National Postdoctoral Association

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The topic of mentor and trainee responsibilities covers the relative roles and responsibilities of both the mentor and the trainee. This includes the best approaches for selecting a mentor, managing conflicts and potential competition between mentor and trainee, mapping out the extent of collaboration between mentor and mentee and constructive procedures for mitigating abuses and resolving grievances. It is also important to make the distinction that a mentor is not always a direct research supervisor and so may play a different role than the supervisor in the trainee’s professional development.

Postdocs are often in the unique position of simultaneously serving as both mentor and trainee. Since they are typically the most senior researcher in a group, they are frequently called upon to supervise the research of graduate and undergraduate students. While learning the extent of their role as research mentor, postdocs will also need to understand the potential limitations on their role since they may not be the official supervisor for these trainees.

The importance of the postdoc’s supervisor to his or her future career cannot be overstated, since the good recommendation of the supervisor is key to obtaining the next position. This considerable dependence of the postdoc on the supervisor’s goodwill can lead to conscious or unconscious abuses and can be a particular challenge for international postdocs who may be concerned about jeopardizing their visa status. Formal grievance procedures can help; however, it is important to note that even in the event that a postdoc wins in a formal ruling, they will still lose to some extent due to the loss of job recommendation and other fall out.

RCR programs that can provide guidance and information on these topics will greatly help postdocs navigate their relationships with their supervisors, mentors and trainees. Some institutions are also moving towards mentoring resources and programs for faculty and more senior mentors as well, since formal training on mentoring is not widespread.

Case Studies and Teaching Materials

Mentoring Scientists: An Ethical Dilemma An articles from Science Careers examining a case study on the ethics of mentoring, such as how to choose a mentor and who is the most appropriate person.

Chapter 3 of the textbook Scientific Integrity deals with Mentoring:

Macrina, F.L. (2005) Scientific Integrity: Text and Cases in Responsible Conduct of Research (Third Edition). American Society for Microbiology Press, Washington, D.C.

Additional case studies on Responsible Authorship from the Online Ethics Center at the National Academies of Engineering
http://www.onlineethics.org/Resources/TeachingTools/20357/19237/auth.aspx

Handbooks and Guidelines

Adviser, Teacher, Role Model, Friend: On Being a Mentor to Students in Science and Engineering
The 1997 National Academies handbook on mentoring

Entering Mentoring: A Seminar to Train a New Generation of Scientists, HHMI-sponsored handbook by Jo Handelsman, Christine Pfund, Sarah Miller Lauffer, and Christine Maidl Pribbenow; it outlines a seminar on how to be a mentor

How to Get the Mentoring You Want: A Guide for Graduate Students at a Diverse University

How to Mentor Graduate Students: A Guide for Faculty in a Diverse University
Some useful handbooks on mentoring for both the mentor and the mentee from the University of Michigan’s Rackham Graduate School

"Mentoring and Being Mentored"
Chapter 5 from Burroughs Wellcome Fund and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (2006) Making the Right Moves: A Practical Guide to Scientific Management for Postdocs and New Faculty, Second Edition

Mentoring International Postdocs: Working to Advance Science & Careers
An online module available from the federal Office of Research Integrity, developed by the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, an NPA member institution.

On the Right Track: A Manual for Research Mentors (2003) is available for a fee from the Council of Graduate Schools. This manual discusses the individual and corporate responsibilities of graduate faculty in producing competent scholars capable of conducting independent, original and ethically sound research.

The University of California, San Francisco, has developed mentoring guidelines for its faculty:
http://graduate.ucsf.edu/system/files/Guidelines_for_Mentoring_Postdocs.doc

Articles

"Nature’s guide for mentors"
A guide on mentoring from Nature: Lee, A., Dennis, C., and Campbell, P. (2007) "Nature’s guide for mentors." Nature 447: 791-797

“Mentoring for the Postdoctoral Fellow”
An article in the NPA’s quarterly newsletter, Summer 2004.

Science Careers has multiple resources on mentoring, including this article on “Enduring Qualities in Mentoring”

Other resources

UC San Francisco Pilot Mentoring Program
The NPA offered a workshop on a pilot mentoring program at the University of California, San Francisco at its 3rd Annual Meeting.

Individual Development Plan for Postdoctoral Fellows
Developed by FASEB, a Friend of the NPA. The process of developing a work plan and long-term strategy with postdocs for their postdoctoral training is also a great tool for mentoring

MentorNet is an internet based mentoring resource that connects individuals seeking mentors with those willing to serve as mentors through e-mail exchanges:
http://www.mentornet.net/

The Association for Women in Science (AWIS) has a number of resources focused on mentoring:
http://www.awis.affiniscape.com/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=37

The American Association of Medical Colleges has developed a compact for postdocs and their supervisors and lays out their relative roles and responsibilities. Some institutions have implemented the compact as a (non-binding) contract to be signed upon beginning the postdoctoral appointment.
https://www.aamc.org/initiatives/postdoccompact/

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