Skip to content

Guide for mentors and supervisors

This guide is for:

  • Postdocs and senior trainees mentoring undergraduate, Master's, or PhD students

  • Lab staff coordinating with interns or junior hires

  • Anyone supervising a research trainee or contributor in the lab

Core Responsibilities of a Mentor#

  • Your mentee will have finished lab onboarding as per lab onboarding. Help them get oriented with research questions, project goals, specific tools, documentation, and workflows.

  • Set expectations early#

    First week - Discuss timelines, communication preferences, availability, and evaluation criteria.

Internship Project Template

Here's a template we highly recommend to adapt to your projects - (Year) Summer Internship (Project name)-(Student name ) TEMPLATE DO NOT EDIT

  • Provide consistent feedback#

    Hold regular 1:1 meetings. Use constructive, kind, and clear communication to help mentees grow.

  • Document and share progress#

    Encourage your mentee to keep a record of work using the tracker. Code should be reviewed via Pull requests on GitHub.

  • Advocate and support#

    Encourage them to present, apply for awards, or explore professional development opportunities.