questions to ask phd mentor

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Prospective postdocs.

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How to Find, Approach, and Interview Potential Faculty Mentors

Postdoc appointments at Stanford are initiated by an offer from a faculty member. Selecting the best faculty mentor requires thought and investigation. Consider the following guidelines:

Start with your research interests and career aspirations.

What are your research interests? Your career aspirations? What excites you in your research field? Can you identify a productive research area that fits your values and career plans? Who is engaged in research that is complementary to your interests? Do you have geographical limitations?

What kind of mentor best fits your needs?

Famous mentors have connections and resources but may travel a lot and have big labs. Up-and-coming mentors may be in the lab every day but may still be developing resources. Do you prefer hands-on guidance or a more removed mentoring approach? Are they nurturing? Is that important to you? Are they collaborative? Competitive? What kind of connections do they have in academia? In industry? Where have former postdocs from that lab ended up? Read their work and work from their lab widely and critically.

Approaching potential mentors:

Introduce yourself via a succinct cover letter or email.

• The story of your current research (question, approach, results, and significance)
• Your career goals, your plan to achieve them, and how a postdoc position in that lab fits into that plan
• Your postdoc project interests (be creative!) and proposed approach
• A description of how this collaboration is a great match

Preparing for the interview:

Read up on the field in general, read the last several papers from the group, and research their current interests and projects. Think about the lab’s ongoing work. Conceive of complementary projects that aren’t in their current inventory. Prepare a 30-minute talk in advance; in this talk make it clear why you did what you did and the foundation of that work. Be prepared to answer some hard questions - don’t be defensive; discussing and defending your work is part of the process.

Questions to ask current/past group members (be selective, the focus should be on your science):

About them: Ask about their science and the lab environment.

About the PI:

• Is the PI a micro-manager?
• How often do you meet?
• Are they available for guidance?
• Do they play favorites?
• Are lab meetings confrontational or supportive?
• How responsive are they with manuscripts and deadlines?
• How is authorship/project ownership handled?
• About opportunities: Are there opportunities to teach/mentor? Leadership development?
• About the lab environment: What is the lab work ethic? What is the time off with pay policy in practice? Is there encouragement/financial support to attend major meetings? Who represents the groups at department functions? Is there formalized, regular feedback? How long do postdocs usually stay?

Questions to ask the faculty mentor:

What are the mentor’s expectations of a postdoc? How is a postdoc’s research program determined? How many postdocs has the mentor had? Where did they go? How many others are in the lab (grad students, staff, etc.)? How many papers are being published, and where? What is the mentor’s policy on travel to meetings? Are there opportunities for practice in grant writing, teaching and mentoring, oral presentations, and reviewing manuscripts? How long is financial support guaranteed? On what does renewal depend? Are there adequate research funds to support the proposed research? What is the mentor’s approach to help in finding a next position? How are projects shared?

Adapted from John Boothroyd’s “Finding the Right Postdoc for YOU,” Preparing for Faculty Careers, and “Questions to Ask When Choosing a Postdoc Advisor,” Pathways to Science.

Other Resources:

• How to Find a Mentor and Lab (Stanford Biosciences)
• Advising and Mentoring : the value of multiple mentors (Stanford Biosciences)
• Quintessential Careers : how to find a good mentor
• Council of Graduate Schools : mentoring topics for each stage of training
• How to get the mentoring you want  (University of Michigan)
• How to obtain the mentoring you need : links to other resources and guides (University of Washington)
• Stanford T32 Institutional Awards for Postdocs
• Postdoc Benefits
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• Diversity in Postdoctoral Scholar Training
• Postdoc Emergency Resources
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• Sep 21, 2020

Choosing Your Fate: Finding the right PhD mentor

Updated: Sep 24, 2020

By Michael Whaby

Undoubtedly one of the biggest decisions for a graduate student—especially PhD students—is choosing a mentor. Indeed, they come in all shapes and sizes. But unfortunately, the choice is not as simple as finding a mentor that does research that interests you. As this decision largely determines the direction of your graduate work, I figured it's worth discussing.

A graduate mentor—often referred to as a principle investigator (PI) in the sciences—is a professor that one does research under to complete a thesis or dissertation. These mentors are the graduate students’ guides, “bosses”, wisdom-providers—the list goes on; you name it. Mentors, along with other sub -mentors that make up a committee, not only help students finish their graduate work, but also help them prepare for their next steps in their careers. Accordingly, they also determine whether said graduate students are ready to defend their theses and graduate. They’re important.

Below, we’ll walk through some questions you may want to consider when choosing a graduate mentor. I will surely bias this in the perception of a STEM-related graduate student, as I am a biomedical PhD student. However, these questions should be of use to graduate students in other fields, too. Throughout this post, keep in mind what your intentions and goals are in pursuing a graduate degree.

Shall we begin?

Where to begin?

Simple answer: Begin well before you start the program. You should know of potential mentors for each program that you will be applying to (see post on PhD applications ). Reach out to these mentors ahead of time (via email) and succinctly tell them of your interest in the program itself and their research. Then, try to set up a call or meeting—which could easily be virtual, especially given the current state of the world. Make sure to do your research on the potential mentor and the program before meeting with them. This will make the meeting much more efficient.

These are the initial stages that will not only help you decide which program is best for you, but also help you find the right mentor and make connections before even starting the program. But still, just based off of these initial connections and conversations, do not yet put all of your eggs into one basket.

Use me as an example, I came to the Medical University of South Carolina to pursue a PhD in biomedicine. During the first year, we had to complete 3 lab rotations with 3 different mentors and labs. I came here with a good idea of which labs I would rotate with. When I got here, however, I ended up rotating in 3 labs different than those I had anticipated. Thankfully, I still fared well—as I still utilized the proceeding questions—but it’s best to try avoiding situations that make you improvise.

Tip: Even after talking with potential mentors, talk with the Dean of the graduate school and ask of any restrictions that might prevent you from having a certain mentor (we will learn more about this issue below).

What is the funding situation?

Something that is especially important for PhD students: You have to find a mentor who can afford you —or a school that funds you even if the mentor can’t. Some programs will provide funding for their students in the case that the PI does not have sufficient funding; however, the majority of programs do not offer this luxury. You will often have to be wary of the funding status of a potential mentor.

Tip: I used NIH RePORTER to “investigate” the funding status (from the NIH, at least) of potential mentors.

I talked with potential mentors before starting my PhD program that, by the time I started, were no longer able to take students because they lacked funding. This is why I added the side note above: Talk to the Dean, too. Know exactly which professors are most likely suited to take on graduate students.

Who do you learn well from?

As a graduate student, you must learn to think independently about your research and topics in your field. Your mentor will play a major role in helping you gather the tools necessary to do this. A quality that I searched for in a mentor was the level of communication they had with me. When we talked about research, I asked myself: 1) Did I learn well from this mentor? 2) How did they act if I didn’t understand something? 3) Were my ideas considered and not just tossed away?

