Nature's guide for mentors
北京亦庄开发区招聘-五年级下册数学教学计划
Vol 447|14 June 2007
FEATURE
Nature’s
guide for mentors
Having a good mentor early
in your career can mean the difference between
success and failure in any
field. Adrian Lee,
Carina Dennis and Philip Campbell look at what
makes a good mentor.
The Nature awards for
creative mentoring in
science were created on
the premise that the
mentorship of young
researchers — although
fully deserving of
recognition — is perhaps
the least remarked on
of all the activities that
take place in the
lab. Indeed, there is no estab-
lished
definition of what constitutes good
scientific
mentoring. This article attempts to
remedy
that situation, drawing on the evi-
dence from
competitions for Nature’s awards.
These are
held on a national or regional basis,
with the
most recent taking place last year,
when the
focus was on Australasia. Previous
competitions have been held in the United
Kingdom, and the next competition will be
in South Africa (see ure
).
The response
to the competition in Aus-
tralasia was
remarkable, with more than 70
groups of
‘mentees’ submitting their achieve-
ments and
the reasons why they believed their
mentor
excelled, with each of the nominated
mentors
giving a personal view of how they
approach
mentoring. The quality of appli-
cations was
outstanding and the panel, all
experienced in
refereeing papers and grant
applications,
commented that this was one
of the hardest
evaluative tasks they had ever
undertaken.
However, there could be only two
winners and
they have been lauded elsewhere
(see Nature
444, 966–968; 2006).
Having been involved in
judging the awards
— whether in Australia or
in the United
Kingdom — we realized that
within
the pages of the applications was an
immense resource that could provide a
basis for reflection on what comprises
good mentoring. These reflections are
presented here, with examples of just a few
of the hundreds of quotable quotes included in
the nominations supporting the mentors. The
attributes that we highlight represent a
distilla-
tion of the opinion of more than 350
scientists
writing as nominated mentor or
their nominat-
ing mentees (and it was the
latter whose com-
ments were all-important for
the judges).
We hope that this material will
be especially
useful to younger scientists as
they start out on
their careers as mentors —
be it PhD supervi-
sor or scientific team
leader. But others stand to
benefit from it
too. Indeed, we challenge read-
ers who are
established leaders of groups and
supervisors
of young scientists to look at the
evidence of
what comprises good mentoring,
reflect on your
practices and determine
with a career in front
that the mentor helps
whether there are
lessons here that could see
you start.
you
alter your approach. Such changes could
be to
the ultimate benefit of those under your
Personal characteristics
charge and, given
the lasting and broad influ-Enthusiasm
ence of
good mentors highlighted by the com-First and
foremost, M is incredibly
passionate about
science. She eats, sleeps petition, to science as
a whole.
All the quotes included here were
taken
and breathes science. Her enthusiasm
word-for-word from the applications, either
is absolutely infectious, and it creates a
wonderful atmosphere in her
laboratory.
from proposing mentees or the
mentors them-
selves. For obvious reasons they
have been
depersonalized and are unattributed.
It is the nature of supervision that you
have
to explainteach some key concept
time after
time as each new student arrives.
A mentor for
life
Each time I had to make it feel to the
student
M, without any doubt, sees all his
postdoc that it was the first time I had ever
interactions with people as lifelong. He
explained the concept; each time I had to tell
always keeps in touch with ex-students,
it
with sparkle to help inspire them to seek
postdocs and so on after they have moved
to know more. At times it was hard to stay
on. Even if he is not directly helping them,
‘inspirational’; but to fail would have meant
he keeps himself aware of their activities
to me that I should quit as a supervisor.
and at times informs them of things he
You
need to understand, as an old and wise
believes would be of interest or useful,
friend once said to me, ‘Remember, they stay
to them. He genuinely treats his
the same
age, you get older!’
ex-students and postdocs
as part of an
extended family.
Passion,
enthusiasm and positivity were
words
dominating the majority of the men-
tee
reports. Whether these are traits we can
cultivate or create is debatable. The lesson
seems to be that it is very important to be as
Many of enthusiastic about your students’
research as
the proposing you are about your
own. If you are not, then
mentees started the
question becomes: is the student working
out
as students of the on the correct project? If you
are not passion-
mentors but later ate about
their project, how can you properly
became
well-sup-support them? This should also be a
lesson to
ported colleagues. administrators,
who may sometimes allocate
But a distinc-
students to projects and supervisors for
expe-
tive feature of a diency rather than a
genuine concern for the
great mentor as
student or indeed the staff member.
opposed
to a great
supervisor seemed to be a special
focus on
Sensitivity
helping to build the
mentee’s career. A natural When things go wrong,
it is important
to find out why things
happened the way consequence of the care and
effort the men-
tors put into supporting the
careers of their
they did. There could be
personal factors
studentsstaff was that the
majority of them
(sickness, relationship
break-ups) that
contribute to unhappy
decisions or results.
became mentors for life:
their advice contin-
ued to be valued,
friendships grew and the
Although I may not be
able to provide the
solution to personal
problems, I can provide
links were maintained.
a sympathetic ear as well as advice or
direction to support services.
