my attempt to pay it forward: MicroMentorHQ

Wed, 17 Jan 2018 04:03:50 +0000

I should start by acknowledging that I have always considered myself very lucky to be where I am. I am doing what I love (Science) in a (mostly) brilliant and (definitely) beautiful country, and I am conscious of the insane priviledge this is. This feeling of being priviledged has been a common thread throughout my secondary, teriary and graduate education, and continues now in my current postdoctoral position. I now find myself in one of (if not the) the most vibrant centers for science in the country. I am surrounded by people who are both good at their job, and emmensely passionate about it the mechanics of doing it well - how to be better at the technical science, but also how to progress in academia and how to leave the ivory tower a better place than when they found it.

Where before I was surrounded mostly by students and had met only a handful of postdocs during my PhD, I am surrounded for the first time by a critical mass of other post-docs. Suddenly, I have access to this wealth of resources and networks - both emotionally supportive and practical advice on the best ways to survive the post-doc squeeze (link here to Maggie’s STEM info with the squeeeze point diagram) and make it to the top of that ivory tower. One of the points that kept coming up again and again is the importance of mentoring and sponsorship - both in the traditional sense of experience mentor to inexperienced mentee, but also peer mentoring to foster emotional wellbeing.

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During one of our frequent trips home last year, this topic came up in conversation with a few friends of mine from my home institute, one a current post-doc and one a final year PhD student. It saddened me to realise just how lacking these networks were for them. Despite being well prepared in the technical sense for the next career move (they both do excellent research), we all felt a little ‘out of the loop’ when it came to the trickle-down knowledge that can only come from those who’ve come before you. Some of this is mitigated by twitter (the scientific twitter community really is quite incredible), however engaging with Twitter as a platform was another thing that had not ’trickled down’ to these friends.

I resolved that this was my chance to pay it forward - to take what I was exposed to, and the lessons I was learning, and pass it along to late-stage students and postdocs. And so, MicroMentorHQ was born. First and foremost, I wanted the group to be a peer mentoring community for women in science, particularly Early-Mid Career Researchers. The inherent idea was that we all have valuable experiences and by connecting us wherever we may be in the world and at whatever career stage we are at, hopefully we can more easily elevate one another in the world of science. The current funding climate, and the other cruelties of doing science, also means that we need to get better at sharing opportunities and celebrating success, and I hoped to build a network that would encompass all of these ideas.

The experience, it’s is current form, I think is somewhat like a lunchroom with separate tables (or message boards) for different conversations. There is a place to introduce new members, where I hope to post bio’s to enable everyone to get to know each other and maybe even get the collaborative juices flowing. There is a message board specifically to curate any funding opportunities, including fellowships, grants, travel funds and awards. It occasionally includes reminders for upcoming deadlines and is a great place to share helpful advice for the application process. There is a board for science life i.e. when someone is reading something interesting, learning a new technique, celebrating papers published or grants won. Most importantly, there is a board from Human Life - where someone can ask for advice, tell a story or post photos of their kids (or dogs or cats). In science I find it all to easy to forget that we are all human beings and I honestly believe this needs to become a bigger part of the conversation.

Fast-forward two and a half months, and we have ten members. One of my main personal goals for 2018 is to grow this community, to help connect those in a similar situation such that they too can access all the benefits of being in a rapdily evolving scientific research hub. It may work, it may not, but I feel it is my responsibility to at least try to pass along the great fortune I have enjoyed so far.

If you’d like to get involved, have any suggestions or comments please get in touch - I’d love to hear from you!

Mentor | DEZERAECOX

my attempt to pay it forward: MicroMentorHQ