30 Nov 2016
SCI is dedicated to supporting members’ careers through training, development and employment opportunities. Earlier this year, to facilitate this mission, SCI launched a new Member Benefit - The SCI Mentoring Programme.*
Reflecting SCI’s unique strength as a multi-disciplinary and all-inclusive Society; partnerships made through the scheme demonstrate SCI’s broad membership and are both multi-industry and multi-science in nature. Connections are being forged over common topics. The Programme also offers a platform for participants (both Mentors and Mentees) to make themselves known to the SCI community, opening up other channels of communication and enhancing networking skills.
In October, we let you know that the first of our two mentoring partnerships had been confirmed. Since then, four more partnerships have been set-up, and we are on our way to confirming a seventh partnership. On 29 November we presented the SCI Mentoring Programme at the College of Scholars’ Day. Members of the College of Scholars’ were encouraged to apply to the programme and get involved, provoking a lot of interest from the participants.
Through their participation in the SCI Mentoring Programme we have found that mentees are seeking assistance in common topics. These include; networking and communication, problem solving and decision making, transitioning from academia into industry and general career development.
Mentors have been matched to mentees based on the skills, knowledge and area(s) of expertise which they can offer and we are looking forward to monitoring the progress of these partnerships.
Our mentors come from a range of scientific backgrounds and industries. Some have worked for major corporations, others for scientific spin-out companies, as consultants, or in academia. They have proved that there are a variety of reasons why someone would want to become a mentor and engage with the SCI programme. Some are looking to garner contacts and gain from their own experience, whilst strengthening their links with SCI and get more involved with the organisation. Others enjoy the experience of passing on knowledge and have a desire to enthuse and engage with young professionals, with the ultimate aim of building stronger, more confident and capable scientists for the future. What is clear, though, is that all our mentors are looking to help potential mentees with the issues they might be facing and make the most of their capabilities in order to achieve their goals in the long run.
In the New Year we will be holding some more training sessions for mentors and mentees so please keep an eye out for further details in future updates.
*The SCI Mentoring Programme is currently operating under a pilot scheme and is by invitation only. If you are interested in taking part once the full programme is in operation, please email mentoring@soci.org.
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