Arqus Mentoring Programme for Early-Stage Researchers

Doctoral students and young postdocs of the University of Wrocław! You are cordially invited to participate in a nine-month mentoring programme for early-stage researchers organised by the Arqus Alliance of European Universities. The Arqus Mentoring Programme for Early-Stage Researchers will start in October 2023. The deadline for applications is 15 May 2023.

The aim of this programme is to support the establishment of sustainable mentoring relationships between early career researchers and established researchers across the Arqus partner universities. It is designed for doctoral candidates and early postdocs who are interested in professional support during the first stages of their academic careers.

Key aspects:

• Mentees will be matched with a mentor from another Arqus university after they have been selected for participation
• Mentor and mentee meet for a minimum of four (virtual) sessions over the course of nine months
• An in-person visit of the mentee at the mentor’s home institution is highly encouraged, but not mandatory. Information about funding opportunities will be provided
• Mentees will take part in four one-and-a-half-hour online training sessions offering input and opportunity for exchange on how to better navigate academia and how to respond to common challenges (see programme below)
• To ensure a clear focus on strategic (personal) decisions and/or further career steps of interdisciplinary researchers, guiding materials will be provided
• Mentors will have the opportunity to participate in regular mentor’s lounges
• An in-person kick-off meeting on October 5th and 6th in Graz will give mentees the opportunity to connect and exchange experiences (funding for travel and accommodation will be available, participation in this meeting is part of the programme)

Trainer and host for both mentees and mentors is Dr. Yasmin Dolak-Struss, who is a systemic coach, trainer and facilitator. She has been supporting researchers on European funding programmes and career development for more than 16 years and has a background as a researcher in the field of biomathematics. She will facilitate the in-person kick-off as well as all online training sessions for the mentees, and host the regular mentor’s lounges.

Target groups and Eligibility criteria

The target groups for this mentoring programme are:

• Persons who are registered as doctoral candidates/PhD students at one of the Arqus Universities and who are in the later stages of their doctoral studies
• Persons who are employed as postdoctoral researchers (in their first or second year of their post-doc) at one of the Arqus Universities at the time of the application.

Participants commit to stay with the Mentoring Programme for the duration of nine months, as well as to participate in the group sessions.

The selection will be made by each Arqus university locally. Two participants (one pre- and one post-doc) will be chosen per university.

How to apply?
The deadline for the application is Monday, May 15th 2023.

Please use this application form for mentees. The application form must be signed by the applicant (e-signature is possible) and sent to doctoral-academy@uni-graz.at. Applicants will be informed about the outcome of the selection until the end of June at the latest.

A detailed schedule of the mentoring programme can be found in the attachment.