Mentoring is a professional relationship between two people, where the mentor passes on their experience and knowledge to their mentee.

The mentor thus acts as a guide in a particular area or topic. The mentor helps the mentee to find the right direction or solution, to clarify where and how they can move forward in their career, to set goals leading to timely completion of e.g. studies, to overcome difficult obstacles or to develop effective time management skills. In addition to professional issues, it is also possible to discuss with a mentor issues on a personal level such as how to achieve an adequate work-life balance within their scientific career.

Mentoring at IOCB

• Mentoring at IOCB, introduced in 2025, represents a new form of career support for doctoral students. It aims to support students' academic, professional and personal development.
• The mentoring program is independent of the person of the PhD supervisor, but both the mentor and the supervisor are key and support students in their successful studies. Students have the opportunity to choose a mentor from a list of available IOCB scientists, who usually act as supervisors for PhD students.
• Participation in mentoring is entirely voluntary. The choice of a specific mentor, which should reflect individual needs, is left to the student’s decision. It is recommended that students discuss their choice of mentor also with their supervisor and to get their support with the final choice of mentor.
• The mentor, based on their capacity and at their discretion, has the option to accept or reject the mentoring request.

Meetings

• Meetings between mentors and students take place on a voluntary basis. The collaboration is long-term, has no fixed structure, is flexible in time, and the scope and form of the mentor-student meetings depends on individual agreement. In order for the mentoring to be beneficial for the student, at least one mentor-student meeting should take place each year. The meetings should be initiated and organized by the student.
• The quality and benefit of the mentoring will be evaluated after two years and possibly adjusted and expanded.
• The mentoring scheme is open to all current PhD students.

Application Procedure

• A list of available mentors can be found here  .
• You can apply here by filling in the online application form, which includes a cover letter. Please attach your CV to the application form.
• The application form with the cover letter and CV are automatically sent to the selected mentor and the PhD coordinator in copy. After mutual agreement to start a mentoring relationship, please inform your supervisor and the PhD coordinator of the name of your mentor.
• This is followed by an initial mentor-student meeting, where expectation should be clarified and goals set for what you want to achieve through the program.
• If your preferred mentor is unable to accept you, choose another mentor and complete a new application.
• If there are any uncertainties, problems or failure to meet the expected goals and outcomes during the mentoring program, contact the PhD coordinator.