The mentoring relationship is often characterised by:

• Focusing on the overall development and aspirations of the mentee
• The relationship being a combination of professional and personal
• Mentees sharing whatever critical issues impact their professional and personal success.
• An ongoing series of meetings between the mentor and the mentee
• Being separate from the employee’s relationship with their manager

A mentor can offer the right kind of support for you if YOU are:

• willing to take responsibility for your goals
• willing to reflect on what you want out of the relationship
• willing to seek out and identify who would be the best mentor for you
• able to commit to driving the relationship forward

And want to learn and develop by working with someone who can:

• provide feedback
• help you find your own solutions, but provide some advice and expertise where requested
• help you develop specific skills

Through the mentoring process, we would like to promote a culture where:

• Mid-career researchers feel empowered and supported to ask others for mentoring support
• Senior researchers feel open to supporting others’ development through mentoring

Our aim is to provide you with the support and resources that you need in order to work with a mentor (and make the most from it).