To that last point, you want to be able to learn well from your mentor, but it is also important that your mentor can learn from you as well . As you grow as an academic and professional, you will bring more and more ideas to the table. Having these ideas heard, and not just in a passive manner, will add even more value to your training, your professional confidence, and your voice.

What is the rest of the lab like?

Labs can be very diverse environments. There can be other grad students, undergrads, postdocs, staff scientists, lab technicians, etc. You have to figure out which type of environment is most fitting for you. Maybe it’s a larger lab with multiple people at many stages in their career. A larger lab might indicate that you’ll have less one-on-one time with your mentor. And some people actually enjoy this “freedom”. In smaller labs, however, you tend to get more attention from the mentor.

The lab that I work in, for instance, consists of 3 staff scientists and 1 postdoc. I am the only graduate student. At first, this was kind of intimidating because everyone had so much experience on me. But the benefits to this were that I had tons of experienced people all around me. Most of the help I continue to receive comes from the other lab members, and yet I still have the luxury of being able to meet one-on-one with my mentor.

Tip: A good way to get a sense of what the lab and mentor are like is to join in on a few lab meetings. Here, you will get insights on how the lab functions and communicates with one another, and also will see some of the expectations that the mentor has of the lab.

Lastly, Talk to current and former graduate students of the lab. They will have the best, and hopefully unbiased, insights about the mentor and lab. You will never know exactly what a mentor is like through just a couple interactions with them, so it couldn’t hurt to hear another’s perspective.

What are their values vs yours?

As a graduate student, you will always encounter the dilemma of a work-life balance. Between self-guilt and pressure from peers or even your mentor, striking a good work-life balance is one of the hardest feats of graduate school.

Everyone’s ideal work-life balance is unique to them, but too much of either is risky. Again, with just a straightforward approach, ask potential mentors what they do to encourage a healthy work-life balance.

This plays into what mentors expect of their graduate students. Different mentors will have different expectations of their students and other lab members. Some mentors are more relaxed and flexible, while others are strict and more upfront about their expectations. It is best to openly ask them this question. No beating around the bush here; these are the conversations that need to happen early on.

Yet again, sadly, there are no “right" answers here; there are no single answers to the questions above that would be fitting for everyone. It would be wrong of me, though, to downplay the importance of this decision. So, I’ll leave you with this: If you’re lucky, you will have a hard time choosing between a few different great mentors. Good luck!

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Michael, I nice topic and some good advice. I also liked the Chronicles of Giving and Receiving Criticism. You are doing a great job of staying on track with the blogging schedule.

Tips for Meeting with a Potential Mentor

In contacting a potential mentor, you should be prepared to convince the mentor that you are right for a position in their group and determine if the opportunity is right for you.

The way in which you approach a potential mentor will have a great deal of impact on whether you end up being recommended by the mentor to join their group. There are two key things you need to do in order to make a positive impression: (1) provide information about yourself, and (2) learn something about the research topic in advance of making first contact.

Providing information about yourself is relatively easy. Useful information includes class level, major, GPA, relevant courses taken, and any prior experience. If you have a resume available, this is very helpful. Learning something about the topic is a bit harder, but a little effort can go a long way. Take the time to browse through the mentor's website and look for any relevant publications authored by the mentor. Sometimes journal articles are posted directly on the website, or you can use the Web of Science library search to find articles on the topic written by the mentor.

Once you have collected the information about yourself and about the research topic, you are ready to contact the potential mentor. The best way to begin is by sending an email message introducing yourself and explaining why you are interested in the topic. This would also be an appropriate time to set up an appointment to meet or for a telephone or Zoom interview to discuss the research opportunity. You might also request additional references or websites you can read prior to your appointment.

The first meeting with a potential mentor is very important, whether you do it in person (the best way), or by e-mail, phone, or video conferencing. Plan to spend some time with this step. Don't wait until the last minute to begin this process.

This is your opportunity to find out what the project will be, why it is important, and how you might approach it. It is also your chance to find out what it will be like to work in the research group. If you have not previously done research, the interview should help you form your expectations about what the mentor wants from you and what you want from the experience. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! Your experience will be enhanced if you spend some time in this initial, vital step!!

And now, on to the first meeting.

We suggest you ask some--or all--of the following questions when you meet with a potential mentor. You will impress the mentor and help them think more deeply about your project. These questions are general guidelines; they are not a checklist. Ask all the questions you can think of! After you talk to your mentor, think about the discussion, and then go back and ask more questions.

Try to find out in detail what this project is. What is the science? What is expected? What led to this question? Ask for more articles or literature references about the project, especially articles by the mentor or members of the research group. Then read the articles and ask questions for clarification or further information.

What specific tasks are required to do this project? What course background or skills do you need to do it? What is the likelihood of completing this project in ten weeks? What equipment will you need to use? When will it be available to you? Will you work on this project? Or will you work on something different? Ask whether you are a strong candidate for this project. (If you are not, you may want to talk to other prospective mentors.)

Who will supervise you? Will you have a co-mentor, a grad student? Have they been informed you will work in the lab? How many other students have they supervised? How much supervision will they be willing to provide? Ask to meet the co-mentor (if it is not the faculty member or JPL staff member), and ask them the same questions. When your mentor/co-mentor is not available, who else can answer questions or help you?

What is it like to work in this laboratory? Are students welcome at group meetings? When are meetings? Seminars? Journal clubs? Could you start to attend group meetings now as your time permits? Will you get a chance to present your work to the group during the summer? Can you get a brief tour of the lab? When do people work?

Read, note, and inwardly digest the information you get as you ask these questions. Consider the mentor's responses--do they eagerly answer your questions? If they seem hurried or distracted, ask whether there would be a better time to discuss a possible project. When you have given thought to the project and your interview, go back and ask more questions about the project; dig more deeply into the science. After you think about your interview, consider whether you want to work with this person on this project for ten weeks. If the answer to that is "no," you may want to start the process with another potential mentor.

Interview guidelines were prepared by Carolyn Ash, Quondam Director, Student-Faculty Programs.

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Your first meeting with a potential research mentor is an opportunity for you to learn more about a faculty members research interests, ongoing projects, any collaborators or graduate students or other faculty they work with, and what expertise and guidance they may give you in a potential research project. For the potential faculty mentor, the first meeting is a time for them to learn more about you, your motivations, your intellectual interests, and how they can be most helpful to you. Before you head into your first meeting with a potential faculty mentor, consider the following:

Prepare ahead of time Read up on the faculty member's most currently published papers or summaries of their work and reflect why the work is interesting, what you’d like to learn, and what ideas you also might have to contribute to the work. Sketch out a short agenda (for yourself) outlining the important points you’d like to make or questions you’d like to ask.

