Ment­or­ing at Pader­born Uni­ver­sity

Mentoring is an effective instrument of academic personnel development that has proven very successful in promoting qualified women.

The aim of the Paderborn mentoring programme is to support female doctoral candidates during their doctorate and to build a network across disciplines. The programme makes it possible to get to know, concretise and carefully examine the options of a career in science and academia with the help of an experienced mentor. It imparts knowledge about professional success strategies and supports professional networking.
In a direct and personal one-to-one relationship with an experienced female professor (mentor), the doctoral candidates (mentees) receive individual and practical support on their career path: the mentors advise them on career planning and provide insights into their own professional decisions as well as valuable experience. They explain the unwritten "rules of the game" of the academic world and facilitate access to professional and specialist networks.

Tar­get group

The mentoring programme is aimed at female doctoral candidates from all faculties at Paderborn University, regardless of the topic and timeframe of their doctorate. We recommend participating in the programme if you have already been working on your doctorate for one to two years and have gained some experience with research and within your scientific community.

Motivation and commitment to the programme as well as curiosity for an academic career or a leadership position in science and research are important for participation.

Applications and timetable

Interested applicants can submit their applications by 1 July each year. The new year starts each autumn. The dates can be viewed and noted in the timetable.

Up to 14 doctoral candidates can be accepted onto the programme each year. Selection is based on a written procedure followed by an interview. A participation fee of 100 euros is charged for participation in the programme. Please submit the completed application form and a curriculum vitae in tabular form for the application.

 

Pro­gramme mod­ules

Mentoring

For one year, the doctoral candidate (mentee) forms a tandem with an experienced professor (mentor) of their choice. This one-to-one relationship is voluntary and takes place outside of dependent relationships (e.g. with superiors or doctoral dissertation supervisors).

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Networking

Interdisciplinary networking with the other mentees is an enormous benefit. We support this exchange with various formats.

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Training

In addition to the supporting programme and an assessment at the beginning of the programme, two workshops tailored to the doctoral phase (e.g. on presentation, career planning) are offered exclusively for the mentees.

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Writing

In addition to individual career development, the mentoring programme also supports goal-oriented doctoral studies. A key feature of our programme is the promotion of exclusive writing time. We initiate times and meetings in which the doctoral candidates focus on their doctorates and work on them.

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Offers for other target groups

Peer-Mentoring-Programm "Einblick!" für Studentinnen

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Doktorandinnen sitzen zusammen und beraten sich.

Für Doktorandinnen im ersten Jahr der Promotion

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Endspurtgruppe im letzten Promotionsjahr

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Post-Docs beraten sich

Kollegiales Mentoring für Post-Doktorandinnen

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Einzelcoaching für Wissenschaftlerinnen

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Be­ne­fits of ment­or­ing

"I found the programme very enriching. The mixture of intensive discussions with a mentor I chose myself from another university, the workshops on offer, shared writing time and the exchange with my fellow mentees definitely helped me progress and strengthened my decision to stay in academia."

(Mentee, first year)

 

  • New impulses and ideas for a career in science or science-related fields

  • Concretisation of individual career and future planning

  • Reflection on personal and professional skills and development opportunities

  • Insider knowledge about professional success strategies

  • Expansion of professional contacts and long-term networks

"My mentee asked very specific questions that made me reflect on my own career and behaviour. I found that very valuable. And it also helped me to convey what the findings from my career and my approaches can mean in a more generalised view. These now also flow into the mentoring of other doctoral candidates."

(Mentor, year 12)

 

  • Deepening personal interviewing and counselling skills

  • Reflection on own professional and methodological working methods and leadership skills

  • Opportunity to reflect on one's own career in dialogue with an independent doctoral candidate

  • Expansion of the professional network

From the mentees' perspective:

"The faculty and university benefit from participation in the mentoring programme insofar as they offer young, ambitious female academics the opportunity to further their individual career-relevant skills and to network on an interdisciplinary and inter-university level, thus also becoming a figurehead for the faculty or university. In addition, the mentoring programme contributes significantly to the successful completion of the doctoral process."

(Mentee, year 12)

 

To summarise:

  • Efficient utilisation of the performance potential of qualified female academics, which has been insufficiently tapped to date

  • Individual preparation of women for university leadership roles

  • Medium to long-term increase in the proportion of women in qualification levels and professorships as well as in management positions

  • Promoting interdisciplinary networking and establishing a supportive culture in which expertise is shared

  • Recruitment and long-term retention of qualified female employees at Paderborn University

News and dates

Kick-off and in­tro­duct­ory work­shop for the new co­hort

Our new year starts on 26 and 27 September with a kick-off and introductory workshop.

In­formelle Net­zwerktref­fen

Für einen gelungenen Start in die Promotion sorgen die 14 Doktorandinnen unserer informellen Netzwerktreffen, die sich mit
dem Kick-off am 18.10. auf die gemeinsame Zeit und den interdisziplinären Austausch einstimmt haben.

Neues auf dem Ment­or­ing-Blog

Auf unserem Blog findet ihr neue Einblicke in die Welt rund um Mentoring an der UPB. Schaut gerne vorbei!

Con­tact us

business-card image

Dr. Julia Steinhausen

Kognitive Psychologie und Psychologiedidaktik

Mentoring-Programme für Doktorandinnen

Write email +49 5251 60-2898