Transcript MENTORING BASIC SCIENCE TRAINEES Edward Krug, PhD Professor of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Biology Associate Dean for Postdoctoral Affairs 05/04/2012

MENTORING BASIC SCIENCE TRAINEES
Edward Krug, PhD
Professor of Regenerative Medicine and Cell Biology
Associate Dean for Postdoctoral Affairs
05/04/2012
Topics
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Why is mentoring important in the basic sciences?
What constitutes a mentoring relationship?
What tools are available to facilitate mentoring?
What are some impediments to mentoring?
Is one mentor enough?
Can “mentoring potential” be assessed in faculty hiring?
It is easier to attain a career
objective if you make use of
prior experience …
http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/kmh/lowres/kmhn17l.
jpg
… but experience is more
than a set of instructions.
http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/pkn/lowres/pknn332l.
jpg
You can understand the instructions
but still not achieve your objective.
Even worse, you may THINK you are
making progress towards your goal…
http://wsdstudio.net/ps1/modules/upscarrier/endless-stairs-illusion-4810.jpg
http://www.moillusions.com/wpcontent/uploads/photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5639/2020/400/stairs.jpg
Mentoring from those …
a career step or two ahead …
or shared as a team…
or from near-peer …
http://fcsl.edu/blogs/pp/files/2012/01/light-onstairs.jpg
http://www.superstock.com/stock-photos-images/160616987
http://unitedboomers.com/learning-center-2/
… benefits not only the mentee, but the collective community by creating
a more productive, collaborative and collegial environment.
www.aamc.org/gradcompact
Commitments of Graduate Students:
• I acknowledge that I have the primary responsibility for the successful completion of my degree.
• I will meet regularly with my research advisor and provide him/her with updates on the progress and
results of my activities and experiments.
• I will work with my research advisor to develop a thesis/dissertation project.
• I will work with my research advisor to select a thesis/dissertation committee.
• I will be knowledgeable of the policies and requirements of my graduate program, graduate school, and
institution.
• I will attend and participate in laboratory meetings, seminars and journal clubs that are part of my
educational program.
• I will comply with all institutional policies, including academic program milestones.
• I will participate in my institution’s Responsible Conduct of Research Training Program and practice those
guidelines in conducting my thesis/dissertation research.
• I will be a good lab citizen.
• I will maintain a detailed, organized, and accurate laboratory notebook.
• I will discuss policies on work hours, sick leave and vacation with my research advisor.
• I will discuss policies on authorship and attendance at professional meetings with my research advisor.
• I acknowledge that it is primarily my responsibility to develop my career following the completion of my
doctoral degree.
Commitments of Research Advisors
• I will be committed to the life-long mentoring of the graduate student
• I will help to plan and direct the graduate student’s project
• I will provide necessary financial resources, and assure no conflict of interest interferes with their training
• I will help in selection of a thesis/dissertation committee and assure that it meets at least annually
• I will lead by example and facilitate the training of the graduate student in complementary skills needed to be
a successful scientist
• I will encourage the student to seek opportunities in teaching
• I will expect the graduate student to share common laboratory responsibilities
• I will not require the graduate student to perform tasks that are unrelated to his/her training program and
professional development
• I will discuss authorship policies and intellectual policy issues
• I will encourage the graduate student to attend scientific/professional meetings
• I will be accessible to give advice and feedback on career goals
• I will provide an environment that is intellectually stimulating, emotionally supportive, safe, and free of
harassment
• I will be supportive, equitable, accessible, encouraging, and respectful
• I will foster the graduate student’s professional confidence and encourage critical thinking, skepticism and
creativity
www.aamc.org/postdoccompact
[additional] Commitments of Postdoctoral Appointees
• I will endeavor to assume progressive responsibility and management of my research project(s) as it
matures.
• I will seek regular feedback on my performance and ask for a formal evaluation at least annually.
• I will actively seek opportunities outside the laboratory to develop the full set of professional skills
necessary to be successful for my chosen career.
[additional] Commitments of Mentors
• I acknowledge that the postdoctoral period is a time of advanced training intended to develop the
skills needed to promote the career of the postdoctoral appointee.
• I will ensure that a mutually agreed upon set of expectations and goals are in place at the outset of
the postdoctoral training period, and I will work with the postdoctoral appointee to create an
individual career development plan.
• I recognize that there are multiple career options available for a postdoctoral appointee and will
provide assistance in exploring appropriate options.
