Information for mentors

The scheme offers postdocs the opportunity to have reflective and developmental conversations with a mentor from academia or beyond. We have mentors in other areas such as industry, startups, charity, consulting and the public sector.

The aim of the scheme is to help postdocs identify and achieve professional goals or overcome challenges through guided reflection, personal development, and the introduction of new perspectives.

Academic mentors need to hold a teaching or research position at the level of Senior Research Associate or above.

There is no specific requirement for industry mentors, but it helps if you are able to advise about the transition from academia to industry.

No. While many of our mentors work at the University, we have mentors based at the other academic institutions, in industry, and NGOs, who are freelance consultants or retired.

No, we have mentors from all over the UK and from abroad.

Mentoring takes place over a nine-month period. We suggest a minimum of three meetings across the nine months, though many mentoring pairs meet more frequently.

There are three cohorts a year:

• January – September
• May – January
• September – May

No. We ask annually for mentors to give their availability for the upcoming academic year. You are welcome to let us know if this availability changes.

We will also ask whether you are happy to mentor in overlapping cohorts potentially giving you more than one mentee simultaneously, or whether you would prefer to have only a single mentee at a time. If you would prefer to have one mentee at a time and you are matched for a cohort, we will ensure that you are marked as unavailable for the overlapping cohort.

When you apply, you will be asked to tell us about where you work, your prior experience, whether you are comfortable mentoring in specific areas, and any other information about why you are applying and what you bring to the scheme.

Questions cover, for example, career development, work-life balance, the sectors where you have experience, understanding the UK academic system, balancing work and family, and more.

We ask mentees a similar set of questions about their field of work, sectors of interest, and their priorities and goals for the scheme. We compare each mentee’s needs with the experience mentors offer. Based on this, we look for the most appropriate match for each mentee. Most matches are made based on several criteria being met, rather than one single overriding priority.

Wherever possible we try to match mentors with mentees in related fields. This isn’t always possible and sometimes matches are made on other priorities.

For example, if we have a mentee whose top priority is balancing work and family and there is no mentor in their field with relevant experience, we might choose to match them to a mentor in a different field who is confident offering advice and guidance in this area, especially if that mentor meets other matching criteria as well.

We do not match mentees and mentors from the same department. This avoids potential conflicts of interest and gives mentees the benefit of a broad range of experience.

No. We do not match mentees with mentors they know.

The postdoc is welcome to apply to the scheme, but they will be matched with someone else. If the postdoc in question is not in your department, please let us know so that we can handle the situation appropriately.

No. Matches where the experience of the mentor does not meet the priorities of the postdoc are likely to be unsatisfactory for both parties.

Your mentee may need support in one or more of the following areas. During the application process, you will tell us what you are and are not comfortable discussing and we will only match you with a mentee whose priorities are in line with what you tell us.

• Understanding career options better, insights into career paths and how to approach the jobs market, setting realistic career goals.
• Dealing with difficult situations in their current role.
• Helping tackle areas where their work and personal life coincide, e.g. setting a good work-life balance, balancing work and family, addressing difficulties relating to self-confidence, etc.
• Opening their eyes to ways of thinking and doing which are beyond their current experience.

We do not expect mentors to: 

• Find your mentee a job.
• Introduce your mentee to contacts.
• Act as a counsellor, psychologist, doctor or immigration consultant. You are only expected to give professional advice, based on your experience, particularly when discussing how to navigate the impact of personal issues at work.

The Postdoc Academy can help signpost mentees to services which can meet their needs which fall out of the scope of the mentoring scheme.

Either is fine. We recognise that it isn’t possible for all meetings to take place in person, because of geography or scheduling issues.

If you are based in Cambridge and would like to meet in person, but don’t have a suitable space, please be aware that postdocs can book space for meetings in any of the three Postdoc Centres.

The booking should be made by your mentee. There is information on the Postdoc Academy website about how to book our spaces.

It’s fine to use email to get to know more about each other and to set up meetings. However, we would not advise managing the whole relationship by email.

If your mentee only wants to communicate by email and does not want to set up in person or online meetings, please let us know on mentoring.pda@admin.cam.ac.uk.

Occasionally, partnerships which look good on paper, don’t work out in real life. If you have any concerns or feel that the match isn’t working, please let us know as soon as the issue arises on mentoring.pda@admin.cam.ac.uk.

This includes if your mentee stops contacting you or your circumstances are making it difficult for you to meet as often as you would like. In the latter case, please let your mentee know, but do include us, so that we are aware.

We can try to resolve the issue, and, if this is not possible, may suggest that we re-match the mentee with a different mentor in the next cohort, if appropriate. All correspondence will be treated as confidential, and we will not share anything you tell us with your mentee, except with your consent. 
 
In any of these cases, please don’t wait until we request feedback to communicate with us. Contact us as soon as there is an issue, so that we can help you as soon as possible.