Potential Questions to Ask :

• Can you tell me more about your project on ...?
• How can I learn more about this topic? Are there papers or courses I should take to prepare myself?
• How do students typically get involved in research in your field?
• What would independent research look like in this field?
• Have you mentored undergraduates on independent research projects before? If so, how did they prepare for starting an independent research project under your guidance?
• What would a research assistantship for you entail? What are your expectations for a research assistant (time commitment, relevant skills)?
• What are your expectations of a thesis writer? (How often do thesis writers check in with you?)
• Are there any opportunities for me to get involved in research under your guidance or with your graduate student mentees or postdocs?

During the meeting Take notes and ask questions. Don’t be afraid of concepts that may come up on in conversation that are unfamiliar to you. Show your interest and curiosity for what they do, which will provide context for you to describe your interests in working with them. 

Post-meeting Review the notes you took during your first meeting. If you were seeking a faculty mentor for an independent research project, think about their research and expertise, their communication style and how they might be helpful. Keep in mind that a potential faculty mentor’s interests may not directly align to your own. if you feel that they have given you substantial information to consider and if you enjoyed the conversation and feel comfortable seeking their advice, they may a make good mentor for your research. If you are seeking additional expertise or other guidance, it is also okay to have additional mentors or advisors in the wings. Follow up with a thank you email, acknowledge that you have read papers that they have recommendeded, and ask what next steps there may be if you are interested working more closely going forward.

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Build relationships with mentors

Suggestions for integrating into your group and working to develop a strong relationship with your PI and daily supervisor.

Developing strong positive relationships with your PI, other research supervisors, and members of the research group will help you thrive at NIH. At the outset, it is important to clarify three functions provided by your PI and other senior leaders in your research group:

Supervision - Making sure work gets done, setting assignments, and focusing on the needs of the group.

Mentorship - Supporting the scientific, personal, and professional needs of individuals. Mentorship functions are sometimes in conflict with the overall needs of the team or supervisor; appreciating the potential for tension in these two domains is critical.

Advocacy - Speaking up on behalf of an individual in the group to support their career advancement. Advocacy generally happens later in a relationship especially as it develops in healthy ways.

Your PI and other supervisors provide all three of these functions, especially when it comes to your development as a scientist. However, one person cannot meet all of your needs and it important to cultivate relationships with other mentors and advocates. To help you build positive relationships with your PI and others who can support you, we offer guidance in four areas:

Understand and establish expectations

Guidance on what you should expect, and what is expected of you.

Integrate into your research group

Tips for success and common issues during the transition to a new work environment.

Develop a network of mentors

Advice on how to expand your mentor support system.

Where to turn when issues arise

Resources and guidance for navigating workplace conflict.

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Questions to Ask Prospective Mentors to Determine a Good Fit

The student-mentor relationship is foundational to PhD programs, and they are informed by the unique training needs of students and available resources of mentors. Since there is no single model of successful relationships, it is important to get a sense of mutual expectations and likely fit. Here are questions that may be useful for guiding this process.

Do you consider yourself more of a hands-on or hands-off advisor, how often do you meet with your students , how do you keep your students motivated when they are working through challenges  if you had to choose a motto for your lab, what would it be, do you tend to give your students projects or have them select their own, how are your students primarily funded (teaching assistantships, research assistantships, fellowships), will i be directly trained by you or other members in the lab how will i learn new skills, how many graduate students are you currently advising what is the gender distribution, is there a former student that i can talk to about working with you , what do you expect from your students what can i expect from you .

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Independent Educational Consultants Association

Questions to ask of potential graduate school advisors.

By Lucia D. Tyler, PhD, IECA (NY)

Graduate school is a big commitment. Students who are undertaking graduate study should interview their advisors or mentors to make sure it is a good fit. These questions can help prepare you for an interview with a potential advisor.

1 . How many graduate students are you currently advising? International students? Ratio of men to women?

This question addresses the social dynamic of the advising group. It helps if there is at least one other English-speaking student in the mix. In typically male disciplines such as engineering (or vice versa), a mix of women and men often makes a more collegial group atmosphere. Students often learn from each other so having at least one other student in the group is helpful. However, grad students are expensive to support, so a professor of interest to you may not have funding for many students.

2 . How many graduate students have graduated under your advisement in the last five years?

If this number is zero, you need to ask more questions about the professor’s experience as a mentor.

3 . How long does a graduate student usually take to finish?

This is an important question. Some advisors have extra requirements for publishing or experimental work that may take a very long time to fulfill. You should also ask other graduate students in the department about this.

4 . How much funding is available for your students? Are there teaching or research fellowships available? Are they competitive? Will the funding last as long as the graduate program?

Financial support is important to the successful completion of graduate school. For budgeting purposes you should obtain specific answers to these questions. It is horrible to be part way through a program and realize that you don’t have enough money to finish.

5 . Are there funds available for students to travel to professional conferences?

Conferences provide valuable opportunities for students to network with possible future employers or collaborators. Some programs have rules about travel support that are tied to presenting research.

6 . Do your students share authorship on papers that you publish? Are they ever senior authors?

This can be an area of contention because research ideas come to fruition. It is extremely frustrating to have a major advisor take all of the credit for student work. It is best to be clear about these boundaries from the beginning.

7 . What are your research interests? Do you have specific topics in mind for a potential PhD student?

Prior to the interview, you should have looked up some of the professor’s publications to get an idea of the types of things he or she is working on. The research should spark an interest in you. After all, you will spend years digging into the topic so if you are not excited about the research, it will be a hard journey in graduate school.

Lucia Tyler can be reached at [email protected]

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Questions to Ask During Your PhD Interview

• By Zebastian D.
• August 22, 2020

As someone applying for PhD positions, you’ll no doubt be thinking of and preparing for the interview with your potential supervisor(s). You’re absolutely right to be doing this and planning your answers to some of the PhD interview questions that they’ll probably ask you; make sure you’ve read our guide on this to help you prepare.

Remember though that the PhD student-supervisor relationship works both ways; as much as the potential supervisor is interviewing you for a PhD position within their lab, you should also have the mindset that you’re also interviewing the professor for the role of supervisor, and be ready to ask questions! Ultimately the key thing you want to know after your PhD interview is you are both a good fit for each other.

With that in mind, I’ve prepared a common list of questions that you should consider asking to help you decide if the supervisor and the research lab is the right fit for you. You don’t need to ask all these questions but instead use this list as a guide for picking what feels most important to you.

I should also note that some of the answers to these questions can usually be found through a quick Google search of the potential supervisor or looking at their university profile. So do think about which questions in particular you want to bring up in person at the PhD interview.

Now on to the questions….

How many PhD students have you supervised previously, and did they all gain their PhDs?

You’re asking this to firstly work out how experienced the professor is at supervising students, based purely on the numbers previously supervised. The reason to ask the second question of how many students gained PhDs is to get an idea of the supervisor’s track record of successful supervision. The lower the percentage of students that went onto complete their PhD under his or her supervision (and not leave the program early ), the more alarm bells that should be ringing for you. This of course shouldn’t be your only data point in the decision-making process, and you should try and find out more about why those that left their PhD program before completion, did so. Equally it’s also a possibility that some students have been successful in their PhD research in spite of a supervisor’s lack of support. A good way to get a truer sense of this is by speaking to the supervisor’s current and past students.

