# Faculty Advisors Entering Clinical Research students are assigned a faculty advisor from the CLR Faculty. The goal of the faculty advisor is to help students navigate the research landscape at ISMMS and the GSBS, the larger scientific research enterprise and monitor the individual student’s academic progress. Students will be assigned a faculty advisor at the start of their first year based upon their initial specified area of research interest, articulated in the application to the program. The role of the faculty advisor will be distinct from that of research mentor. Specifically, the faculty advisor will: * Provide advice on elective coursework relevant to the area of research focus * Assist in finding potential thesis/research mentors related to possible research topics and projects of interest (MSCR/PhD) * Provide assistance with challenges that arise with regard to courses and/or research * Provide advice on funding and career opportunities CRTP, MSCR and PhDCR students are required to **meet with their assigned faculty advisor no later than the end of Spring I each year.** Students are asked to notify the Program Manager of their scheduled appointment with their faculty advisor. The Program Manager will then forward the appropriate material for the advisor to review with the student. Notes of the meeting will be put into the student’s file for review by the Program Directors. In addition, the student is also required to meet with the program administration before the start of the Spring II term each year. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://ismms-gs.gitbook.io/graduate-student-handbook/chapter-3-1/clinical-research-education-program/advising/faculty-advisors.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.