The resources below can help Brown postdoctoral scholars and their mentors build and sustain productive mentoring relationships throughout the postdoctoral appointment.
Building an Effective Mentoring Relationship
Effective mentoring relationships develop over time and benefit from regular, open communication. Postdoctoral scholars and their faculty mentors are encouraged to discuss expectations early in the appointment and revisit them periodically.
Topics for discussion may include:
- Research or scholarly goals and priorities
- Roles, responsibilities, and expectations
- Frequency and format of meetings
- Communication and feedback preferences
- Expectations related to publications, presentations, authorship, or other scholarly products
- Professional development and career goals
- Plans for developing new skills, collaborations, and professional networks
The AAMC Compact Between Postdoctoral Appointees and Their Mentors provides a useful framework for discussing the shared commitments of postdoctoral scholars and their mentors. The AAMC's Appropriate Treatment of Research Trainees (ATORT) resource provides additional guidance for creating a supportive and productive training environment.
Individual Development Plans
An Individual Development Plan (IDP) can provide a useful structure for conversations about professional development and career goals. IDPs help postdoctoral scholars reflect on their skills and interests, identify areas for growth, establish short- and long-term goals, and identify the mentorship and resources they need to achieve those goals.
OUPA encourages postdoctoral scholars to develop and maintain an IDP and to use it to support meaningful conversations with their mentors. Visit the Individual Development Plan webpage to learn more and access IDP resources for postdoctoral scholars in different disciplines.
Building a Mentoring Network
A postdoctoral scholar's faculty supervisor is an important source of mentorship, but one person does not need to meet every mentoring need. Postdocs are encouraged to develop relationships with additional mentors who can offer different perspectives, expertise, professional connections, career advice, and guidance in areas beyond the faculty supervisor's own expertise.
Depending on their goals, postdocs may seek mentors who can support their research or scholarship, help them develop particular skills, provide insight into careers inside or outside academia, offer guidance on teaching or leadership, or introduce them to new professional networks.
Guidance for Faculty Mentors
Faculty mentors play an important role in supporting the scholarly and professional development of postdoctoral researchers. Effective mentors communicate expectations clearly, meet regularly with postdocs to discuss progress and challenges, and provide timely and constructive feedback. Mentors are also encouraged to help postdocs identify opportunities to publish, present, collaborate, pursue funding, build professional networks, and develop new skills, as appropriate to the postdoc's appointment and goals.
Brown's Graduate School offers additional advising and mentoring guidance for faculty, including recommended practices for regular communication, constructive feedback, career development, and supporting mentees through challenges.
Please note: Supervisors are only expected to provide a written performance review when required by the postdoc's program or department. Additional information is available on the Individual Development Plan webpage and Article 9 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Developing Your Own Mentoring Skills
Postdoctoral scholars frequently serve as mentors themselves, including to undergraduate students, graduate students, research assistants, and other members of their research or scholarly communities.
The Sheridan Center's Inclusive Mentoring resource provides practical guidance for mentors and mentees on communication, mentoring across differences, and establishing goals and expectations.
When a Mentoring Relationship Is Challenging
Postdocs who would like help thinking through a mentoring concern are encouraged to schedule an office hours meeting with Audra Van Wart, Deputy Dean of Postdoctoral Affairs to discuss the situation, think through possible next steps, and identify additional support that may be helpful.
Brown's University Ombuds is also available to postdoctoral scholars seeking confidential, informal, neutral, and independent support with a conflict or concern. The Ombuds can help postdocs think through their options, prepare for difficult conversations, and consider possible approaches for moving forward.
Additional Mentoring Resources
The National Postdoctoral Association's publication A Postdoc's Guide to Mentorship provides resources and guidance for developing mentorship plans.