Each January, during National Mentoring Month, we are presented a chance to reflect on mentoring — what it means to be a mentor and how mentors have helped us learn and grow. I’ve shared my own experiences as both a mentor and mentee in previous articles. As a mentor, I’ve been fortunate … Read More
Recently, we talked about why it is important for mentors and supervisors to give specific feedback and ways to do that through the SBI model. SBI stands for Situation-Behavior-Impact and is a three-step model to give feedback that helps the mentee understand not only what they did (right or wrong), but also reinforces why it … Read More
The third week of September is a special week for postdocs. As declared by Congress, it is National Postdoc Appreciation Week.
Since 2009, the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) has sponsored this week-long celebration. NPAW grew out of National Postdoc Appreciation Day, which was held on Sept. 24, 2009. In 2010, NPAW culminated with the passage … Read More
From the Argonne Mentoring Blog
As a self-proclaimed mentee, I’ve fallen victim to the unrealistic view that mentors have all the answers. On the flip side, as a mentor, I’ve had to resist the urge to blurt out solutions and answers to my mentee’s issues. While expecting or providing quick answers may … Read More
Applications for the 2016 Maria Goeppert Mayer (Named) Fellowship are now being accepted for appointments beginning on or after October 1, 2016. The deadline for submitting application materials is March 7, 2016. Read More
When I was a postdoctoral appointee I had the opportunity to mentor a summer student. My supervisor had cautioned that taking on a student could be a lot of work, but if I was up to it, she’d support me. Seeing it as an opportunity to build my own mentoring skills and add a spark … Read More
Recently, we discussed the value in asking questions to keep a conversation going. What happens when you don’t know where to start?
One common answer I’ve heard when I ask mentees if they’ve met with their mentors is, “I would, but I don’t know what to talk about.” Well, that surely can … Read More
In the middle of grad school, I had a particularly bad thesis committee meeting. I had hit a plateau with my progress in both my research and professional growth and it showed … badly.
My committee hammered away, question after question, for which no answer seemed satisfactory. I wanted to shrink into invisibility. My graduate … Read More
“Curiouser and curiouser!” Cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English).”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass
This past year, I had the pleasure of participating in a Facilitative Mediation Skills class at theRead More
I read recently that there are 37 different titles used for “postdoc” across U.S. institutions. 37!
A common frustration among postdoc program office leaders at universities is that they often do not know who their own postdocs are. I imagine having so many different titles adds to the confusion. Because they do … Read More
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