Mentoring programmes and career development opportunities.

Mentoring programmes and career development opportunities.

At Umeå University there are many opportunities to advance our career as postdoctoral researchers although finding them might feel like the Great Easter Egg Hunt sometimes.

Without proper coaching and mentoring schemes it is difficult to know where to start from; and by the time we know, it might be already too late. So, here are some tips to find those opportunities. Time counts!.

The University has a career development office and an infrastructure for research support to make sure we all can make the most of our time at Umeå University. You can find more information at:

The Research Support and Collaboration Office provides you with help when planning your research, applying for funding and collaboration. Support is available during all stages of the grant application process.

However, one of the biggest flaws within academia is the limited developmental programmes available for postdoctoral researchers at an early stage of their career. The path for those postdocs aiming at building an independent research line and establish themselves as team leaders might still feel quite blur; reason why I personally believe that access to mentoring and career development programmes similar to the ReaL at Umeå University could pave the way to many postdocs. Although limited places and resources makes it impossible at the moment, from the Postdoc Society we´d like to make few steps towards achieving this goal.

How a postdoctoral research programme should look like? Help us to shape a proposal by leaving your comments below!

Here´s some thoughts.  As part of the University’s efforts to support personal and professional development, a programme for postdocs could aim at:  

  • Providing insight of the university as an organization and resource.
  • Identify career goals and outline individual career developmental plans to enable a smooth transition to future positions.
  • Provide support to develop competence in research, project coordination, collaboration and supervision.

Now, the tricky part is how to make it open to all postdocs from all faculties. In this view, programmes based in peer-observation, work shadowing, and coaching sessions would benefit both mentors and mentees without limiting the number of participants. The learning process could be primarily based on collegial sharing of experiences and process oriented in combination with seminars and workshops. Here´s how a program overview could look like:

  • Module 1a: Introduction  
  • Module 1b: Present State – my research  
  • Module 1c: Present State – my career goals 
  • Module 1d: The Future – who/where I want to be in two years time
  • Module 2: Work shadowing and peer observation  
  • Module 3: The role of a mentor and mentee
  • Module 4: Lab management and organizational skills
  • Module 5: How to give constructive feedback  
  • Module 6: Scientific communication
  • Module 7: Coaching strategies 
  • Module 8: Building a positive working environment
  • Module 9: Strategies for securing funding.
  • Module 10: Innovation, networking and collaboration 

Let us know what are your thoughts about this initiative and what else you´d like to see being included in the programme.

More about peer-observation and approaches to incorporate emotional intelligence into curricula design in the coming blogs. Don´t miss them!

Next blog post: 1st May. Title: Building sustainable working environments and career paths:  an “all-in” approach.

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