For me there
is a difference between a
supervisor and a
mentor. With the latter
you find that you are
not simply a student
This quote speaks for
itself but there were a
with a research
project, but a student
number of examples in
which mentors were
”
“
“
”
“
”<
br>“
“”
791
B
E
L
L
E
M
E
L
L
O
R
”
FEATURE
very sensitive to their charge’s circumstances
and showed compassion and understanding.
When a student or colleague exhibits
unu-
sual behaviour or lack of progress there
will
be a reason. Mentors need to listen, hear
and
support. Also, many mentors were sensitive
to mentees’ needs that were not strictly
pro-
fessional, such as finding the right
balance
between work and family
responsibilities;
coping with cultural
transitions after a move
from a different part
of the world; develop-
ing confidence in a
culture that may not be
welcoming; or opposing
ethnic or gender bias
necessary sometimes to
encourage them
into other
directions.
Respect
She treats her
colleagues, regardless of
whether they are
doing a PhD or if they are a
fellow professor,
with the same high regard.
In doing so, M
inspires confidence in her
collaborators.
NATURE|Vol 447|14 June
2007
”
“
I believe it is important for
mentors to
suppress the desire to paint the
grand
picture, instead it is imperative that
they
learn to understand their colleagues and
how to assist them to fulfil their
dreams.
It is sadly true that laboratories
exist where
the PhD students are seen as extra
pairs of
hands rather than genuine
collaborators.
”
“
It was not uncommon
to hear that she
had lobbied for an
opportunity for a postdoc
to speak at a
conference rather than doing
so herself
because she recognized the value
of becoming
known, especially given our
distance from
North America and Europe.
”
”
if it
arises.
Although the supervisors may well be
suc-
“
cessful and grants be funded courtesy
of those
M also knows that it is important to
have extra hands, they will never have the
satisfac-
a work–life balance. He’s made it
easy for a tion of working in the stimulating
environ-
postdoc with young children to return
to the
ments described in all of the
applications for
lab part time. It’s
encouraging as a young
the mentor awards and
will never truly be
scientist to see that
there are lab heads who
respected
themselves.
are supportive of people being able
to spend
time with their family but still have
a chance
to develop their
careers.
Appreciating individual
differences
”
Unselfishness
“
His
magnanimity in sharing his own
ideas and
delight in seeing others succeed
“
has also
been an inspiration, not just for
Again it is
important to cater for personal
myself but for
a whole generation of
traits. Some of my
student colleagues need
younger
scientists.
to dot every i and cross every t as
they
design a set of critical experiments that
we
”
have all agreed are important. Others,
with,
I suspect, an equal success rate, need
to
“
Most importantly, M has no
intellectual
jealousy. She was always happy
to see others succeed,
R
jump in, risk
making a mess of a few highly
pushing them
forward into
L
O
L
E
critical
experiments but gain an instant
the limelight
while standing
M
.
B
understanding of either what not or
what
back in the shadows
to try. Allowing
both approaches
herself.
is sometimes
difficult, but
necessary.
There are leaders
of some
big and important
We are all
different in how we
”
”
groups who are
more
work and in what motivates concerned with
using
us. The mentees were clearly
group
members to
very appreciative of an ability
promote their own
to carefully craft
development
scientific standing.
Let-
activities to enhance and extend
ting
your studentscolleagues
personal strengths.
Special effort
take your ideas and run with
is needed to try to understand all
them,
and being free and will-
those in a team and
deal with
ing for them to take credit is
them differently. And how-not always easy but
is always
ever much you want that appreciated.
What do you
studentcolleague to lose by
allowing them to
work on that project,
be
lead authors even if
sometimes you have the
idea was yours?
to help them make
decisions about their His lack of
career
iveness was very
important to me. On several
“
“
Not everybody wants to
occasions
I’ve published papers
be a leading researcher
and
that were critical of some aspect
some
have skills that make
of his work — and he
helped
them better suited to other
me to
articulate the issues and
occupations. There
is little
supported me in getting them
point in encouraging young
published.
people to take on a career to
which they may be unsuited or
I believe
that it is too easy
that they will find
stressful
for mentors to create grand
or
uninteresting.
