Lab Individual Mentoring Plan

Inspired by the Duffy lab at University of Michigan

This is meant to be a living document – which means that we will continue to discuss this as a lab, and collectively update it as needed. We (you and Carly) will aim to meet formally ~ once per semester (and at least once per year) to reflect on challenges and successes, and update the relevant sections

1. A brief summary of what the mentor will provide to the student (e.g. your expectations of me!) As your advisor, it is my job to help you ensure that you are staying on track and meeting your goals as best as possible throughout your program. You can think of my role as a coach. I will not micro-manage your schedule or your thesis research project, but will do my best to ensure that you have the appropriate resources and connections to develop as a scientist. A single mentor will rarely meet all of the needs of any given student (and I encourage you to seek out mentorship outside of the lab, including peer mentorship), but you can expect the following from me as your advisor: - Regular one-on-one meetings to discuss your progress, including a formal meeting each semester to discuss and update the relevant components of this mentoring plan (e.g., goals, milestones, etc.) - Guidance on key components of the research process (developing strong scientific questions, experimental design, analysis, and writing) and professional development - Funding and resources necessary to complete your research - An open door to discuss any pressing issues or concerns related to your professional progress, navigating grad school, or life at Concordia

2. Goals (short, medium, long term) These are “big picture” items that you want to achieve in the short, medium, and long term. For example, “learn analysis X”, “publish a paper”, “get a government job”, “do a PhD”. It is totally ok if your goals change over time as you progress through your degree (that’s why we will revisit this plan regularly!)

3. Milestones These are more concrete steps towards achieving your goals. For example, things like “attend QCBS R workshops this semester”, “plan a fieldwork protocol”, or “circulate a chapter draft to co-authors”. These are things that you could schedule, or have a set timeline.

4. Plan of attack Think about this as the daily/weekly schedule that will move you towards hitting your milestones and achieving your goals. For example, in your first semester your plan may include reading the literature, working on a funding proposal, and taking classes. In your later semesters, your plan may include things like finishing data analysis, drafting a paper, or preparing a conference presentation.

5. Publication plans An MSc degree typically includes 1-2 papers based on work that you did. A PhD degree typically includes 3-4 (and the lower numbers for both of these are totally great!). Typically, you will be the first author on papers in your dissertation. Carly will help with design, analysis, and writing, and will be a co-author. Other co-authors (e.g. co-supervisors, committee members, other students or colleagues) will be discussed as warranted. This section will evolve as you move throughout your degree (e.g. we will outline specific papers and target journals based on your research). For an MSc degree, I expect a solid draft of one paper by graduation (but you may or may not have a paper submitted or published yet). For a PhD degree, it is best to publish as you go; ideally, you will have one or more papers submitted by the time you defend your thesis.

6. Professional meetings or workshops Here, we will discuss any conferences, workshops, or special courses you may want to attend in the upcoming semester/year.

7. Funding Funding: In this section, we will discuss funding for your stipend, your research costs, and travel for each semester/year, as well as any upcoming grants or fellowships you may be eligible to apply to. It’s ok to ask about money - you should always know where your funding is coming from!

8. Courses Which courses are you taking? Which are you considering?

9. Plans for meeting and communication This is an opportunity to touch base about how frequently we want to meet (as well as any needed meetings with key collaborators or co-advisors). We will start with ~ bi-weekly meetings, but this can shift over time, as you settle into your project and have a better idea of your needs. There may be periods we meet infrequently (e.g., when you are in the field, or working on lab analysis or identification for stretches of time), and periods we meet more frequently (e.g., during intensive analysis or writing periods where you need more feedback). We will also discuss how to best get in touch for different purposes.

10. Data, code, and documentation To be written! This is a good topic for a future lab meeting…