CENIDE Peer Mentoring
What is CENIDE Peer Mentoring?
CENIDE Peer Mentoring is a programme for PhD students and postdoctoral researchers at CENIDE. It aims to support personal development and strengthen essential soft skills. Over the course of one year, participants work towards a goal of their own choosing with the support of a peer group of other motivated early career researchers and experienced CENIDE mentors.
The programme offers an opportunity to learn more about yourself and develop your personal skills, particularly in science communication, leading conversations and team leadership. Peer group meetings follow the principles of peer consultation: participants both seek advice and share their experience with others.
Compulsory activities, including workshops, seminars and a two-day retreat with an overnight stay, help participants build their personal networks. At the end of the programme, all participants receive a certificate of successful participation.
What can you expect?
- Personal development
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Identifying and developing your strengths, for example in:
- Leading conversations
- Team leadership
- Setting and achieving your own goals
- Science communication
- Peer consultation in small groups
- Networking with researchers within CENIDE
What does the programme involve?
- Kick-off meeting
- Training Day with workshops and seminars
- A retreat with further workshops, team-building activities and a meeting with the mentors
- Winter Party
- Closing event
- Regular peer group meetings, approximately every six to eight weeks, organised by the participants themselves
What goals can you set for yourself?
- Completing your PhD or current research project
- Building an academic network
- Learning more about project management and stress management
- Building confidence for your next academic presentation
- And much more – the choice is yours!
Mentors
Mentors are junior professors and junior research group leaders from engineering, chemistry, physics and medicine. Further information will be provided once the programme resumes.
General information for prospective applicants
Current status: The programme is currently suspended until further notice. The dates for the next round have not yet been confirmed.
The following documents are required for an application:
- A completed application form with personal details and information about your academic background
- CV
- A motivation letter (half a page to one page) outlining initial ideas for possible goals and your expectations of the mentoring programme
Participants are required to commit to the full one-year programme.
If you have any questions about the programme, please contact Dr. Maximilian Fellert or Dr. Miriam Böhm.
Testimonials from the Mentoring Programme
“What I particularly liked about the CENIDE mentoring programme was how it broadened my perspective on the entire journey of an academic career. Through conversations with other PhD students and researchers who had already completed their doctorates, I learned a great deal about how to navigate the different challenges along the way – whether administrative or personal.”
“I signed up as a mentor to share my experience – and ended up gaining many new perspectives myself. The mentoring programme reminded me that learning works both ways. Being a mentor certainly does not mean that you stop learning yourself.”
“The mentoring programme allowed me to connect with experienced researchers at CENIDE and gain valuable insights into the prospects for a successful academic career. Through open discussions about career development, research trends and overcoming obstacles, I gained a clearer understanding of how to stay on track during difficult periods and make informed decisions about my future.”
“The mentoring programme gave me the opportunity to consciously step back from my daily work and look at my professional and personal development from a different perspective. I found the open, interdisciplinary exchange very enriching, and it gave me fresh ideas and inspiration.”