Whilst a supervisor’s successful track record can be reassuring, don’t be put off if they haven’t supervised many (or even any) students before, particularly if they’re still fairly new in the job. There are many other ways in which you can get a sense of the supervisor-student fit.

How many years does a PhD project usually take in your lab?

If you’re in the UK, a full time PhD should normally take you 3-4 years to complete , as reflected by most funding grants for PhD research being for this time frame. You want to know and have some reassurance that most students in this lab do finish within this time frame. Asking this question will also help you better understand the supervisor’s attitude towards completion time frames; is this someone that would have no issue with a student that’s been working on their PhD for 6 years or are they driven to help students complete ‘on time’.

What are the key milestones for progression that you expect from students?

This is a good follow on from the previous question. Some supervisors can be very ‘hands off’ and set no expectations on their students about deliverables and if this is the type of student-supervisor relationship you’re after (which some are), then perfect!

However, whilst a PhD project is an independent body of work, that doesn’t mean you have to do it in isolation. Having a supervisor that also acts as a mentor is important; a key aspect of this is to help keep you on track to complete your project ‘in time’, which is most effectively done using regular milestones.

The actual milestones will vary between supervisors but what you’re looking for in their response is some indication that they’ve actually thought about them. Examples of milestones may be the completion of the literature review within the first 6 weeks of starting, first experimental data captured by month 3 and first paper published by the time you end year 1.

How many other students do you supervise?

You ideally don’t want your supervisor to have too many (>5) other PhD students under his or her supervision at any one time, simply because of the dilution of their time that will naturally occur. Being part of an active research lab is a big advantage however, so you don’t necessarily want to be the only student under their supervision either. Remember that the professor may also be responsible for several Master’s and undergraduate students too so you just need to know what to realistically expect from him in terms of available time to meet with you regularly.

How often do you meet with your PhD students?

You don’t want a supervisor that’s too prescriptive in how you run your project, but you do want someone who you know you can rely on to meet with regularly. Some professors set weekly one-on-one or group research meetings that occur at the same time, day and venue; you know exactly what you’re getting here. Others tend to meet less frequently but still at regular intervals. A good balance would be to have catch up meetings every 2 weeks but it’s important to know upfront what the expectations are from both sides about how often to meet.

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How flexible is the direction of the PhD project?

At the PhD level of higher education, the supervisor is there to provide mentorship and guidance to help you avoid going in a completely wrong direction with your research. You should however expect to have the freedom to take your project in any direction you want to (within reason). This should be the case even if it means deviating from the original research questions that were proposed at the start; you and your supervisor should be in agreement before you start about how much flexibility there can be. Remember too that sometimes the project may have to stay closely aligned to the original plan if it’s required by the industry funder, so this decision may be out of the supervisor’s hands to some extent.

What funding is available for this project?

You should know by the time you come to interview if the project is to be self-funded or if there is specific funding associated with it. It may feel like an awkward question to ask but you need to be very clear on how much of a living stipend you should expect and if there is any additional funding for things such as conference travel, paying for journal publication fees or other bench fees; you don’t want any unpleasant surprises about finances when you’ve already started the PhD.

Do you expect there to be any changes in funding during the course of the project?

Specifically, you want to find out if there’s any risk that the funding associated with the project could be removed. Most often, funding bodies don’t transfer the entire monetary amount of the agreed funding up front in one lumpsum (which can be in excess of £75,000 for a 3-year studentship). Instead, payments are made in instalments and may be done so on the basis that certain milestones are met. For industry funded projects, for example, there may be a service work element (such as specialist analysis using university-based equipment) associated with the funding which will need to be delivered on time for the university to continue to receive money. In reality a complete loss of funding is unlikely to happen, but you should find out if this is at all a possibility of happening.

What is the source of the funding?

It’s important for you to understand how your project will be funded. As discussed in the previous question, the specific funder may place certain requirements on the university that need to be fulfilled to receive the funds. Don’t let this put you off applying or even impact your decision to take on the specific project, but it’s an important factor to be aware of.

Are there any opportunities to earn additional money as a PhD student?

Even if you will receive a stipend during the course of your research project, it comparatively won’t be a lot of money to live on. If you want it, the opportunity to earn extra money can make a big difference in managing your finances. This may in the form of one day/week working as a research technician or paid work preparing and delivering lectures to undergraduate students. It’s useful to know if these opportunities will exist to help you manage your expectations about your finances. Make sure you don’t let yourself feel obligated to take on this additional work however, even if it is paid; the priority will be ensuring your research progresses on schedule.

Will I have the opportunity and be expected to publish papers?

In the UK there is no requirement for you to have published any journal papers before you are awarded a PhD. Doing so however can go some way towards making your final viva that much easier, and also giving you a ‘head-start’ on your publication track record if you continue on into academia after your PhD.

You should get a sense of if your potential supervisor sees an opportunity for you to publish your research, if this is something that you want to do. Equally you should be aware of the supervisor’s expectations about publishing to avoid any potential conflict between your supervisor wanting you to publish work during your PhD and you wanting to wait until you’re in the post-doc stage before writing papers.

How many papers have previous PhD students published with you?

Knowing the answer to this should give you a good idea about the expectations and opportunities of publishing papers during your PhD. It’s certainly a positive sign to know that previous students have successfully published their research and is often a sign of a good supervisory system being in place.

How often does your research group present at academic conferences?

Having the opportunity to present your research at an academic conference is a key experience to have obtained during your time as a PhD student. Some supervisors actively encourage this and ensure that all funding applications include allocations for paying for conference related fees. Others are less convinced about the value of students going to conferences, particularly due to the additional expense of doing so, and may therefore not be as supportive of conference participation.

It’s useful to know what the norm is within the supervisor’s research group so that there are no surprises further down the line.

Is there funding support available for attending conferences?

Again, to be clear on expectations of funding and support for conference attendance, you should find out if there are funds specifically allocated for this purpose. If there aren’t, does the supervisor actively provide support to their students in applying for additional funding for this?

Are there courses and training sessions available for PhD students?

Find out if there are extra resources available to you should you want to use them. For example, do the supervisors students go on paper writing courses, or workshops on how to perform literature reviews? There are lots of new things that you’ll be doing during your PhD, especially at the beginning so it’s good to know that there’s external help available if and when you need it.

What are your past PhD graduates doing now?

This is an interesting one to find out from the supervisor. Are most of their graduates continuing their career development within academia or have many moved into industry work or even to a field completely different to their area of research? Ideally, you’d want this to align with your own career options. If most PhD holders have gone into industry whereas you want to pursue an academic career, you should try and find out why they ended up leaving academia. For example, did these graduates initially have aspirations of becoming professors themselves but were not able to do so or does your particular field normally open up more opportunities within industry?

What kind of support do you or the university provide for helping with jobs after?

