Skip to main content

Mentoring Workshops

The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs runs quarterly “Mentoring Up + Down” workshops for postdoctoral scholars and graduate students in all disciplines who would like to learn best practices to help them establish effective and productive mentoring relationships with their mentees (“mentoring down”) and with their mentors (“mentoring up”). These three-part training workshops are based on the “Entering Mentoring” curriculum developed by the University of Wisconsin at Madison and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Participants who complete all three sessions are eligible to receive a certificate from the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. Sessions do not have to be completed in the same quarter in order to be eligible for the certificate.

The workshop schedule for Fall Quarter 2024 is posted below. If you have any additional questions, please reach out to Beth Healey (beth-healey@northwestern.edu) for clarification. 

Mentoring Up + Down Workshop Series

Virtual Sessions - Postdoctoral Scholars

Faculty Mentoring Training

The Office of the Provost, The Graduate School, and the Center for Leadership offer the “Advancing Mentoring Excellence at Northwestern” a mentoring training program. This program is based on the Office of the Provost’s Foundational Principles of Mentoring Practice and nationally recognized best practices for the mentoring of graduate students and postdoctoral trainees. The training includes small group work, case studies, short lecture-style learning, and guidance to help faculty be intentional and confident in their mentoring abilities. Each session has case studies available for both lab-based STEM faculty and non-lab-based faculty across all disciplines. Completion of all five evidence-based modules in the Advancing Mentoring Excellence at Northwestern series within two years will earn a Mentoring Excellence Certificate and constitutes successful completion of the NIH requirements for faculty mentoring training for training grants. Sessions will be both virtual and in-person at the Chicago and Evanston campuses.  Please note, faculty who participated in training in previous years but have not completed the full sequence yet can contact faculty@northwestern.edu for guidance. 

Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences (NUCATS) Institute hosts  
“Developing & Enhancing Mentoring Relationships” monthly workshops designed to prepare mentors and mentees to be effective and successful in their roles. Workshops are aligned with and guided by Office of the Provost’s  Foundational Principles of Mentoring Practice. Workshops include presentation of evidence-based best practices, open discussions, breakout groups and hypothetical case scenarios to help participants reflect on their own experiences as mentors and mentees. NUCATS also offers a "Mentor Training Certificate Program” for faculty who hold appointments in the Feinberg School of Medicine or are members of NUCATS. Completion of all three required workshops, three elective workshops, program surveys and evaluations within three years will earn a NUCATS Mentor Training Certificate. This program fulfills NIH requirements for faculty mentoring training for training grants. All sessions will be in person at the Chicago Campus. Please contact Morgan Barrowman if you are interested in enrolling.