“
”
(manipulative) plans
for
So I believe it is
their younger
colleagues.
792
Support for other than
one’s own
“
M is just as diligent in
fostering careers of
people who he thinks can
advance science
as he is at fostering his own
students. This
action is consistent with a
motive that goes
beyond mere ego and
represents service to
the advancement of
science.
The impact of a good mentor goes far
beyond
”
his or her own boundaries. Within
the applica-
tions were many examples of
support outside
the mentor’s group. Indeed a
number of the
mentee support documents were
from those
who had never actually been in the
mentor’s
laboratory but whose lives had
nevertheless
been touched.
Teaching and
communication
“
M’s enthusiasm was
infectious for many
undergraduate students,
and I have no doubt
in saying that her
delivery of the subject
matter was
instrumental in fuelling my
interest in X as a
subject.
The tension between research and
teaching
”
remains at all universities.
Success in both is
not mutually exclusive and
it was striking, but
not surprising, that many
of the exemplary
mentors were exemplary
teachers. Many of the
mentees who themselves
have gone on to very
successful careers and
have international repu-
tations in science
would not have gone down
that pathway if they
had not been exposed to
their future mentor as
a teacher.
Those who work in university
administra-
tion need to remember the benefit
of expos-
ing undergraduate students to top
scientists
to increase the number of graduate
students.
Up-and-coming young scientists
should
put effort into their teaching in order
to inspire
and interest their future mentees.
Good
mentors encourage their students to teach
as
soon as they start their PhD, not only to
sup-
plement their income but, more
importantly,
to develop skills that will
benefit them in the
long term.
Also, many
of the great mentors were great
communicators,
not only of science itself but
also of
enthusiasm for it to diverse audiences
such as
schools or local societies. This is not a
universal talent and can even be damaging to
all concerned if done badly. The good
men-
tors appreciated that such activities can
be
very valuable training for the communicator
NATURE|Vol 447|14 June
2007
FEATURE
B
.
M
E
L
L
O
R
and encouraged
their students and younger
colleagues to
develop these skills.
“
I first encountered
M as a year-11 high-
school student in a small
country town.
The Royal Australian Chemical
Institute
had commissioned M to travel to
regional
Victoria and put on a ‘chemistry
show’. I
remember the explosions, the foam
tower
spilling its contents over the stage,
and
M pretending that he hadn’t noticed the
chemical mayhem around him. And I
remember
that it was about this time that I
became
interested in chemistry.
responses made to
“
Students need experience talking about
”
their research in many different forums.
Conference attendance is crucial so that
they have the opportunity to discuss with
other researchers and to develop new ideas.
But it is equally important that students
have the opportunity to discuss their work
in lay terms, whether it is being presented to
parents, teachers, or to doctors and nurses
as S has done.
Tips for
mentors
”
Throughout the mentees’ reports
and the men-
tors’ reflections on their
mentoring styles were
descriptions of
activities used by the mentors
that
contributed to their success. A number of
these tips are reproduced here for those
read-
ers embarking on a scientific career — or
those
in full flight — in order to stimulate
thinking
about mentoring. There is no magic
formula;
these are simply examples of what the
mentees
thought worked for
them.
Availability: the open
door
“
First, her door is always open, even
now
in her retirement she can never say ‘come
back later’. I now greatly admire this skill
for
I find myself struggling with
administration
and feeling guilty in making
appointments
to see students. M always put
scientific
discussion first.
“
I cannot
remember him ever cancelling
”
an
appointment with me despite the
tremendous
demands on his time (he was
head of department
for some of the time
that I was his
student).
“
M was always accessible, and she
”
always made it abundantly clear to her
students that she would rather talk about
science with them than do just about
anything else.
If there was one theme that
came through all
”
the reports it was this
one. Availability is the
standout quality
appreciated by the mentees.
Despite enormous
workloads and responsibili-
ties, the mentor
was always there and the door
was always open.
They never failed to respond
to an urgent
request immediately. Mentees
marvelled at
e-mails answered in 20 minutes,
drafts in two
days
and the willingness to listen
to
their problems.