In particular, what role does the supervisor play in helping their recent PhD graduates find their next job role? Do they have any connections within industry that they’d be able to help you network with? Or have any of their past PhD students stayed on in the lab as post-docs and are there resources in place for you to potentially do the same?

Will there be opportunities to teach undergraduate students?

The opportunity to give lectures to undergraduate students or lead tutorials with them can be a good way to earn some extra money during your PhD (note though that not all universities/departments formally pay PhD students to do this). Getting teaching experience is also important if you’re planning on continuing on down an academic career path at a university so it’s useful if you can gain some of this during your PhD.

Do you as a lab do any team activities together?

This will help you get a sense of the environment you’ll be working in for at least the next three years. Is this a lab with several PhD students and post-docs that make up an active ‘research family’? Does the team ever go out for lunch together or day trips away together to unwind? This can be a great way to build a sense of comradery in a research job that can often feel like you’re working alone in. Some supervisors actively encourage and get involved in nurturing a team environment whilst others are more hands-off, leaving the students to do their own thing.

What is the work environment like? Do students work in a shared office space?

Be clear on what your daily workspace will be like at the lab and university. Do all PhD students sit together in an open space or are there smaller office spaces for one or two students to work in? Some people prefer the buzz of an open space whilst others like the quiet of lone working. Either way, you should know what your work environment will look like for the next three years and plan accordingly (e.g. buy some noise cancelling headphones if you need some quite time in the open plan office).

I’ve given you a number of different questions to think about and ask your potential supervisor at your PhD interview. Not all of them may be relevant, or even appropriate to ask, so do think carefully about which ones you do want to bring up at the interview and which answers you could find out independently by either speaking to other students or looking online. Your research project and your experiences at the university will be so much more enjoyable if you can make sure you and your supervisor are a good fit for each other. The best way to do this is to ask questions!

In the UK, a dissertation, usually around 20,000 words is written by undergraduate and Master’s students, whilst a thesis, around 80,000 words, is written as part of a PhD.

Being a new graduate teaching assistant can be a scary but rewarding undertaking – our 7 tips will help make your teaching journey as smooth as possible.

The Thurstone Scale is used to quantify the attitudes of people being surveyed, using a format of ‘agree-disagree’ statements.

Join thousands of other students and stay up to date with the latest PhD programmes, funding opportunities and advice.

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An academic transcript gives a breakdown of each module you studied for your degree and the mark that you were awarded.

There are various types of research that are classified by objective, depth of study, analysed data and the time required to study the phenomenon etc.

Abdullah recently finished his PhD at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). His computer science research developed deep learning-based algorithms for medical image analysis.

Kai is a PhD student at Imperial College London. His research centres around sample efficiency, transfer learning and interpretability for deep reinforcement learning.​

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75+ Great Questions to Ask Your Mentor (The Ultimate List)

Did you find a great mentor, but you don’t know what to ask them?

Here are some good questions you might want to consider:

Hannah Gentile

Entrepreneur | Mindset Coach

“What was the process you used to find your ‘why’?”

This tells you a lot about how your mentor approaches meaning and purpose. You could take something from their process.

“Have you seen other processes of finding your ‘why’ you found interesting?”

Just because a technique doesn’t work for your mentor, doesn’t mean it won’t work for you. Good mentors will have collected tips from others which they will be able to share with you. It is like having a group of mentors!

“What values drive you?”

It is handy to know you have some cross-over or similarity in driving factors. It is also nice to have differences. Differences allow you to reflect on the strengths and limitations of your own values, and ways to balance that out.

“How do you approach risks?”

A personal favorite. You probably don’t want someone who is overly cavalier helping you out! But neither do you want someone so adverse to risk that you can never take action. Approach to me is a fascinating insight into how someone calculates, mitigates, and acts upon, risk.

“Do you have a goal-setting process you believe in?”

Not everyone likes the idea of goals. Have a think about whether you want a mentor who can suggest a solid structure for your goals, or whether you want to be introduced to a different approach entirely.

“What has been your biggest failure / what did you learn from it?”

There is no hiding from the fact that we learn more from failure than success (although success is an important learning tool too). Many an amazing Phoenix has been born from the most heartbreaking of ashes. You don’t want your mentor learning from your failure…so find out where they’ve gone before you and how you can avoid the same mistakes.

“What has been your biggest challenge? How did you approach it?”

To be honest, the challenge is less important than the approach. Most challenges can be faced in similar ways – to find out what process your mentor has for tackling those tough times.

“What has been the most valuable lesson you’ve learned?”

Another favorite. Every person you meet knows something you don’t. Your job is to find out what that thing is. Your mentor has hopefully built up a treasure trove of these little nuggets. Start digging.

“What is one thing you wish you would have done, that you didn’t?”

A survey of people close to death found that one of the biggest regrets people had, was not what they’d done…but what they had missed out on doing. The risks they did not take, the paths they did not go down.

What is something your mentor wished they had taken up? How can you make this relevant to you?

“What is something you thought was important but has turned out not to be?”

All too often we get caught in a rabbit hole of the one thing you must do to make millions. Or to be a success at ‘this’ or ‘that’. You can avoid all that time and energy but finding out what your Mentor spent unnecessary time on.

Matt Edstrom

CMO, GoodLife Home Loans

“Has there ever been an instance in your career where you felt like you weren’t successful? How do you rebound from failure?”

Inquiring about past instances of failure with your mentor can be a great technique for establishing a good rapport.

It’s a great question because it leaves ample room for an open-ended response, which is a great way to break the ice with someone you may not yet be comfortable approaching & chatting with.

By inquiring about something pertaining to their career, you are demonstrating an interest in them. The question appeals to the notion that most people enjoy speaking about themselves, and if you can somehow tie the question into something that directly pertains to their career, it can further benefit you if you ever come across a similar problem during the course of your career.

You could even follow up the question by asking about an instance where they felt most successful if you’re trying to find a balance, and not focus solely on their past failure(s).

The takeaway is that asking a question that can be answered in story form is a great way to encourage a mentor to talk about themselves.

Related: Overcoming Fear of Failure (Avoid these 3 Mistakes)

“I tried to execute a task and it didn’t go as planned. Could you perhaps help me identify where I went wrong, and how to avoid the issue in the future?”

Being able to approach your mentor about things that went wrong for you when trying to execute something at work is essential for learning & growth. It shows that you are not only comfortable enough to approach them with an issue rather than hoping it will take care of itself if ignored, but also that you trust your mentor to the point where you want to heed their advice.

Demonstrating transparency is a trait that should not be ignored. Being able to show you value your mentor’s opinion builds the bond and trust in the relationship.

There is also a lot to be said about possessing a strong sense of self-awareness rather than deflecting, which demonstrates your ability to recognize when you did something incorrectly in the first place. Having that self-awareness enables you to more easily recognize when you need to reach out for assistance.

“What types of skills should I be aiming to hone in on?”

Asking about building up skills that pertain to the job shows your mentor that you strive to improve your skills to become a better employee.

