehow.
Each team will present a brief halfway point update during thinktank so the more documentation you have along the way the less work you need to do for the presentation and the final showcase.
Mentoring Meetings – Available on demand! Contact anyone in Team SyBBURE to schedule a mentoring meeting! You may choose to fill out an Individual Development Plan (IDP) to bring to your meeting (or just for fun).
Suggested types of mentoring mtgs:
‘through the wormhole activity’ – Jon will walk you through connecting your present to your post grad plans. Recommended for juniors/rising seniors, but ok for anyone!
Make the most of your research time – meet with any of us for help optimizing your schedule, research plan, etc
Deliverables feedback – want feedback on the deliverables you turned in this summer or some other scientific work? Schedule a time to briefly discuss what you are looking for and we’ll give you specific feedback.
Navigating lab changes – let us help you through this
Dealing with people – other humans are tough, we’ve all been there and want you to benefit from our experience
anything else you need help with…we’re all here for you, just ask (or ask Jad and he’ll help direct you to the best person to talk to!)
Feedback – Who doesn’t love feedback? Get it from us and yourself. Team SyBBURE will give you feedback at the end of the semester. You’ll also have a chance for self-reflection when you fill out a self-evaluation!
Community Engagement – We will continue to do (or encourage you all to do) fun stuff to help keep you connected, supported, productive, growing, and having fun.
Check the calendar for upcoming activities and events! If you want to help with these efforts or request an activity, slack @jean, @katieleaptrot, or @Bryce Keating