How Can Researchers Be Good Science Mentors? | TS Digest

Good mentorship in science and academic training can propel trainees into successful careers. Additionally, researchers at multiple career stages can be instrumental advisors to younger students. However, every person has different needs and goals, so how can one individual provide guidance to multiple mentees? Two scientists, a principal investigator and a graduate researcher, share their mentoring insights.  

Felipe Santiago-Tirado is a group leader at the University of Notre Dame. He mentors trainees ranging from undergraduate students to postdoctoral researchers.  Matthew Cashore

Felipe Santiago-Tirado My goal as a mentor is to make sure that when trainees leave my lab, they can be successful. To do this, the first thing I ask students about is their goals, so that we can plan to help them prepare for what they want to do in their career. That could be helping them publish more papers, connecting them with resources, or encouraging them to participate in conferences and professional development events. My approach as a mentor is to encourage independence, but I do have an open-door policy, so trainees can come talk to me whenever they need advice or assistance. However, mentoring isn’t a one size fits all, so if a mentee tells me they would like more involvement from me, I will provide that extra support. I also emphasize that they can have more than one mentor.

Ivan Alcantara is a neuroscience graduate student at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. He is both a mentee and a mentor to postbaccalaureate students in his lab.  Cassandra Alcantara

Ivan Alcantara The purpose of a mentor is to help your trainees achieve their professional goals, so open communication is one of the most important features in a mentoring relationship. As a mentee, I told my advisor my goals and what help I needed to accomplish them, and I’ve also turned to him for advice. Now that I’m looking for postdoctoral positions, I’m asking potential mentors what their advising style is so that I can find the mentorship that works best for me. Then, as a mentor, I have the same conversation about goals and mentoring styles with my mentees to learn their needs and understand how I can help them. Sometimes it involves career paths; other times, it’s writing letters of recommendation. In the lab, it’s often troubleshooting failed experiments to help them improve their approach.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What do you think? What are the makings of a good mentor?

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