Looking at the daily business of many academic research mentors, one thing seems eerily absent: the availability and application of worthwhile tools to make best use of the time allotted to mentoring your mentees. Sure, there is the spreadsheet with all student projects, the self-developed guideline PDF with all ins and outs you could come… Read More
..so what’s next?
There are only few things more exhilarating than witnessing younger peers succeed. Not only because you empathise with their feeling of having accomplished something important. Rather, because you get a sense of how important past successes are for outlining and attempting future plans. Contributing to the success of a younger peer positively influences their outlook… Read More
Make it a learning race
My working hypothesis is… …when mentoring, your mentee will likely be quicker to learn. They are younger, younger people learn faster. Use that to your advantage.
Share to create trust
My working hypothesis is… …when mentoring, never underestimate the power of sharing your own world-view, challenges, successes, experiences, and failures.
Forget answering, start inspiring
My working hypothesis is… …when mentoring, be careful with the potential illusion that you are in the position to give actionable and appropriate advice. Instead, consider the value of inspiring your mentee to build the energy to find their own solutions.
Share your own challenges
My working hypothesis is… … if you want to encourage your mentees to share their challenges with you, start sharing your own. It’s easier said than done.
Don’t be a passive mentor
My working hypothesis is… …when mentoring, never underestimate how busy a student’s life can be and how difficult it can be to build a mentoring relationship from the “weaker side of the table”.
The best worst car in the world.
The “worst” car I ever drove would not do much more than 90 on a flat road.
Wired: Was It Ethical for Dropbox to Share Customer Data with Scientists?
“For the past two years, researchers at Northwestern University have been analyzing the habits of tens of thousands of scientists—using Dropbox.
Medium: Future Human
“We imagine humanity as a fixed state. People come into being, usually the old-fashioned way. They progress along a timeline of milestones that varies little from person to person. They get sick, occasionally at first, and then inexorably. They die. There are outliers at every step—except for the last one, at least so far—but the… Read More