The IAD has recently launched new webpages that showcase resources and opportunities for research staff to engage in mentoring and for staff to mentor. The aim is to provide individualised support and different options when considering mentoring as a career development opportunity. There is also information for staff who mentor or support researchers in Schools/Colleges with guidance and information on different mentoring programmes and how to consider local options.
Mentoring is an opportunity to seek support and guidance from someone in relation to career development and progression and is part of the University’s commitment under the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, and in our current action plan. Mentoring is also a key developmental role for academic staff that shows citizenship and collegiality, which can be very rewarding.
What Mentoring support is available?
Mentoring Resources
A suite of four resources for mentors and mentees are available for download. The resources explore; 1) what mentoring is, and what it is not, 2) the role of the mentee in finding and building relationships, 3) the skills required in the role of the mentor, and 4) resources for further reading and support. These resources support individuals to make decisions around what role they would like to undertake in the mentoring partnership and what it would require, whilst also providing more general information around mentoring. They can be accessed and downloaded when needed, allowing individuals to undertake this development in their own time.
1:1 Support
Mentoring isn’t the only way to get direct 1:1 support, and there are other options available. In IAD we offer 1:1 career development consultations with our Research Staff Career Consultants, 1:1 consultations on building your research profile, and have a small coaching programme for researcher representatives or 1:1 coaching for staff engaged in research who are transitioning into new roles. Additionally, HR have information on their webpages around coaching and peer mentoring and there are also external organisations providing mentoring programmes for researchers in a specific disciplines or research areas.
Support for setting up a local scheme
Some Schools/Colleges have set up local mentoring schemes to ensure their researchers are getting access to mentoring support and career development opportunities. The IAD have worked with several Schools to create an online resource with practical suggestions on setting up a local mentoring scheme, highlighting the successes and challenges. It can be quite daunting thinking about setting up a local scheme, and the guide provides some thoughts and tips on how to go about it and what benefits existing schemes feel they get from having local mentoring support.
Launching Mentoring Circles – Postdocs
Mentoring Circles is launching this year with the aim to support mentoring partnerships in the postdoc community. Mentoring Circles is a group mentoring programme, allowing 3/4 mentees (postdocs) to be matched with 1 mentor (usually a more senior academic). The idea is to allow postdocs to receive mentoring support, alongside the opportunity to meet other postdocs with similar interests, challenges, and who may be at a similar stage in their career. It also provides opportunities for staff to experience group mentoring and to develop their skills and widen their impact through mentoring. We created this mentoring programme to allow peer to peer support between postdocs, the opportunity for sharing ideas and plans while also allowing us a programme that creates communities and networks. The group setting is also an opportunity for mentors to share their experiences and knowledge with a wider pool of researchers.
Applications open on 1st November, with a deadline of 29th November.
We will be holding a Mentoring Circles Launch Event at the end of January, for all the mentors and mentees, to provide more information on the programme and how to make the most of the group mentoring structure.
Please do consider applying as a mentee or mentor and get involved in this group mentoring opportunity!
Participating in mentoring can be invaluable to supporting career development, growing networks and connections and opening up new opportunities. By developing this suite of mentoring support, we provide different options to engage in career development allowing the researcher to decide what is best for them and mentors to share their knowledge and experience effectively
The full mentoring support can be accessed here: https://institute-academic-development.ed.ac.uk/research-roles/research-only-staff/career-management/mentor
