Trends in Research Mentoring
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"An academic experience in science
... is a challenging and exciting intellectual
pursuit. It can also be fraught with intense
pressures and frustrations: how to balance
a heavy courseload with family responsibilities;
what research avenue to pursue; what career
path to follow. Young scientists ... need
strong, creative mentors to provide them
with wise guidance as well as with friendship.
The future of science ... so important to
the health and prosperity of the world,
depends on the skillful mentoring of each
new generation by the one that precedes
it."
Statement on Mentoring from Bruce Alberts,
President of the National Academy of Sciences
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Certain particularities about the scientific research environment
should be considered when developing mentoring programs for
researchers. The National Science Foundation has created a
new grant program to encourage institutional policy change
to remove barriers to women scientists (e.g., reconfiguring
the tenure track).43, 48
The National Institutes of Health provides an online guide
for training and mentoring that offers an excellent example
of specific guidance for researchers: http://www1.od.nih.gov/oir/sourcebook/ethic-conduct/mentor-guide.htm.
In the area of training for predoctoral and postdoctoral
researchers, the deputy director for intramural research at
the National Institutes of Health realized that researchers'
experiences at the Institute would be enhanced by a more explicit
set of expectations. The NIH fellows themselves had been seeking
improved mentoring, and the development of A Guide to Training
and Mentoring in the Intramural Research Program at NIH
came, in part, from their efforts. The NIH guide is divided
into six sections within which specific recommendations are
made. The summary may be found in Appendix
C.
The VCU School of Graduate Studies now offers its own mentoring
guide geared toward basic researchers and students pursuing
graduate degrees. The mentoring handbook is divided into sections
concerning the general features of a mentor-trainee relationship,
core values of mentoring, and a bullet list of responsibilities
for both mentor and trainee. Researcher trainees have somewhat
different needs from clinical medicine mentees and the Office
of Graduate Studies Mentoring Handbook offers some
specific suggestions addressing those differences. The handbook
may be found online at http://www.vcu.edu/gradweb/pfmentor.htm.
In the VCU course "Scientific Integrity," which
is open to all graduate and postgraduate trainees at VCU,
Francis Macrina, Ph.D., Professor and Director, Philips Institute
of Oral and Craniofacial Molecular Biology, teaches about
the aspects of mentoring in research. In the 2000 edition
of his textbook Scientific Integrity, Chapter 3 is
devoted entirely to the topic.21
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