Postdoc Mentoring Coaches

The Stanford Postdoc Mentoring Coaches are the foundation of a high-quality, scalable, multi-tiered approach to postdoc mentor training that transforms mentoring culture at Stanford and beyond.

OPA is recruiting 10 postdocs to serve as peer coaches and facilitators. Postdocs serving as peer mentoring coaches and mentoring curriculum facilitators will be compensated for their time at an hourly rate of $45 per hour, excluding training.

Objectives:

• Expand mentoring training for Stanford postdocs.
• Develop a community of postdocs who are engaged in mentoring.
• Create an opportunity for postdoc coaches to develop expertise in curriculum development, workshop facilitation, and coaching.

Components:

• Training – Coaches will receive in-depth training in the CIMER curriculum, considered the gold standard for training mentoring in a research environment. They will further engage in facilitation and coaching development activities.
• Peer Mentor Coaching – Coaches will facilitate discussions on mentoring among postdocs and provide small group and one-on-one peer coaching to postdoc scholars.
• Mentoring Curriculum Facilitation – Scholars will work with OPA to develop and facilitate mentoring training and workshops for postdocs. Coaches may also host regular mentoring lunches for postdocs that will develop community through discussions of current literature and case studies, and other enrichment activities fostering mentoring skill development.

Apply here to become a Postdoc Mentoring Coach.

Please note: there are two steps to applying to become a Postdoc Mentoring Coach: (1) register for the required Optimizing Mentoring workshop and indicate your interest in becoming a Mentoring Coach, then (2) check your email for the link to the second part of the Mentoring Coach application. Both parts of the application are due July 31, 2023.

REQUIRED TRAINING FOR FINALISTS

Wednesday, August 23 - Friday, August 25, 8:00am-12:00pm, In-person

Attendance is required for all 12 hours of this highly interactive workshop (4 hours/day for 3 consecutive days).

In addition, the Optimizing Culturally Inclusive Mentoring Practices Training held on Monday, August 21 - Tuesday, August 22 is a prerequisite* for all applicants to the Postdoc Mentoring Coaches Program.

*Coach applicants who attended Dr. Diggs Andrews’s 2-day mentoring training in February are still required to attend both days of the prerequisite training as well as the supplemental training for finalists.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is eligible for this opportunity?
All postdocs are eligible for the 2-day workshop. Postdocs with at least one year of postdoctoral training are eligible to become a mentoring coach.

What is the time commitment for postdocs selected as peer mentoring coaches or mentoring curriculum facilitators?
The time commitment will vary from week to week. We anticipate an average time commitment of one to two hours per week (50 to 100 total) during the 2023 to 2024 academic year (September 2023 to August 2024).

I attended OPA’s virtual Culturally Inclusive Mentoring Workshop on February 3, 2023. Am I still required to attend that portion of the in-person training on Monday and Tuesday if I want to be a mentoring coach?
Coach applicants who attended Dr. Diggs Andrews’s 2-day mentoring training in February are still required to attend both days of the prerequisite training as well as the supplemental training for finalists.

How do I notify my PI about my interest in this opportunity?
OPA encourages postdocs to discuss this opportunity with their mentors in the context of their IDP and overall professional goals. This is an opportunity to develop advanced skills that are directly beneficial to their current research group, and will translate well to future careers. OPA will ask the PI to acknowledge their support.

What is the due date for this application?
This application will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Applications received before July 17 will be prioritized. 

• July 17 - Priority deadline for applications
• July 31 - Final deadline for applications
• August 7 - Finalists are notified via email; finalists will be required to attend additional training days (see below)
• August 23-25 - Required additional training for finalists (8am-12pm for 3 days)
• September 1 - Final decisions will be communicated to all finalists

Who's facilitating this training?
Kelly Diggs-Andrews, PhD is the founder and CEO of Diggs-Andrews Consulting, LLC, a consulting and media company whose goal is to broaden accessibility to science careers through science outreach, diversity training, and professional development.

Dr. Diggs-Andrews is a Senior Principal Facilitator with the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) and the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER), where she leads both in-person and virtual workshops for research mentors across career stages and disciplines nationwide. Her curricular expertise includes Entering Mentoring, Facilitator Training for Entering Mentoring, and Culturally Aware Mentoring.

Dr. Diggs-Andrews earned her BS in Biology from Alabama State University (2005) and her PhD in Biology and Biomedical Sciences from Washington University in St. Louis (2010).