Biophysical Society Bulletin | September 2019

Career Development

How to Better Mentor Your Students Mentoring is a critical part of science, career development, and profession- al success. The funny thing is, most scientists spend the majority of their years training to perform scientific research before beginning to manage a laboratory and mentor students. The details and complexities of quality

different publishing, fellowship, and presentation opportuni- ties; and outline classes, reading, and other engaging learning tasks along the way. Although, it’s important to remember that your experiences and goals may be different and what worked for you may not be the same as what works for your student—even if you are an early career faculty member that fondly remembers your time in graduate school like it was only yesterday. Another component for mentoring my students that I find helpful is the use of online tools to create and evaluate an individual development plan during our annual reviews (such as myIDP). These tools provide a framework that helps us get on the same page about prior successes and challenges, and then develop an executable plan to build and improve throughout the coming year. There are a number of addi- tional resources for learning about scientific mentoring that cover every stage of a career, and most of the best are freely available from HHMI, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, AAAS, the National Academy of Sciences, Nature , and Science . An easy place to start identifying these resources is a web search for “scientific mentoring” or “scientific mentorship,” or visit the Career Resources page on the BPS website. Mentoring can be difficult, but don’t be too critical of yourself. Learning how to become an excellent mentor takes life-long learning, inten- tional engagement in the practice, and affording yourself the time to reflect upon successes and failures you’ve learned from your students throughout your career. — Bertrand C.W. Tanner Washington State University

mentoring may be natural to some people, but need to be developed by most. Fortunately, there are career development workshops, blogs, books, and other resources available at nearly all universities to help us become better mentors. An effective mentor comes in many forms, and typically, each student needs to be mentored differently to help them identify their career goals and start to build a pathway towards scientific success. Some students need more feedback and attention, and others need more freedom and enthusiastic advice. Important characteristics of healthy mentoring are open communication, mutual respect, and honesty. These attri- butes sound simple, but are critical pieces of any successful relationship—especially the mentor-mentee relationship as a student treks the torturous path of a graduate degree. Frank discussions (early and often) about career goals, long- term employment directions, and the skillset that one needs to master to attain these goals creates a tangible pathway towards success. As a mentor, you know a lot more about science, career planning, academic and industrial research than your student does because you have more experience planning and navigating a scientific career. Thus, you know how to guide them towards productivity; inform them about Grants & Opportunities NAS Award in Molecular Biology This award recognizes a recent notable discovery by a young scientist (under age 45). The award is presented with a $25,000 prize. Deadline: October 7, 2019 Website: http:/www.nasonline.org/programs/awards/ molecular-biology.html

Pradel Research Award This award is presented annually to recognize a mid-career neuroscientist whose work is making major contributions to our understanding of the nervous system. The award is presented with a $50,000 research award, which is designated to an institution of the recipient’s choice, to support neuroscience research. Deadline: October 7, 2019 Website: http:/www.nasonline.org/programs/awards/ pradel-research-award.html

September 2019

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