The regular meeting is clearly
an important
strategy that some mentors use as
well as hav-
ing an open door. The most
impressive was
the mentor who set aside a
whole day to meet
each group member
individually for half an
hour. The day
included a journal-club meet-
ing for all,
followed by a research discussion
over drinks
at the end of the day. An advantage
of having
a routine that all knew was that it
made it
easier for students to plan their work
and for
the mentor to avoid committee meet-
ings on
that day. Morning or afternoon coffee
breaks
are also great daily opportunities for
discussion. In these meetings, good mentors
encouraged troubleshooting unsuccessful
experiments rather than discarding them as
a result of incompetence. Indeed there was a
common theme that analysis of failure was as
important as success.
Inspiration, optimism
“
Going to M’s office with your head
down, armed with a plot or calculation
showing that the project seemed to be going
nowhere, you will leave believing that you’ve
solved the mysteries of the
Universe.
“
On many occasions I remember
walking
”
into her office convinced that I
had been
wasting my time, and then ten minutes
later walking out with a smile and the sure
knowledge that what was a bad result was
indeed just what I needed!
The ‘walk into
the office dispiriteda failure
”
miserable
and yet walk out inspired and
optimistic’
phenomenon is a special feature
of interaction
with the great mentors. There
were many
comments similar to those above.
Attributes
that allowed the mentor to cause
these almost
spiritual experiences included:
a broad vision
of how science works, a big-
picture view and a
conviction that unexpected
results are often
the most interesting and point
towards novel
insight.
Balancing direction and self-
direction
“
M displays the right balance of
direction
in a project and letting someone
discover
and develop insights for themselves.
Supervisors who micromanage their
students
or have very specific ideas of how
the science
in a lab should be done can stifle
the
student.
“
The scientific acumen to, on the
one
”
hand, encourage promising ideas and,
on the
other, recognize a ‘dead end’ is one of
M’s
great mentoring skills.
Given the large
number of comments on get-
”
ting the
balance right, this is a major com-
ponent of
good mentoring. Just how much
guidance to give
can be a challenge. There
were many negative
comments about those
who have been seen to
micromanage. Yet there
was also criticism of
those who let students run
free and learn by
their mistakes.
The skill lies in giving young
researchers the
freedom to expand on their
ideas but gently
reining them in when they are
off track. There
were no clear clues as to how
to develop this
skill. Possibly awareness of
how you do it could
encourage you to change.
Where do you place
yourself on the
direction–self-direction scale?
The
direction–self-direction scale
Guided
independence
and scientific
creativity
Micromangement
Sink
or
swim
“
His advice was almost always
given in the
form of suggestions, so that we
were able to
digest them and form our own
judgment
about their worth. With hindsight I
recognize
this as a deliberate strategy
designed to
encourage independence of thought
and
critical thinking. As a PhD student, M
made
me feel like his collaborator. This is
probably
the greatest single lesson I have
tried to
take from M and apply to my own
research
group, to encourage and prompt
students
to follow their own ideas and
judgement,
and to provide an environment where
this
is possible.
A special challenge is,
even if you are prepared
”
to encourage
independence, what can you do
that nurtures
research creativity?
793
FEATURE
“
When I conducted
an experiment using
two different sources of
the one tissue that
was never in the research
programme,
M, instead of saying ‘No, stick to
the
programme’, asked me why I thought that
was a good experiment to do and then
complimented me for thinking laterally
about the programme.
“
If and when your
ideas did not come
”
to fruition there was
no criticism, only
encouragement to learn from
the mistakes
made, if any, and encouragement
to
develop other avenues of scientific attack.
This ‘judgement’-free environ allowed
one
to attempt to implement challenging
techniques, knowing that there was no ‘skin
off one’s nose’ for trying.
The art of
questioning and listening
”
“
There is
always another question to ask.
The questions
seem innocuous but nothing
is as it seems to
be; there are more insights
to be gained by
probing away. M also never
imposes her will,
but she persistently keeps
the questions
flowing to help the answer
come along.
One
of the strategies used in developmental
”
workshops to help young academics become
better small-group teachers is to practise
answering students’ questions with a question,
in order to lead them towards both an answer
and a better understanding of what they are
learning. It is always easier to give the
answer.
The same is true when you start to
mentor
your PhD students and younger
colleagues.
“
Rather than directly
providing me with
interesting ideas, he is
able to ask the right
questions to allow me to
come up with my
own theories and
ideas.
This is a skill and it can be practised
even
”
though it is time-consuming. It is a
skill highly
valued by the mentees, as was the
equally
important skill of active
listening.
“
The major aspects of practice
and
personality are her ability to listen
patiently,
even when she knows better, and to
point
the mentored person to a more complete
understanding of the issues implicit in a
particular problem. This she does with
deceptively simple questions that frequently
do not elicit an immediate response,
but
ultimately allow a more rational
interpretation of all the facts.
