Mentoring Circles - Postdocs

Mentoring Circles provide many of the same benefits to traditional mentoring, with some added advantages including:

• Building connections and expanding networks
• Peer to peer support
• Sharing ideas and plans around career development
• Broader variety of discussions

This experience has been both new and positive. Until now, I had not encountered such an environment. I have greatly benefited from collaborating with a group of esteemed colleagues who share diverse perspectives. In this setting, there is a mutual respect, with no competition among team members; instead, each individual offers valuable suggestions from their unique viewpoint.

Mentee in Mentoring Circles programme, Academic Year 2024/25 

I really enjoyed being a mentee in the mentoring Circles mentoring sessions. I found my group well balanced with different profile at different stage that made the discussion even more interesting. Mentees, and not only mentor, have been able to help or share their experiences with the younger mentees. I learned a lot.

Mentee in Mentoring Circles programme, Academic Year 2025/26

The group will be constructed based on preferences provided on registration and will all have similar objectives for taking part in mentoring.  What is discussed, a schedule, and the focus of the Mentoring Circles is decided by the group in the initial meeting at the Mentoring Circles launch event.  

We ask that discussions remain confidential to allow individuals to feel comfortable contributing and sharing.

The group composition will include 3 or 4 mentees, who will typically be postdocs, and 1 lead mentor, usually a more senior academic.  To get the most out of these Mentoring Circles we strongly encourage mentees to attend all sessions. 

We suggest the Mentoring Circles should meet over a 6-month period from 1st February – 30th July 2027 and we encourage everyone in the group to get the meeting dates in the diary at the first meeting, to ensure everyone can attend. The meetings’ frequency and duration will be decided by the group, including mentors, but we suggest meeting 4-6 times, for 1-1.5hr each time. 

Mentees will be matched with colleagues who are at a relatively similar stage, have common interests, objectives and goals for taking part. We will also consider cross School/College matches, where appropriate. The mix of disciplines will of course depend on who registers. Mentors will be considered for their area of research and linked to the expectations of mentees. 

Once matched, if any mentee decides not to continue and / or feels that the group mentoring isn’t working for them, this is completely fine.  There is no obligation to continue in a mentoring circle if it’s not supporting your interests, career goals and development.  We do ask that you let the group mentor and the Researcher Development team know, so we can update our details accordingly.

Mentors will be able to share their professional experiences, knowledge, and skills with a wider pool of researchers.  Being a mentor can help you to develop your communication and interpersonal skills and allow you the opportunity to reflect on your own practice.  

Was also supported by the group - was able to provide insight into experience and challenges I face at my career stage and felt the group provided really useful support and insight there too.

Mentor in Mentoring Circles programme, Academic Year 2024/25

Being a mentor developed my active listening and group facilitation skills while deepening my empathetic leadership. It allowed me to reflect on my own career development route, and working with postdocs from across College expanded my perspective on institutional culture that may impact postdoc experience. This will impact how I seek to empower my own team and more widely.

Mentor in Mentoring Circles programme, Academic Year 2025/26

The Mentoring Circles should be an informal space where everyone feels encouraged and comfortable to speak but mentors should still be focused on running the session based on the group aims and objectives and we encourage them to adopt their own method of facilitation for the session.

Academic Mentoring, 9 February 2027, 9:30am - 12:30pm

Researcher Development run a half day training session for Mentors, that will explore what mentoring means in a professional and academic context and how to build effective developmental relationships using skills such as listening, questioning and goal setting.