Training & capacity building

Mentorship Program

Sustained one-to-one guidance pairing early-career researchers with experienced scientists.

Why mentorship

The part of a research career nobody teaches

Technical training covers how to run a method. It does not cover how to choose a research direction, how to respond to a rejected manuscript, whether a supervisor's request is reasonable, how to decide between two career paths, or how to recover from an experiment that consumed a year and produced nothing.

Those questions are decided in conversation with someone who has faced them. Where that person exists, a career develops; where they do not, capable researchers frequently leave — not from lack of ability, but from lack of anyone to ask. The mentorship programme exists to make that relationship deliberate rather than a matter of luck.

What mentorship covers

The ground a mentor helps with

Research direction

Choosing questions worth pursuing, and recognising when to persist with a line of work and when to stop.

Career navigation

Decisions about further study, positions, funding applications and the trade-offs each involves.

Scientific writing

Structuring a paper, responding to reviewers, and handling rejection constructively.

Professional conduct

Authorship, credit, collaboration, and navigating difficult professional situations.

Building a network

Introductions, collaborations and finding the wider community relevant to your work.

Resilience

Realistic expectations about failed experiments and rejected applications, from someone who has had both.

How it works

The shape of a mentoring relationship

01
Matching
Mentees are paired with a mentor by research area, career stage and what the mentee wants to work on.
02
Agreed expectations
Both parties agree meeting frequency, scope and boundaries at the outset, so neither is guessing.
03
Regular meetings
Scheduled conversations over an extended period — mentorship works through continuity, not one-off advice.
04
Review
The pairing is reviewed periodically, and can be changed without awkwardness if it is not working.

Programme details and applications will be published here

Programme duration, mentor availability, eligibility and application windows will be published here once the first cohort is scheduled.

Join as a mentee — or volunteer as a mentor

We are interested in hearing from early-career researchers seeking mentorship, and from experienced scientists willing to provide it.