Mentorship Guide
Welcome to ImmunoSpectrum’s Virtual Mentorship Program! Thank you for volunteering your time and expertise to encourage the next generation of scientists. Below you will find information to help you sign up as a mentor and prepare for your informational interviews.
What is the goal of ImmunoSpectrum’s Virtual Mentorship Program?
The goal of this mentorship program is to pair current UCSF staff, students, postdocs, and faculty with budding scientists in the Bay Area and across the country. We hope to make the UCSF research community easily accessible to a wide range of individuals who may not have the opportunity to otherwise chat with a scientist. Specifically, we are using this platform to lower barriers to entry for underrepresented minority groups in science. Through 45-minute virtual informational interviews, you will provide guidance on topics you have expressed interest in based on a brief survey, such as what it’s like to have a career in science, or how to prepare a fellowship application or a resume. This is intended to be a low commitment, high impact experience for both our mentors and mentees.
Who can become a Mentor? Who will I be mentoring?
Anyone in our ImmunoX community who is excited to talk about science at UCSF is welcome to become a mentor! As a mentor you will have the opportunity to select specific topics you are enthusiastic speaking about, as well as the age range and professional stage of the mentee you are comfortable speaking to. Similarly, our mentees will complete surveys to determine their professional stage and topics they are most interested learning about. The program is currently available to anyone middle school/high school age and above. To ensure our mentors and mentees have productive conversations, our program administrator will match mentors and mentees based on their survey responses.
What is expected of our Mentors?
Mentors will be contacted on Fridays for potential mentee pairings, based on their given availability. The mentor will then be responsible for arranging a 45-minute meeting time (over Zoom) with their assigned mentee. After the informational interview, the mentor and mentee will fill out separate short surveys to help our program determine how well the pair was matched, as well as give us the opportunity to follow-up with the mentee if needed. There is no obligation for the mentor to continue meeting with the mentee, but we encourage professional mentorship relationships to continue if desired.
How do I Become a Mentor? How much time am I committing?
Fill out the Mentor Preference Survey to become a mentor. Through this survey you will also select the number of informational interviews you are willing to do a month; we encourage signing up for any level of commitment and this survey is not binding if scheduling conflicts arise in the future. Please reach out to isabelle.tingin@ucsf.edu with further questions