Being
widely read and widely receptive
”
“
As a
new assistant professor with
my own young
graduate students, I can
appreciate the subtle
ways in which M
fostered good habits of
constantly surveying
the literature and
exploring research outside
the immediate
bounds of my own interests.
I hope that I can
guide my students in a
794
NATURE|Vol
447|14 June 2007
similar, low-key
knowledge
and who becomes the
R
L
O
way that M
teacher. Those readers who are
L
E
M
encouraged in
on graduate-
student
.
B
me.
committees will
“
probably have seen
Often, M
”
instances in which
would leave the
initial project
the latest, was a key question
hottest paper to be asked in the
on my
desk, with
supervisor’s research
an
enthusiastic
programme, but was
note
attached that
simply too hard to
not only
conveyed
be the basis of a
his own
excitement
starting-out project.
about the
field,
Many mentees iden-
but also piqued
my
tified being given the
interest.
right kind of project
as a
key factor in their
An enabler of good science
”
ultimate success.
is keeping abreast
of the litera-
ture. A defining characteristic
Life after science
of many of the great
mentors
“
M has always
was wide reading
outside their encouraged me not to
field.
Mentees appreciated
forget to smell the roses.
sharing in this reading, and also the
deliber-
I will always remember him telling me
as
ate strategy of using key papers as a base
for
a first-year PhD student that I needed to
discussion either at group or individual
meet-
take up other activities besides science.
My
ings or by the casual dropping of reprints
life has been a lot more fun because of his
as described above. Again, time-consuming
advice.
but valued.
”
“
This was
not a widespread observation but was
For a
rigorous scientist of international clearly a
positive feature to those who received
acclaim, I found her to be very open-minded,
this advice.
and she encouraged my exploration
of
different avenues of research, even when
Celebration
these fell outside her direct
expertise (if need
The first time a person
comes up with a
be, M was very willing to
study new areas
novel idea or experiment of
their own. This
of enquiry in order to provide
appropriate
”
should be an occasion for
public recognition
“
intellectual
support).
within the lab as it is a milestone
of great
significance for most young
scientists.
Most researchers have a pet
hypothesis and an
individual approach to their
particular area of The importance of celebration
and rewarding
”
science. Sometimes that
dogma and limitations successes, large and small,
is often neglected.
in breadth may be exposed
and challenged by Yet it can be highly encouraging
to individu-
students or colleagues. As a
result, you need to als and can contribute to the
building of com-
be open to ideas and solutions
from all other munities. It is a strategy that all
mentors can
disciplines. You need to be ready
to accept that introduce, although the extent of
the celebra-
you might be wrong, to acknowledge
and study tion will vary depending on
personalities and
new directions you have
never considered, and level of extroversion.
to congratulate your mentees for taking you
The guiding principle is that celebration,
down that r large or small, is a powerful
motiva-
tor. The range of celebrations
mentioned in
The initial project
“
the
awards nominations is worth listing here
Ensure that all students have projects as a
challenge to your imagination: off-cam-
with at
least some guaranteed biologically pus lunches,
the weighing of the PhD thesis
relevant
results. Risky work (such as making
on
submission, cakes at morning or afternoon
a
knockout mouse) should be balanced with
tea,
barbecues at the mentor’s home or cocktail
other work that will ensure some
results.
parties on graduation.
This is
related to getting the balance right, but
”
Building communities
a number of
comments highlighted the fact A constant theme
from the groups support-
that, in the
beginning, students do not have ing their mentor
was the sense of community.
the experience to
make a decision on the first The successful
mentors realized the need to
project. One
mentee drew attention to the fact build
communities to create an environment
that, at
the start of a PhD, it is the supervi-where all
under their care could flourish. They
sor who
has the knowledge, but as the PhD all had
deliberate and varied strategies to
draws to a
close, it is the student who has the build these
communities. How often have
NATURE|Vol
447|14 June 2007
FEATURE
created the social
events, heshe now left it
to the group, with a
resulting range of events
that reflected their
interests from canoeing to
first? Or do you
simply involve them in critiqu-
ing your
writing or your grant application? The
last
approach is not the way that works.
you
experienced the negative impact of
silo-
building within departments? Positive and
sustaining communities do not just happen,
they have to be nurtured.
Of
scientists
“
M takes an inordinate amount of
trouble
to involve all the people around her
in
all aspects of the life of the lab, such as
seminars, research-planning meetings
and
informal meetings with outside visitors.
All
these make you feel a valued member
of the
research team from the outset.
