Dr. Zahra Tehrani, Clinical Assistant Professor in the Honors College, teaches interdisciplinary courses on stem cells, human aging, and the environment’s effects on gene behavior. As a subject-matter enthusiast, Tehrani’s passion lies in the mentorship for undergraduate research. She offers a series of workshops to help students find and obtain their first research position and prepare them for their first conference presentation. Tehrani also created research office hours in the Honors College to address student concerns about beginning research projects and understanding expectations from their mentor.

Tehrani encourages students to research topics they are passionate about, and she hopes to prepare students for future careers. She demonstrates her enthusiasm through the mentorship training program she created to help mentors from all colleges develop effective strategies for guiding undergraduate researchers.

Tehrani believes research mentorship is critically important for students’ research experiences and can impact career decisions after graduation. She hopes that the mentorship training program leads to more productive and mutually beneficial experiences for Purdue undergraduates and their mentors across campus. Tehrani’s continuous effort to expand research opportunities linking students with their potential career paths exhibits her teaching excellence as she provides career guidance and inspires life-long learning.

The following table maps Dr. Tehrani’s teaching excellence evidence to evaluation activities.