Mentoring program
A page within Conference Experience for Undergraduates (CEU)
Mentoring Information
The CEU mentoring program began in 2018 and quickly became an integral part of the CEU student experience. Mentors should be graduate students or postdocs in nuclear science with a willingness to share their experiences with undergraduate students.
The mentoring program is being revamped for 2023 in collaboration with the Division of Nuclear Physics Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee. This year is a pilot program to allow us to better serve all of our undergraduate scientists with the goal of creating a more welcoming environment and retaining more students in the field. This pilot program will incorporate additional training for the mentors as well as provide them with direct support to attend the DNP meeting.
Mentor Expectations
As a mentor, you are expected to:
- Represent the nuclear science community and conduct yourself in an appropriate manner
- Attend mentoring workshop session (on Oct 7, 2024 in the am)
- Have scheduled meetings with mentees
- Attend your students' poster
- Introduce them to a few people in the field (this can be a couple of graduate students of postdoc friends from your group).
- Be a friendly face during the conference.
CEU24 mentoring applications are open <here>.
Mentor Benefits
As a mentor you will:
- Receive support (this may include: a stipend, travel support, and/or paid meals)
- Attend research-backed mentor workshop by certified instructors
- Network with graduate students/postdocs across nuclear science
- Support young scientists navigate the conference and the field
We also offer >free< ice cream.
Results
The 2018 conference introduced the mentor program.
- 85% of mentors surveyed agreed the experience enhanced their own conference experience and 95% would recommend mentoring to other graduate students/postdocs.
- 90% of CEU students found interactions with their mentors helpful during the conference.
From 2018 CEU Students:
"She made the conference feel more accessible."
" .. It was nice to have another friendly face to see around the conference."
"My mentor was very helpful and encouraging. He stopped by my poster and gave me really good feedback. He was also very open to answering questions about grad school, which was awesome!"
Support
We would like to acknowledge those who are funding the 2023 CEU Mentoring program. If you would like to contribute, please email slesher@uwlax.edu
- National Science Foundation
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
- Duke University Physics Department
- Texas A&M University, Cyclotron Institute
- University of North Carolina
- Temple University
- MIT