Regular meetings
have been commented on
”
before. They
include: whole-group planning
meetings;
meetings with external visitors;
subgroup
meetings with a specific task to
report to the
whole group; group-writing tasks;
assigning a
new junior staff member or student
to a senior
staff member or student mentor.
Especially
important meetings were ‘jour-
nal clubs’,
which many team leaders set up but
often do
not sustain.
“
The journal club helps to
make sure
all of us read something other than
immediately relevant research, at least
once a week. The menu wanders around,
sometimes classic papers, sometimes
high-
impact pieces in Nature or Science,
sometimes
chapters from a popular-science
book,
sometimes philosophy or psychology
of science.
Over time we have evolved the
practice of
going round the table first with
each
participant speaking for 3 minutes.
There are
always some people who have
intelligent
comments, but would never put
them forward if
it were left to them to find
the right time to
speak. The 3 minutes also
restrains the
talkative.
Of people
”
“
The most
useful single thing I’ve learned
is that
chocolate biscuits do more for
everyone’s good
humour and enthusiasm
than any amount of feel-
good talk. The role
of blood sugar should
probably have been
obvious to a biologist from
the outset, but
I only learned this by
experience. Mind you,
cheerful and encouraging
conversations are
good too, as are gin and
tonic.
Again some mentors’ disposition might
not
”
always lead to easy support and
nurturing of
a social group. But there is no
doubt about
how much such social activities
were valued.
Activities can be as simple as
the chocolate
biscuit or more adventurous, for
example
‘Shakespeare under the stars’, wine
tastings,
ethnic dinners, dinner parties with
visiting
scientists, bird-watching days, video
nights
or celebration of every birthday at
morning
or afternoon tea. One group formed a
jazz
band, but commented that their gigs were
not
as favourably reviewed as their articles.
One
successful mentor noted that, having
initially
cake-baking to karaoke.
Skill
development
“
their research, but ensures
that they learn
M has focused on equipping
people
“
M does not only guide his students
in
how to critically review the literature.
with the skills to be fully functioning
He
often challenges his students with an
members
of the scientific community,
exercise of
reviewing a paper. He then
able to prepare
grant applications, review
patiently remarks
on their review.
manuscripts, speak at
conferences and
engage with scientific
administrators in
As this quote illustrates,
another way these
”
a constructive manner.
Such a holistic
activities benefit science is
by preparing the
approach to running a
scientific group will
mentees for their role
as peer reviewers in
ultimately bring enormous
benefit to the
the future. This is an activity
often taken for
group’s alumni, giving them
all the skills
granted. We believe that it
shouldn’t be. Peer
necessary to carve out
their own niches
in the academic world.
It
is clear that successful mentors work hard at
”
review is all too easily done badly, and
is also
all too easily put aside under the
pressure of
other commitments.
It is
essential that the motivation to review
developing the scientific skills of their
charges. papers and grant applications is
instilled
Again this depends on deliberate
strategies and in young scientists. It is equally
essential that
activities rather than leaving
the outcome to they be required to practise such
activities,
chance. Not surprisingly, the
following three under the scrutiny of their
mentor. Only then
skills were the ones that
were most often com-are they likely to learn how
to provide a com-
mented on of specific and
constructive advice
about significance,
technical strengths and
Criticism
“
weaknesses, and (for papers)
presentation (see
Our regular meetings would
often entail Editorial, page 754.)
the
discussion and evaluation of recent
published
works. This process provided a
Writing
great insight into the method of
critiquing
“
Writing my first paper was a
true
and assisted in driving our work
experience. M asked me to write it, but
into new methodological areas
the paper
that was submitted had no
R
to answer
questions in a greater
resemblance to my
initial written draft.
L
O
L
E
depth.
Nevertheless, M
went through my
M
.
B
“
mistakes patiently and
thoroughly,
The critical
”
a writing
experience from which
analysis of scientific
I learned a great deal. This
publications
is
paper was accepted by Cell
encouraged.
No
without any corrections,
conclusions
are
which is a very rare
taken at face
value
event.
and fearless
discussion of
the
Writing is such a
”
analysis and
critical part of
interpretation
being
a scientist
of results takes
that its
devel-
place during
opment must
our
weekly
not be taken for
laboratory
granted. Among
meetings and, of course, in
the preparation
outstanding mentors, rapid
turnaround over
of papers.