This helps notify your mentor that you are serious about wanting to grow rather than just complete the bare minimum. Most of the time, your mentor will start providing resources for you that relate to whatever skills they said would be wise to improve.

These resources can serve as incredibly valuable, and can potentially carry over to other jobs in the future. The tenacity to learn more is a common trait among those in leadership roles. By demonstrating that sense of tenacity, it may cause your mentor to consider you for leadership roles down the road.

Jason Patel

Founder, Transizion

“What was your biggest failure and how did you overcome it?”

Learning from failure is the hallmark of greatness. You want to know what high-performing people went through and how they overcame their challenges. Perhaps you can take struggles from their life, relate them to your own journey, and apply their solutions. Learning from others’ mistakes is a great way to minimize your own and save time.

“Do you recommend graduate school?”

Some of us are destined for graduate school, while others are not. Your mentor can show you the way and give you feedback on whether your professional path necessitates graduate school. A good response from your mentor can have you applying to graduate school soon or saving your money altogether.

Yaniv Masjedi

CMO,  Nextiva

Here are a few of my top questions for a mentor:

• “If you could do it all over again, would you change anything? If so, why?”
• “What are you most proud of?”
• “What were your goals at the start of your career?”
• “What would you do if you were me?”
• “Did you ever land a role that you weren’t fully qualified for? How did you prepare yourself?”
• “How did you become such a good public speaker?”

The questions you ask your mentor will depend on where you and your mentor are at in your respective careers, and what each of you aims to get out of your relationship. The above questions should be useful to an early stage professional paired with a senior executive.

Mentorship can provide one with answers to both personal and philosophical questions, as well as practical how-tos for gaining new skills and overcoming challenges.

Larry Sternberg

Immediate Past President, Talent Plus, Inc.

The questions to ask your mentor will inevitably shift over time as both your mentoring relationship and your situation evolve. Here are a couple of questions you can ask near the beginning of the relationship (when you might not yet apply the term “mentoring”).

Ask these questions in your own words and style. It’s the concept that’s important, not the precise words.

• Tell me about some of your mentors.
• What can I do to ensure that you feel this is a valuable use of your time?

I am aware the following are not questions, but here is some advice to get the most out of your relationship with your mentor.

• Implement his or her advice. Otherwise, your mentor will become disengaged. As my wife says, “Don’t buy a dog and bark yourself.”
• Come prepared with issues/questions to discuss, so that you can make the best use of your time.
• Don’t just bring problems. Celebrate successes, too.

Angela Connor

Founder and CEO, Change Agent Communications

Ask your mentor the things no one is going to teach you – about incorporating who you are outside of corporate America, into a space that doesn’t always embrace the unfamiliar, unique or what may seem different or “out-of-place” in the work environment.

I had to learn on my own how to bring all of who I am so to speak into the work environment as I climbed the ladder and moved into senior and ultimately executive roles. If someone had told me sooner that my authenticity and (a girl from Detroit attitude) is what made me personable, relatable and human in an industry where relationships matter and chemistry is important, I may not have been as hesitant early on. Too many times we hide some of who we are thinking we need to be two different people, especially African-American women.

No one wants a robot, so if you don’t inject personality and never reveal anything about you that sets you apart, you can’t win as big.

It’s important to develop enough trust with a mentor to touch on those emotional pieces and not be so fixated on how to get promoted, or how they can be a sponsor to connect you to the right people. 

With teen daughters, I’ve seen how dependent they are on technology for relationships, so I make them do what’s uncomfortable. I don’t always let them order food online or through an app for instance. That’s small, but I make sure they are talking to people face-to-face.

I believe that Gen-Z is going to need more mentoring on interpersonal relationships, so those are some of the things that will have to be covered as well – talking about being present and connected in an increasingly connected, yet disconnected world.

Paige Arnof-Fenn

Founder & CEO, Mavens & Moguls

• “What was your path?”
• “How did you know it was right for you? Would you choose it again today?”
• “What has been your best and worst job?”
• “What has been your best worst boss?”
• “Do you have any career regrets?”
• “Is there ever a life balance?”
• “What is your biggest source of pride and joy?”
• “How have you recovered from failure?”
• “What do you do for fun?”
• “What is your favorite quote?”
• “What is your favorite movie?”
• “What is your favorite book?”

Brad Ormsby

Owner, Colorstone Marketing

One of my favorite questions to ask my mentor is how they arrived at a certain idea. Written another way, how do you think about this situation?

My mentor is successful in business and a serial entrepreneur. And one of the things that fascinate me is how he identifies opportunities I never would have thought about. But I want to figure out how he thinks about things.

His patterns, how he fuses ideas together, and how he spots trends. Instead of finding out about a specific situation, I want to train my mind to think this way.

So I ask about the mental process that led to that decision rather than the decision itself. I think it’s important to learn to think like your mentor (assuming they’re living the life you want) so you can eventually become the mentor and pay it forward.

Dayne Shuda

Owner, Ghost Blog Writers

I find that mentors often give advice that is counter to their own journey to success. One example I’ve often heard from successful people is that they wished they would have gotten their college degree.

So when I’m chatting with a mentor or someone that’s successful I like to ask them their experiences and then pull my own lessons from their stories.

It might start with a question like, “What was the first year like?”

Then it might get into, “What helped get you to the next level?”

And then I’ll throw in, “What was a big challenge at that point and how did you respond?”

There are all kinds of questions you can ask, but the key is to focus on their story and pulling your own lessons from that story. Focus more on the actions they actually took over what they suggest or tell you that you should do.

Dane Kolbaba

Co-Founder, Watchdog Pest Control

Things they realize in hindsight. For any big decisions, they’ve made throughout the years, for the bad and perhaps the not-so-bad choices they’ve made.

This would give me a better idea of what to expect for any similar decisions I’d be needing to make in the future, for what possible reward and fallout there would be.

What they could tell their younger self , for each milestone of their adult life . We tend to be so consumed with our own lives — what we need to do, what we want to do, where we need to go, where we want to go — that we neglect to stop and think about what it is we’re really doing and why.

I have plenty of things I wish I could have told my younger self, and a mentor who’s further along in life would no doubt have invaluable insight.

Their biggest regret professionally, and if they’d share it, even personally. Something they did but wished they could undo or take back, but more importantly, something they wish they did do but lacked the courage to do so.

Rachel Richards

Finance Analyst | Founder, Money Honey | Author, Money Honey

In my experience, it’s best to ask your mentor questions that stand out. Stay away from the overly-used and too-broad “What’s the best career advice you can give me?” or “What are your best management practices?” Questions this vague are difficult to answer.

Try one of these instead:

• “Was there a clear turning point in your career? What happened and how did you navigate it?”
• “What’s one of the most challenging conversations you remember having?”
• “What suggestions do you have for asking for feedback from my peers and bosses?”
• “What do you see as my areas of improvement ?”

Also, ask them about themselves. As Dale Carnegie once said, “To be interesting, be interested.” Your mentor will be more partial to and open with you if you ask them personal questions about their background and successes.

