The popular Flinders University Researcher Mentoring Program for Early-Career Researchers will run again in 2023, pairing early-career researchers (ECRs) with senior academics who can help develop their research careers and provide strategies for future academic success.

The program will run from March to November 2023, providing an opportunity for ECRs to plug into a university-wide community with fellow mentees at similar career stages (up to 8 years after their PhD). This ECR community serves as a valuable source of support and information for the mentees during the program and beyond.

Before the 2023 program begins in March, mentees and mentors are provided with resources to help them succeed in the program. Throughout the program, each mentee–mentor pair is expected to meet regularly, and the cohort of mentees gather for three Roundtable Workshops to discuss topics of relevance to their career stage.

Professor Robert Saint, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) is pleased to resume the program in 2023.

“The program provides an opportunity for early-career researchers to benefit from the support and valuable skills and knowledge of senior researchers at Flinders. This Program has served more than 180 ECRs since 2012. The feedback from the mentees has been consistently positive, highlighting improvements to their research profiles and well-being,” says Professor Saint.

“The University values the input and wealth of experience that our senior academic staff bring to mentoring our early-career researchers. I strongly encourage researchers at all stages of their careers to participate in this Program either as mentees or mentors.”

This year’s program has received excellent feedback from both mentees and mentors:

• Mentee: “I am really impressed by how beneficial it has been to have an engaged mentor whose research is not aligned with mine…”
• Mentor: “[The Program] provides new networks, new collaborations, and an ability to feel valued by supporting someone else through tricky situations.”
• Mentee: “My mentor and I are a great match. I’m really impressed with the care in which we were matched, given their expertise and my specific need for this mentorship program.”
• Mentor: “I have appreciated the opportunity to reflect on how far I have come in my career and feel more confident in my ability to share advice.”

For more information about the program – including an overview, eligibility criteria for mentees and mentors, and links to Expression of Interest forms for mentees and mentors – please visit the webpage. Contact Program Coordinator Dr Jen Beaudry (Manager, Researcher Training, Development and Communication) for any further information or clarification.

Expressions of Interest close on Friday 2 December.