”
one to two
days with clear feedback seemed
the norm, as
did resisting the temptation to do
Again this
is where a journal club has been the rewrite for
the student but, rather, assisting
used to
good effect — students regularly the mentees to
rewrite several times. Also, it
take turns
dissecting one or two relevant cur-seems essential
that this attention is paid to
rent papers and
their background, with input writing from the very
beginning of a student-
from other students and
faculty members. ship. This requires deliberate
action and task-
The successful strategies
highlighted involve
setting by the mentor.
requiring students or young colleagues to
write
reviews of journal articles, referees’
reports Oral presentation
and grant
applications and then critiquing
“
Although
few students have a natural
their efforts.
gift for giving a scientific talk, all can learn
Instinctively you probably know the value of
if given sufficient practice and advice. I
such activities, but do you always ask for
indi-
always suggest that the student provides
viduals or groups of staffstudents to have a
go
me with a run-through a week or two before
795
FEATURE
a presentation, to
allow sufficient time for
revisions.
I
recall that one day M suggested that
she and I
should have a wager on who
could ask the best
question of the speakers
at the chemistry
seminars held weekly in
the department. This
meant you had to
listen closely to the work
being presented
and to think about it, in
order to come up
with an insightful question.
I recognized
that what she really wanted to do
was
show the students how to get involved in
a seminar and she used us as examples
of
how to engage with the topic presented.
Her
questions were always informal but
probing.
The audience, largely made up
of postgraduate
students in chemistry,
of course loved this
and soon got into
the act.
The quotes
speak for themselves, but all men-
tors saw it
as their role to ensure that their
charges had
ample opportunity to speak at
international
forums, and all highlighted the
need for
practice and critique beforehand. An
often-
neglected skill is the art of questioning
as
described in the second quote about the
practice of an experienced
mentor.
When
it came time to leave his laboratory
and
develop links with others, M was a great
source of contacts and ideas.
All the
mentors made special efforts to ensure
that
their charges were exposed and introduced
to
visitors who came into a laboratory. And
they
encouraged collaboration by introducing
their
mentees to potential collaborators. This
was
never left to chance but was planned.
NATURE|Vol 447|14 June
2007
“
”
”
conferences andor visit the
laboratories of
colleagues in their networks.
Some unselfishly
suggested that their protégés
should go instead
of themselves. Others, when
overseas, ensured
that they arranged exposure
of the work of
their charges to world experts.
Hence:
“
“
”
Similarly another
practice was to try
to secure a few hours of
time from visiting
international scientists
during which
students would present their
work. This
practice has a number of benefits.
First
it provided good-quality feedback and
a range of helpful suggestions on the
direction of particular pieces of research.
Second, and perhaps of particular
importance to Australian trainees, this
practice gave an insight into the way some
of the world’s outstanding researchers think
and helped demystify the work of such
researchers.
She would attend conferences
with
her students and at such events would
always make a point both of introducing
her students to the leaders in the field, and
of actively encouraging anyone to whom
she
was talking to go and see the students’
work.
She was renowned for arriving at
her students’
or postdocs’ posters with a
bemused world-
expert in tow and then
encouraging the student
to explain the
poster, letting the student do
the talking but
with M adding encouraging and
supportive
comments from the sideline. This is
another
practice I have adopted from
M.
Advice on career decisions
But perhaps
the most
important thing is his tireless
attention to the needs and
in particular
the career
development of the younger
people around him. M always
finds top
placements for his students
and
postdocs.
“
Networking
All successful
scientists have extensive net-
works spread
across the globe. But do they
all link their
students into those networks
as actively as
they could? This was another of
the standout
attributes of the Nature finalists
and, as
commented on above, is one of the
distinguishing features of a mentor over
some-
one who is simply a good supervisor. Good
mentors saw it as their responsibility to
share
their network.
Use their contacts and
promote their
studentsyoung staff
M always
made a large effort to develop
the scientific
careers of his students. He would
actively
encourage his students to attend
national and
international conferences and at
these
conferences would make a significant
effort to
introduce his students to other
researchers in
their field. He would also make
a great effort
to make sure others were aware
of his
students’ achievements and work.
to present
his or her findings to the department.
Good
mentors ensure that the visitor also gets
to
hear of the work of their students and staff.
As support for those who have left the
labo-
ratory continues, the advice of one
mentor
rings very true:
“
“
Write
only honest references. One slanted
recommendation will damage the prospects
of all that follow, because the writer’s
credibility goes out of the
window.
“
Send overseas
With the wisdom
of hindsight, I think
the single most
important thing I did as
supervisor of PhD
students was to send each
one of them overseas
at least once in their
candidature.