Try one of these:

• “What was a trying time for you in your career and how did you overcome it?”
• “You make it look so easy. What aspect of your career was more challenging than most people realize?”
• “What do you wish you’d known 15 years ago?”
• “What one decision have you made that has impacted your career the most?”

Operations Manager, My Trading Skills

I would focus my questions on my mentor’s failures throughout their lives, and how they ended up getting back up after these setbacks. As such, some of my questions would be:

• “What has been your biggest failure to date, and what effect did it have on you, your goals, your vision, and your future decisions?”
• “Which are the biggest lessons did you learn from this failure, and how have you implemented these lessons?”
• “How did you get back up after this major setback? Did you ask for help?”

Bottom Line: Learning from your mentor’s failures will help you prepare for and possibly avoid major pitfalls on your journey.

VP of E-Commerce & General Manager, CanvasPeople

“What do you wish you had asked somebody earlier?”

This question will open up an extremely valuable conversation about self-awareness, growth, and vulnerability. A good mentor exemplifies all three of those things. You not only want to learn from your mentor’s successes but from their failures and things they wish they had done differently. A lesson that many entrepreneurs need to learn is that it is ok to ask for help, and any good mentor will be able to tell you that.

Stacey Berk

Managing Consultant, Expand HR Consulting

• “At this stage in your career, how did you learn one of the following… to plan more strategically, make better decisions, focus on time management, and build improved relationships with people?”
• “At this stage in your career, how did you learn to lead people? As a leader, how did you recruit, develop and retain your staff?”
• “What do you think have been my core strengths as you have watched me grow over the years professionally?”
• “What do you think I should focus on for the next 3-5 years to get to the next level in my career?”
• “What resources do you think I need to achieve those areas of focus?”

Varda Meyers Epstein

Parenting Expert and Writer, Kars4Kids

I think the question every mentee should ask a mentor is: “How do you keep a positive attitude when things are going against you?”

This is what every mentee really wants to know because it is very easy to get depressed when things are stacked against you. Often, that’s exactly the case with a mentee, who generally needs mentoring because s/he may not have a supportive family or comes from a low-income neighborhood. It’s usually why they need mentors in the first place.

It’s easy to think: why to get good grades in school, stay out of trouble, go to college, look for a job when you’re stuck in a vicious cycle. It can feel like you work twice as hard as everyone else, but you just don’t get ahead.

The thoughtful mentor understands that what he’s being asked for is hope, and a way forward, too. The response doesn’t have to contain the wisdom of the ages. But it does have to give the mentee something to hold onto, or a step to take in a positive direction.

Stacy Caprio

Business Coach | Growth Expert

I’ve found it helpful to ask mentors what their biggest failures have been and to hear their stories and answers in depth.

You already know your mentor has done some admirable things and maybe they have even helped or taught you to do the same.

Learning about their mistakes and the ways they have been hit hard by external circumstances or their own failures is a huge benefit you can lean on them for since learning what has gone wrong for them will often save you from going through the same negative experience yourself.

Lily Ugbaja

Founder, FindingBalance.Mom

The top question everyone should ask their mentor is “If you could start over, what would you do differently?”

I’ve found this question helps uncover common mistakes and major pitfalls to avoid, effectively speeding up your journey to success by at least 50%.

Most of the time we spend building is actually spent on trying stuff and failing at them. So I use this question to eliminate a lot of “smart” fail and get a leg up! Plus it seems to be an easy one for mentors to answer thoroughly.

Matthew W. Burr

Human Resources Consultant, Burr Consulting, LLC

“Where do you see my strengths and weaknesses, how can I improve?”

The mentor should focus on all area’s in an individual. What they do well, and where they need to improve. With concrete examples of both and a path to success. Here are recommendations to improve x, y, z.

“What opportunities will best help in my personal, professional and emotional growth?”

This one is going to be more personalized, the mentor should focus on what the person wants to accomplish and put a joint plan together to ensure there are agreement and accountability.

Megan Meade

Marketing Specialist, Software Path

As a woman in business, it’s extremely important to have a mentor who can lift you up and encourage you to grow. A mentor relationship provides opportunities to advance, as well as builds confidence and reduces the prevalence of ‘impostor syndrome’ which a lot of women fall subject to.

An outside perspective improves women’s objective viewpoint of their own skill level and can reduce hesitancy about reaching for higher career goals. You and your mentor need to understand each other’s inner workings to achieve the full benefits of your relationship. One way to do this is by asking lots of questions.

One of the most important questions to ask your mentor is: “How do I measure my success against my goals?” This is a great way to ensure you and your mentor are on the same page when moving forward; the picture of what is ‘success’ looks different for each person.

It’s essential that you and your mentor are measuring progress in the same way otherwise there will be a disconnect in what that looks like. This is also important for personal goals or seemingly non-quantifiable goals, as it opens up a metric to hold yourself to and that your mentor can use to actively help you.

For example, if you have a personal goal of being more assertive at work, this would be hard to measure beyond a general ‘I think I’ve been more assertive’, but if you add a few metrics e.g. I will send out three meetings invites this week, I won’t reschedule other commitments around another person’s schedule, and I will not use mitigating language such as ‘just’ when writing an email asking someone to do a task. You can later revisit these metrics and see how you’ve performed, and then look at the impact of this with your mentor.

Success, in this scenario, may be targeted as scheduling the planned meetings, only adjusting other commitments once in a month, and only using ‘just’ 4 times in email exchanges over the whole month. This way, even if one target isn’t achieved, it’s likely there are small successes within the overall goal too.

Asking what success looks like also enables you to understand your mentor’s thought process. What seems a success to them, may not have occurred to you at all – which helps them help you to see things through a different perspective.

This is especially important in a business setting, a business mentor may set a goal and success measure you’d never thought of which encourages you to broaden your skill set and grow – which is what mentorship is all about!

Related: 22 Reasons Why Goal Setting Is Important for Success

Bernice Quek

Head Writer, Bumble Scoop

In my opinion, it’s essential to form a personal relationship with your mentor. Having a mentor should go beyond just sharing tips and tricks about navigating through your career; he/she should also be a figurehead that inspires you to become a better person.

A great question to ask would be “What made you who you are today?” .

This gives you an insight to your mentor’s journey to becoming the person and worker he is today. It may open emotional doors that you never knew existed, or show you that while he’s successful, he is also human.

The way to build a closer bond is when all emotions are on the table. Only when your mentor opens himself up to you, then the two of you will have a stronger connection.

In the days ahead, you’ll always remember the heart-tugging story he shared to fuel you through any obstacle. A tighter bond will also mean better chemistry and the possibility of a mentorship turning into a treasured friendship. This will only translate to positive changes in your mindset and attitude towards both work and life.

Rishit Shah

Founder, TallySchool

• “What is life?”
• “Why do we do what we do?”
• “Why are we doing so many things when ultimately we all are going to die?”

I have asked these questions to my mentor.

