Mentoring for Fellows

Mentoring helps guide your training and prepare you for the next stage of your career. While the scientific and technical aspects of a lab are crucial in making your decision, the science isn’t the only way to ensure a great training experience. You can obtain additional mentorship in multiple ways, whether to help you learn a new scientific skill or to grow your network to support your job search.

Consider Having Multiple Mentors

Working with multiple mentors is an excellent way to expand your network, gain opportunities, and increase support. Some NCI divisions, offices, and centers require that each fellow have a second mentor, which provides alternative viewpoints and approaches to problem-solving. However, additional mentors do not have to be strictly for your science. You can seek mentors in specific areas where you are trying to expand your knowledge, such as industry or how to get through the first year of medical school. The key is to start with a very specific ask, do your best to contribute and grow the relationship, and maintain communication at a regular interval (e.g., monthly, bi-monthly, or once per quarter).

The Frederick Fellow Advisory Committee is launching the Frederick Second Mentor Program to support postbacs, graduate students, and postdocs on the Frederick campus. We hope to extend this program to other campus locations soon.

Seek Peer Mentoring

Peer mentors are typically mentors at similar career stages or shared experiences who can provide mutual support and guidance. These mentoring relationships can create safe spaces for open communication, an increased sense of belonging, and enhanced confidence. There are benefits to both the mentor and mentee; the mentee often receives empathy, practical advice, and encouragement, as the mentor has recently been in their shoes. At the same time, the mentor can develop their communication, active listening, and problem-solving skills (all very important in leadership). Ultimately, peer mentoring can foster connections and collaborations, which leads to new research ideas and opportunities.

The Center for Cancer Training has recently started the Near-Peer Networking Program, which connects senior postdoctoral fellows (in their 4th and 5th years), with junior fellows (in their 1st – 3rd years) to share experiences, provide guidance, and build lasting professional relationships.

Mentor a Junior Fellow in Your Research Group

Look for opportunities to mentor a junior fellow (postbac or graduate student) in your group. Talk to your research mentor about how you can directly support their research goals or professional development. This could be training them in a new skill or technique, coaching them in their first presentation to the group, or helping them with their dissertation.

Mentor a Summer Student

Mentoring a summer student during your time at NCI is another great way to gain mentorship experience and improve your mentoring skills.  At the NCI, the Summer Internship Program (SIP) and Cancer Research Interns Program are programs in which high school and college students participate in research at NIH.  

If a summer student is too high of an investment, consider leading a Summer Intern Journal Club. There are approximately 40 journal clubs provided for the ~1000 summer interns at the NIH.  These 6-week journal clubs are designed, planned and led by NIH grad students, postdocs, and fellows. The call for new journal clubs comes in the Spring of each year, shortly after the Summer Internship Program application website closes. The Office of Intramural Training and Education (OITE) has several resources to help you make your journal club a success.

Utilizing Mentoring Resources

Much like conducting background research for your project, you can also review online mentoring resources. There are many articles, workshops, and trainings to help you enhance your mentoring skills. You may want to start by completing an assessment of your skills and filling any gaps you identify. The resources below detail some of the key areas that are crucial to research training and provide some ideas on how you.

Guide to Training and Mentoring  Authored by NIH’s Deputy Director of the Intramural Research Program (IRP) Michael Gottesman, the guide to training and mentoring seeks to emphasize the training role of the NIH and encourage outstanding mentoring in NIH laboratories and clinics.

The National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN)Exit Disclaimer supports advancement at every career stage of research in the biomedical sciences. Experience mentorship and professional development programs designed to improve practices and deepen connections to the diverse nationwide scientific community.

How to be a GREAT Mentor This editorial by Jamaine S. Davis et al. describes a framework using the GREAT model to develop or enhance mentoring skills.  This includes giving opportunities and opening doors, reaching out to help students identify their strengths and reach their goals, encouraging them to serve as a positive example, advising each mentee as an individual, and training them for independent thinking.

Nurturing Undergraduate Researchers in Biomedical Sciences Becoming a good mentor requires learning and practice. This article provides guidance to graduate students or postdocs on how to better mentor undergraduates. 

Building and Sustaining Mentor Interactions as a Mentee Written by early-career researchers, this article provides recommendations for early-career researchers to seek and manage interaction.