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Queen Mary Academy

Mentoring

A definition of Mentoring from Boseman and Feeney (2007) superimposed on the QMUL Clocktower

Supplementary career and professional development support for Postdocs

This programme will provide postdocs with time to reflect on their career and professional development plans and access to supplemental (career and professional development) advice

Postdocs from the participating Schools and Institutes can sign-up to participate. This includes any research or teaching fellows, staff researcher positions (e.g., statisticians, lab managers), clinician-researchers with doctoral qualifications, employed on a staff contract and who are research-active. Late-stage doctoral students who will qualify and take up a postdoctoral research or teaching position in the next 6-months can also sign-up.

We aim to recruit an excess of Academic Staff mentors in order to facilitate robust mentee-mentor matching.

Select one of the tabs below for more information.

Postdocs in participating Schools or Institutes will receive communications to encourage registration as a mentee on the programme.

We would like to collect an expression of interest from the rest of the postdoc community. Please use this form (you may be prompted to log in to your QMUL account) if you would like to have this kind of support.

Benefits to Mentees

  • Gain 1-to-1 support and perspectives on your career and development
  • Reserve time to reflect on important career decisions (approx. 3/10 CPD days*)
  • Broaden your professional network
  • Receive support based on your development needs

It is expected that mentees will drive the process, and make good use of their time with a mentor.

Time Commitment

The aim of the scheme is to provide postdocs with 20 hours or more of dedicated reflection time and advice on their own personal career and development plans. The training portion of the programme is 1-2 hours. Once mentoring-pairs have been established, it will be left up to the individuals involved to decide on the duration, frequency and structure of their sessions. It is recommended that mentoring meeting occurs at least 2-3 times over the 6-month period.

We are planning a series of 3 webinars and 1 in-person meeting to support each yearly mentoring cohort.

Matching

Mentee-mentor matching will be supported through MentorNet. By recruiting an excess of academic staff from across the participating Schools and Institutes, we will build a robust pool of mentors to enable matching success.

Mentees short-list up to 5 academics (either from within your School or Institute or beyond, if you so wish). We then confirm one of your choices, and you can begin your meetings. We keep your previous choices on file, should you require re-matching.

We are looking for members of academic staff to provide supplemental mentoring to postdoctoral researchers across research groups. We would like to recruit a robust pool of mentors in order to best enable mentor-mentee matching.

Academics in the trial Schools/Institutes will receive internal communication from your leadership or Researcher Development to encourage registration as a mentor on the programme.

We would like to collect an expression of interest from the rest of the research community. Please use this form (you may be prompted to log in to your QMUL account) if you would like to have this kind of programme in your School or Institute.

Benefits to Mentors

  • Develop management and supervision skills and gain confidence in supporting researchers in different career situations
  • Learn to apply a coaching approach to your management practice
  • Mentoring is included in the Academic Careers Frameworkunder citizenship and inclusion, and can inform reflective narratives for AdvanceHE’s Fellowships
  • Time to reflect on your own development and gain additional insight into issues impacting postdocs

It is expected that mentees will drive the process, and make good use of their time with a mentor.

Time Commitment

The aim of the programme is to provide postdocs with over 13 hours of dedicated reflection time on their own personal career and development plans. The training portion of the programme is 1-2 hours. Once mentoring-pairs have been established, it will be left up to the individuals involved to decide on the duration, frequency and structure of their sessions. It is recommended that mentoring meeting occurs at least 2-3 times over the 6-month period.

We are planning a series of 3 webinars and 1 in-person meeting to support each yearly mentoring cohort.

Matching

Mentee-mentor matching will be supported through MentorNet. By recruiting an excess of academic staff from across the participating Schools and Institutes, we will build a robust pool of mentors to enable matching success. Mentees will short-list up to 5 academics (either from within their School or Institute or beyond, if they so wish). We then confirm one of their choices, thus enabling meetings to begin.

As we recruited an excess of mentors, not all academics will be matched in this programme. Non-matched mentors can participate in future rounds of this programme without retraining during a 3-year period.

Mandatory Training

Completion of the QM+ module is tracked by achieving 60% or higher on the Exercise marked "completion tracking". Once participants have completed their training, they can be considered for mentee-mentor matching.

If you do not get matched with a mentee, or if you wish to return for successive rounds of this programme, you can do so without having to repeat the training for up to 3 years.

Additional Support Programme

  • Mentoring Cohort Support Meeting and Lunch - This networking event will include seminars and a workshop to support the mentoring practice and experience for those involved in the programme.
  • Webinars - subjects like managing power dynamics, or managing difficult discussions will be covered here. Topics will be finalised at the Cohort Support Meeting.
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