Another
recurring theme was gratitude from
the mentees
at the special efforts their men-
tors made to
allow them to travel overseas to
”
Perhaps
a defining feature of the Nature
nominees was
that the goal of networking
was not simply
linked to their own research
progress, or to
ensure that the PhD was suc-
cessful, or that
the work of the postdoc or
research assistant
moved their projects for-
ward. Rather, there
was evidence of extensive
communication,
discussion and negotiation
behind the scenes
to ensure that when the
student or colleague
left the group they could
travel along a
pathway that was most likely to
set them on a
successful career. All the sup-
porting mentees
had successful careers and in
all cases their
mentor had helped them with
their
career.
”
Conclusion
”
“
Having a
good mentor early in one’s
career can mean the
difference between
success and failure in any
career.
Those who are good mentors get
incalculably more out of it than they put
into it.
“
”
796
”
B
.
M
E
L
L
O
R
Departmental
tradition often
expects the visiting scientist
”
Once aspiring young mentors appreciate
just
how important it is for all their
studentsstaff
to have opportunity to travel,
it is important to
negotiate financial support
from the depart-
ment or professional society
or elsewhere.
There are sources of funding
available,
and good mentors seek these out,
just
as they actively look around to find the
best match of conference andor
labo-
ratories for their mentees.
”
NATURE|Vol 447|14 June
2007
FEATURE
Self-assessment: how good a
mentor are
you?
ActivityStrategyQuestionTaskExampleWhat
could be done better?
Appreciating individual
differences
Give an example of an
incident that illustrates your
acknowledgement of individual
difference
Give an example of the strategy
you use to be available to your
studentsstaff
What was your rating on the
scale on page 793?
Describe how you last
used
active questioning to lead a
mentee
towards a solution
When did you last celebrate
a studentstaff member’s
achievement? How
did you
celebrate?
Describe a deliberate
strategy
you use to build a scientific
community in your group
Describe a
deliberate strategy
you use to build your
group as a
social community
Describe steps
you take to
develop the critical, writing
and presentation skills of you
studentsstaff
Describe one example of how
you have introduced each of
your
studentsstaff into the
scientific network of
your
research area
How many of your past
studentsstaff are you in
contact
with?
Availability
Self-direction
Questio
ning
Celebration
Building a scientific
community
Building a social community
Skill
development
Networking
Mentor for
life
What one thing will you do
differently
after reading the
description of the mentoring
behaviour of the Nature mentors?
This
article concludes as it starts, with
ref-
erence to just how important mentoring is
to those under your care. The second quote
highlights the positive satisfaction of being
a
good mentor.
From the entries we have
read, it is clear that
there are second
generations of mentors now out
there who
learnt from their own mentors how to
provide
superb support for the scientists under
their
charge. Many reading these pages will
themselves have been privileged to have been
mentored by those applying many of the
strate-
gies described. Indeed, in the pages of
nomina-
tions that was the inspiration for this
article, it
was also clear that the proposing
mentees had
taken on board the behaviours of
their mentor
and were themselves well on the
way to being
the next generation of successful
mentors.
Our purpose, based on the rich
resource
provided by both mentees and mentors,
is to
challenge you to reflect on how you are
cur-
rently mentoring those under your charge.
Is
there anything you can learn? More
impor-
tantly, can you improve what you do?
What
examples of exemplary mentoring
activities
do you use?
Equally important,
for those young scien-
tists newly embarked on
a career in science or
about to start building
a research team: can you
plan your approach to
mentoring that team by
including strategies,
processes and behaviours
described here that
clearly work? If so, you will
not only
influence the next generation of scien-
tists
but also increase your own satisfaction by
being in charge of a productive, enthusiastic,
challenging and fun team.
As a stimulus to
these reflections, we have
drawn up a simple
table (above) designed to
aid your
reflections. Whether you are setting
out on a
mentoring pathway or simply want to
see how
your mentoring strategies stand up, we
encourage you to fill out the table. It asks
for
the provision of specific examples: we
consider
this to be the best way to stimulate
reflection on
your approach to scientific
mentoring.
Just as the values and strategies of
the great
mentors, nominated for the Nature
awards,
have benefited the careers of hundreds
of now
successful scientists, we hope that
this distilla-
tion of approaches will have a
beneficial effect
on your mentoring of our
future successful
scientists.
■
Adrian
Lee was pro-vice-chancellor
(education and
quality improvement) at the
University of New
South Wales, Australia,
from 2000 to 2006.
Carina Dennis is Australasian correspondent
of Nature.
Philip Campbell is editor-in-
chief of Nature,
and founded the Nature
mentoring awards.
797