Eligibility

To be eligible for the ERS-AI program, a student must:

• Be enrolled in a PhD program in Health Sciences or Engineering at UF
• Have a primary mentor who is a College of Medicine ERS faculty member*
• Intend to pursue AI-driven biomedical research

* Exception: First-year BMS and Neuroscience students who enter the program through the rotation model will not yet have identified a primary mentor at the time of nomination. These students must identify a COM ERS faculty member as their AI mentor as well as a domain mentor by May 15^th of their first year in the program, in coordination with ERS administration.

BMS and Neuroscience students in good academic standing may be nominated for entry in their second year. All other students must be nominated as incoming students.

Recommended background includes intermediate proficiency in at least one programming language (preferably Python) and college-level mathematics (calculus, linear algebra, or statistics). Experience with high-performance computing, GPU-based systems, or machine learning methods is optional but advantageous.

Nominations

Departments and ERS mentors may nominate students. Nomination materials must be submitted to Elizabeth Palmer (eanpalmer@ufl.edu) by June 15 and should include:

Incoming Students

• A signed nomination letter from the prospective ERS mentor describing their AI research and the project on which the student would work
• The student’s personal statement (from their UF application)
• Official transcripts

Rising Second-Year Students (BMS and Neuroscience only)

• A signed nomination letter from the prospective ERS mentor describing their AI research and the project on which the student would work
• A one-page Statement of Purpose from the student describing their AI-driven research interests and relevant training. (This serves as the personal statement)
• Official transcripts

All students nominated, except incoming Neuroscience and BMS students, must have a COM ERS mentor who has agreed to serve as mentor. To accommodate student rotations, Neuroscience and BMS students entering the program in their first year must secure an ERS-AI mentor in addition to their primary domain mentor by May 15th of their first year in the program.  ERS program administration can help mentor match if necessary.

Any real or apparent conflict of interest must be disclosed promptly to ERS program administration.

ㅤ

Interested in the program?

Please email Elizabeth Palmer to learn more!