HHMI & BWF - Making the Right Moves: A Practical
Guide to Scientific Management for Postdocs and New
Faculty
http://www.hhmi.org/resources/labmanagement/
Chapter 1. Obtaining and Negotiating a Faculty Position
Chapter 2. Understanding University Structure and Planning for Tenure
Chapter 3. Laboratory Leadership in Science
Chapter 4. Staffing Your Laboratory
Chapter 5. Mentoring and Being Mentored
Chapter 6. Time Management
Chapter 7. Project Management
Chapter 8. Data Management and Laboratory Notebooks
Chapter 9. Getting Funded
Chapter 10. Getting Published and Increasing Your Visibility
Chapter 11. Understanding Technology Transfer
Chapter 12. Setting Up Collaborations
Chapter 13. Teaching and Course Design
HHMI - Entering Mentoring
Handelsman, Pfund, Miller-Lauffer, and Maidl-Pribbenow
http://www.hhmi.org/resources/labmanagement/
Session 1—Getting Started
Session 2—Learning to Communicate
Session 3—Goals and Expectations
Session 4—Identifying Challenges and Issues
Session 5—Resolving Challenges and Issues
Session 6—Evaluating Our Progress as Mentors
Session 7—The Elements of Good Mentoring
Session 8—Developing a Mentoring Philosophy
Variations on the mentoring theme
Boss
Advisor
Coach
Mentor
“Just do your job.”
“These are your options.”
“I can train you to do what I do.” (coach drives)
“I can help you achieve your desired goal.” (mentee drives)
Postdoctoral Career Goals – “fact vs. fiction”
Type Position
Expected
Obtained
Tenure-track academic position
62%
37% (23% biomed)
Non-tenure-track research scientist
15%
16%
Government
6%
12%
Nonprofit research
3%
5%
Industry
11%
16%
Self-employed
1%
4%
Other
3%
10%
http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/legacy/getfile/aaas/files/uploaded-files/pdf/b179bc4b4ff4-4ab6-9956-f830c5e385b5/20100827-graph2.pdf
Evolving from mentoring silos to a mentoring community
https://www.teamsciencetoolkit.cancer.gov/p
ublic/Home.aspx
http://www.teamscience.net/
Assessing “mentor potential” of faculty
1. How are graduate students' contributions to research and innovation recognized (beyond the
course credit they receive)?
2. How important is authorship as part of completing a Ph.D. program?
3. Who decides when to submit a paper, and what to put in it? That is, who starts the process,
and who makes the final decision? Can a grad student just submit a paper on his or her own?
4. What are your criteria for listing a student's name as an author on a journal article?
5. What factors are considered in determining the order in which the authors are listed?
6. Do you require all authors to approve the final version of a manuscript before submission?
7. What factors determine which person working on research group gives a presentation on the
research at a professional meeting?
• Are the factors the same as whether and how to list someone among authors?
• Do considerations such as whether the student is looking for a job play a role in these
decisions?
8. Suppose a student contributes to a research project in which the results will be presented in a
report or presentation, instead of a publication. How is the student's work credited?
• Does it matter if the sponsor or audience for the presentation is a potential employer of
the program's graduates?
9. Credit and responsibility for research go together. One aspect of responsibility is to minimize
mistakes and errors in research.
• In your area, what sort of mistakes are regarded as trivial and what sort of mistakes are
regarded as significant or serious?
• What are appropriate ways of dealing with mistakes in published (or disseminated)
research results?
http://www.onlineethics.org/Resources/TeachingTools/Modules/19237/modintro/sampques.aspx
Case Study #1
John is a third year graduate student training in the laboratory
of Dr. Smith. John has made important contributions to Dr.
Smith’s research program, most notably by devising a new
bioassay method for studying angiogenesis and resulting in a
first author publication in Nature Biotechnology. However,
over the last several months John has had significant doubts
about his goal of becoming a faculty member at a researchintensive institution. Dr. Smith has been very supportive of
John’s development in the past, but with Dr. Smith’s grant
being up for renewal this year John is hesitant to seek his
advice.
• What are the issues and potential repercussions?
• What are John’s options?
Case Study #2
D.T. is a junior faculty member who joined the faculty three years ago
after completing a research fellowship. Her research mentor helped her
obtain a supplemental grant on another mentor's R01 in her first year
after the appointment and advised her on applying for various other
mentored awards. D.T. received the supplement, which funds a large
portion of her salary. About a year after getting the supplement D.T.
announced to her mentor that she is not sure if she is cut out to do
research and she doesn't really enjoy this aspect of academic medicine.
She told the mentor that she really wants to be "an educator".
At the next meeting D.T. casually tells her mentor that she applied for a
non-academic position, a policy consulting job, but did not get it. She
says that she is staying at the University for now but is "keeping her
options open". Based on this and other observations about the mentee's
research productivity the mentor feels as if her mentoring efforts and the
NIH dollars have been wasted on the mentee. She is frustrated and
vows to stop wasting her time and effort.
http://accelerate.ucsf.edu/search/node/mentoring