About the programme
The mentoring programme for talented scientists will start again at the beginning of September 2025 with separate workshops for mentors and mentees in which information will be given about, among other things, the programme, possible topics, the roles of the mentor and the mentee and practical matters of the programme. In the second week of October, intake interviews will take place in which we will discuss your personal goals and your wishes with regard to your mentor.
Mentors and mentees rated the programme with 4.3 and 4.7 respectively on a five-point scale. A summary of the evaluation can be found here.
Quotes by mentees:
- "Various creative examples of how to create more impact with my research."
- "Specific tricks on how to teach and organise new research projects. Becoming an assistant professor might be overwhelming at the beginning. But with proper planning and support, things will work out."
- "It helped me a lot with adjusting to the Dutch academic system and managing expectations."
- ‘"How to strategise and make sure that continuous progress is being booked, beyond of the current requirements for building a long-term strategy."
Quotes by mentors:
- "Helping young staff members to make the best choices for their career is important for their personal development. In some cases confidential reflection on conflicts or conflicting interests, is also important. For VU Amsterdam, optimally support talented staff, may help to keep staff motivated and connected to this university."
- "It helps them to have a sounding board to help them think about career issues and trade-offs who is not their team leader; and also useful that they might be from another discipline."
Topics of discussion
Each mentee will have approx. 5 discussions with his/her mentor. In these discussions, mentee and mentor will cover various topics related to organizing the scientific career of the mentee. For example:
- Visibility in the academic world and networking
- Strategic choices
- Acquisition of external funding for your research
- Prioritizing (research, education and management)
- How to control your career
- Work/life balance
For whom?
The programme is intended for Dutch and English-speaking assistant professors and postdocs. Depending on their specific questions and needs, they will be matched with an excellent experienced scientist (professor or associate professor) of another faculty. Thus, the match between mentor and mentee will in principle cross the boundaries of faculties. In a period of about 10 months, mentor and mentee will have approx. 5 discussions. You as a mentee are motivated and have a clear development question. For the mentor, seniority, motivation and coaching skills are important.
About the trainers
The workshop for mentors will be given by Erik de Haan, director of the Ashridge's Center for Coaching and professor of Organisation Development at the VU. The workshops and intake interviews with the mentees will be held by Lidy Stassen (coordinator career counselling) and Karin Wiegman (HR Advisor SBE).
Practical information
The faculties will decide whether to participate in the programme or not. Should you be interested in participating as a mentee, please contact the HR Advisor of your faculty or the head of your department. The faculty is responsible for the ultimate selection of the mentees. The (candidate) mentors will be approached by on or behalf of the dean of their faculty.
The time investment is approx. 10 hours (participation workshop, intake and 5 discussions). This does not include preparation for the 5 meetings with your mentor.
Registration for the program is open until Monday, 15 September 2025. A maximum of 40 participants can participate in this programme.
VU Learning & Development will send a e-mail to mentors and mentees asking you to fill out a mentor profile or intake form respectively.
Costs
As a compensation for programme costs, we ask mentees for a contribution of € 30. This contribution is automatically charged to your department.
Contact
Would you like to learn more about the mentoring programme for talented scientists? Please contact the HR Advisor of your faculty or Lidy Stassen.