Mentoring FAQs

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What happens to the data that I put in the online form?

By submitting your data you agree that it will be used by Sumac and the scheme coordinator to manage your membership in the Mentoring Scheme. Your data will not be shared with any other organisations.

 

Data held on Sumac is stored on servers physically located within the European Economic Area and covered under the Data Protection Act 1998 and will be GDPR compliant at the end of May 2018.

 

Why do you ask for my gender?

Because you (or potential mentoring partners) may have stated preferences about how you are matched, it is helpful for us to have this information about you. If you do not wish to provide this information it is not mandatory.

 

How do I decide where I want my mentoring partner to be from?

In making this decision consider:

What do you want from participation in the scheme: Are you more likely to get this from someone at your own academic partner or someone from another academic partner? For example, if what you are looking for relates to progression within your own academic partner and developing your own institutional knowledge, then someone from your own academic partner may be a useful choice. If, on the other hand, you are looking for more generic career development advice or ALPINE application advice then someone from another academic partner may be able to offer different perspectives.

 

How important is it that my mentoring partner works in (or has experience of) a discipline and/or has research interests which are close to my own?

If, for example, you want a mentor who works in the same discipline as you and whose research interests closely match your own, then this will narrow the options for finding a match. However, if this is important to the achievement of your objectives then this information will help us to ensure that any proposed match is likely to reflect your needs. If, on the other hand, you are looking for more generic support on how to raise your research profile and develop your career, then casting the net more widely to include a broader range of subjects will provide more possibilities for finding a match.

 

Why we ask for detailed information about you and your research interests, publications, etc?

When we make a provisional match, it is useful for your potential mentoring partner to know more than just your name and place of work. It helps mentees, especially, to have a greater degree of confidence that the proposed mentor has the experience to support them in their goals. It is useful for mentors because they can gain some understanding about the background