Teaching Research and Academic Mentoring Scheme

For the academic year 2023/24, the scheme is under review for development and enhancement to support, and make sustainable, the rapid growth of the scheme in recent years. Therefore the scheme will not be open to new applicants until further notice.

An announcement will be made via this webpage, and other communication channels, of when the scheme will be ready to accept new applicants.

The Teaching, Research and Academic Mentoring Scheme aims to pair experienced individuals involved in Teaching or Research (mentors) with colleagues at an earlier career stage (mentees) to provide career guidance and structured support. This successful cross-institutional mentoring scheme was established through a collaboration between the OSDS in St Andrews and the University of Dundee’s OPD and continues to develop. The scheme now includes Abertay University, Glasgow School of Art, the James Hutton Institute, Trinity College Dublin (School of Medicine) and Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh making this a unique, seven-way collaboration.

It is compulsory for new mentees to attend one of the 4 Briefing Sessions that will be running in late August and early September. Please see the dropdown below for more details and dates. New mentors to the scheme and those who consider themselves experienced mentors are also strongly encouraged to attend to learn about the scheme and / or refresh their scheme knowledge and mentoring skills. 

Continuing participants are also strongly encouraged to refresh their mentoring skills and broaden their knowledge of the scheme either by attending one of the Briefing Sessions taking place over the summer or by viewing the pre-recorded Online Briefing. Development opportunities and mentoring resources are also available to all participants throughout the cycle.  

Current participants (matched or unmatched) need not reapply but your Scheme Coordinators will be e-mailing you over the summer, asking you to notify them regarding your willingness and availability to continue your participation should you wish to remain in your current partnership or be re-matched. The Mentoring Database requires updating prior to the matching process in September – please see ‘Tasks for 2021-22 participants’ below for more information.

Extra support for current participants

Participating in a TRAMS partnership?

 

Visit the new TRAMS Resources Page to find information about ...

  • Refreshing your TRAMS knowledge and reviewing your mentoring partnership goals
  • The continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities open to you
  • The new ‘Long-distance mentoring partnership travel fund’
  • Your e-mentoring communication options
  • Mentoring books to help you on your mentoring partnership journey.

Who can be a Mentee?

Mentees who would like to take part in the scheme should be:

  • Employed by the University

  • Involved in Teaching and / or Research 

  • Looking for guidance and support to develop their career

  • Able to commit to one hour per month for up to 12 months

 

Examples of Mentees:

  • New Associate Lecturers (previously known as Teaching Fellows) - upwards 

  • Research Assistants - upwards

Who can be a Mentor?

For continued success, the scheme needs great mentors who are:

  • On an Education and / or Research Focused Career Track 

  • Actively involved in Teaching and / or Research  

  • Experienced in supervision

  • Interested in passing on knowledge and experience and developing potential

  • Able to commit to one hour per month for up to 12 months

 

Examples of Mentors

  • Associate Lecturers (previously known as Teaching Fellows) - upwards 

  • Independent Research Fellows - upwards

Dual role & peer to peer partnerships

Dual role participation is welcomed, where participants can be both a mentee and a mentor, a mutually beneficial and fulfilling relationship for both the mentee and mentor.

 

Senior colleagues are invited to join the scheme with a view to building their professional network and unlocking their potential further by sharing in the experiences of colleagues outside their home institution.     

How do I apply?

To apply to join the scheme, either as a mentor or mentee, please complete the online application form.

All data you provide will be handled in accordance with the Data Protection Act and GDPR: please see the SUMAC Mentoring privacy policy.

Once your application has been submitted you will receive an automatic email acknowledgment from SUMAC, our mentoring management system.

To ensure that this and subsequent emails do not go to your junk mail folder, please set ‘@mentoringscotland.org.uk’ as a permitted domain in your email application. To do this in Outlook, click on ‘Junk mail’ on the menu bar, and select ‘Never block sender’s domain’

Please ensure that you read the Teaching, Research & Academic Mentoring Scheme Guidance Notes (PDF, 893 KB)

For more information please see the Teaching, Research & Academic Mentoring Scheme Flyer (PDF, 972 KB)

Briefing Sessions

Two in-person and two live, online Briefing Sessions will occur between August and early September prior to the matching process which takes place in September.

 

This briefing will occur prior to matching and will…

  • Help current and potential participants refine their mentoring objectives - this in turn has the potential to positively impact the effectiveness of the matching process  

  • Cover all the information that you will need to successfully navigate the mentoring process

  • Provide a useful guide and advice for those who are new to the scheme

  • Serve as a great refresher for those who have participated in previous cycles

Please book your session in advance via PDMS, the St Andrews event booking system.

 

In person

University of St Andrews, Tuesday 23rd August 10:00-12:00
Venue: TBC
Lunch provided 12:00-13:00

University of Dundee, Tuesday 6th Sept, 10:00-12:00
Venue: TBC

Online via MS Teams 

Thursday 25th August, 14:00-16:00

Thursday 8th September, 14:00-16:00

 

Once booked, you will be emailed a calendar invite in advance for you to join on the day

Matching and getting started

The Matching Process will take place in September when participants will receive information from SUMAC and the scheme co-ordinators regarding partnerships.

 

Mentors and mentees will be matched according to the information provided in the application form. The number of mentors taking part will determine the number of matched mentoring pairs the scheme is able to support.  For further information please read our Teaching, Research & Academic Mentoring Scheme Guidance Notes (PDF, 893 KB)

 

Following the matching process, all participants will be invited to on online event that will provide a great opportunity to…

  • Hear from a mentee and mentor regarding their mentoring partnership experience

  • Receive further information about frequently asked questions, assistance with issues and guidance to get the best out of a partnership

Participants are encouraged to attend these online sessions as a partnership (mentor and mentee) but they are open to individual participants as well.

Tasks for 2021-22 participants

The Teaching Research and Academic Mentoring scheme is set to launch its 16th cycle on 1st July 2022.  

 

As there are 7 institutions involved with the scheme, there is some necessary housekeeping to be done regarding the data stored within the system. Your Scheme Coordinators are asking for your help with the following task. 

 

Current partnerships

Mentees: Please let us know if your current partnership will be continuing for the next cycle by no later than 5th August.  Please email mentoring@dundee.ac.uk. If we do not hear from you by the 5th August, we will close the partnership and withdraw you from the scheme once the current cycle has officially ended in October.

 

Unmatched participants

You will receive some e-mails over the summer to check in and ask if you would like to participate in the upcoming cycle. Please respond to mentoring@st-andrews.ac.uk when contacted. 

 

All continuing participants

Please log into your mentoring scheme profile and update all your details before 2nd September if you are wishing to continue your participation, whether you plan to continue in your current partnership or be re-matched.  

 

This may include new titles, objectives or achievements. Having up to date and relevant information on the profiles makes the matching process more straightforward and significantly improves our ability to make high-quality partnerships. Updating your profile takes around 10 minutes. Please visit sumac.ac.uk to log in. 

 

We are very grateful for the time that you can dedicate to these two tasks. 

 

Optional tasks: 

You might wish to join a Briefing Session or access the online mentoring briefing to refresh your knowledge of the scheme objectives or to help frame your thinking about what you would like to gain from participating. You can access the briefing here Online Briefing. 

 

Local Scheme Coordinators

Mentoring partnership support documents