When we are living, it is natural to ask a question of what is life. What is the meaning of life?

Most of the people are doing a job or business just to earn money. But, when our survival is taken care of, we have these questions and we really don’t ask these kinds of questions to anyone including the mentor.

We should ask our mentor as to why we are doing, whatever we are doing. What is the purpose of it?

Related: What Is the Point of Life?

When we get a purpose, we can work towards it full-fledged with all our efforts in a single direction. Without a purpose, we cannot give our 100% to any task. We just do it for the sake of doing it. With a purpose, we know something better is going to happen and we are a part of it. This gives us a tremendous motivation to work towards our goal.

We should also ask the question of death to our mentor. It sounds frightening but we know we all are going to die one day. So why we are doing everything because we are ultimately leaving all this behind. We cannot carry anything with us after we fall dead.

This is a crucial question and a true mentor will give you the right answer. This answer is different for everyone. For someone, it can be to live a good life so he or she can die peacefully. For someone else, it can be a totally different reason.

The point here is to ask your mentor the above existential questions because these are the fundamental questions of your life and when these are answered, you will realize that a lot of burdens will be off your head and you can grow in life with full speed.

Monica Rivera

Producer & Podcast Host, You Wanna Do What?

Mentorship has been one of my most significant gifts and is a valuable, untapped resource for too many people. I like to think of my mentors as sources of tough love and sounding boards for new ideas and advice. The cornerstone of these relationships is honesty.

Use the time with your mentors to ask questions and receive answers that will challenge you and grow you.

I recommend the following questions:

• “What are my strengths? Are there any areas where I’m highly competent?”
• “How can I leverage my strengths in my current role or in seeking a new opportunity?”
• “Is there any place I’m falling short? What can I do differently?”
• “What’s the best advice your mentors have given you?”
• “How do I cultivate relationships in a sincere, meaningful way?”

Frequently Asked Questions

How do i find a mentor.

When looking for a mentor, it’s essential to consider the following factors:

Network:  Look within your existing network for people you admire and respect, who are successful in the field you’re interested in, or who have a wealth of experience you’d like to tap into.

Online resources:  Utilize online tools such as LinkedIn or professional associations to connect with potential mentors.

Industry events:  Attend events in your field to meet and network with others, including potential mentors.

Be proactive:  Don’t wait for a mentor to come to you, be proactive and reach out to those you admire.

Be open-minded: Be open to the idea of entering into a mentoring relationship and be willing to learn and grow from your mentor.

Finding a mentor can be a great way to grow professionally and personally. Still, it requires effort and determination on your part. Feel free to reach out to someone you admire and express your interest in mentorship.

It’s important to remember that only some mentors will be a perfect fit for you. Still, with persistence and patience, you can find someone who can guide you on your career path.

Can I Have Multiple Mentors at Once?

Yes. Multiple mentors can give you different perspectives, experiences, and expertise. For example, you could have one mentor who is an expert in a particular aspect of your career, such as a specific skill set, and another who has more experience with general career development and management.

However, it’s important to consider the time and resources required to maintain multiple mentoring relationships and the potential challenges of juggling multiple schedules and goals. You should ensure you can invest in each relationship and make the most of each mentoring opportunity.

What Should I Do if My Mentor and I Aren’t a Good Match?

If you feel that you and your mentor aren’t clicking, don’t worry – it happens to the best of us. The most important thing in this situation is to take ownership of the issue and find a solution .

Start by having an open and honest conversation with your mentor, expressing your concerns, and trying to find a way to make the relationship work. If that’s not possible, don’t be afraid to look for a new mentor who is a better fit for you.

Remember that your relationship with your mentor is crucial to your professional and personal development. So be proactive, communicate openly, and keep looking until you find someone to help you achieve your goals.

How Often Should I Meet With My Mentor?

Meeting with your mentor comes down to finding a balance that works for both of you. Here are some factors you should consider:

Schedules:  Both your and your mentor’s schedules play a significant role in determining the frequency of your meetings. Consider any conflicting commitments and find a time that works well for both of you.

Nature of your relationship:  The nature of your mentoring relationship can also affect the frequency of your meetings. Some mentors prefer a more hands-on approach and want to meet more frequently, while others prefer a more relaxed schedule.

Goals:  Think about what you want to accomplish with your mentorship. If you have specific goals in mind, you should schedule more frequent meetings to ensure you’re making progress and getting the support you need.

Availability:  Be flexible and adjust your schedule as needed to accommodate your mentor’s availability. If a busy time is coming up, you may need to adjust your schedule to ensure you can still meet.

How Can I Communicate My Goals and Expectations Effectively to My Mentor?

It’s important to be clear and concise about your goals and expectations when communicating with your mentor. Start by:

• outlining your overall career goals • then, get specific about what you hope to achieve through your mentoring • being clear about your priorities and what you expect from your mentor, such as specific guidance or feedback • set measurable goals for your mentoring relationship • check in regularly to ensure you’re on track

Good communication is vital to a productive and valuable mentorship. Ensure you’re open, honest, and clear in your conversations with your mentor.

What if I’m Not Sure What I Want to Achieve From My Mentorship?

It’s normal to be unsure of what you want to accomplish with mentoring, especially if you’re at the beginning of your career or exploring new ground. However, it’s important to have clarity and focus to make the most of your mentoring.

Start by thinking about your overall career goals and what areas you’d like to develop. Then, consider what particular skills or knowledge you’d like to acquire. You can also reflect on challenges you’ve faced in your career and how a mentor can help you overcome them.

Once you have a clearer idea of your goals, you can use them as a starting point for your conversations with your mentor.

How Can I Ensure That My Mentoring Relationship Remains Productive and Valuable Over the Long Term?

A productive and valuable mentoring relationship is vital to your personal and professional growth. Below are some ways you can ensure that your mentoring relationship remains strong and effective over the long term:

Communicate regularly:  Keep your mentor informed of your goals, expectations, and progress. This will help you align your mentor’s expectations with your own and ensure you’re on the right track. Don’t be afraid to ask questions or ask for clarification on points you’re unsure about.

Active learning:  Take the initiative to learn as much as you can from your mentor. Ask for feedback and guidance, and actively seek new opportunities for growth and development.

Prepare:  Make the most of each mentorship meeting by preparing questions, taking notes, and following up on action items. This shows your mentor that you’re committed to your development and value their time and expertise.

Two-way street:  Remember, a mentoring relationship is two-way. Be a supportive mentee by contributing to the relationship and appreciating your mentor’s time and guidance.

What Can I Offer My Mentor in Return for Their Guidance and Support?

Mentors often offer their guidance and support as a way to give back and support the next generation. However, it’s important to remember that mentorship is a two-way street, and you can also offer value to your mentor .

This includes staying in touch with your mentor and keeping them updated on your progress, contributing your own insights and perspectives, and being a supportive and engaged mentee.

You can also think about supporting your mentor’s professional goals, such as connecting them with other professionals in your network or helping them with projects.

By being a valuable and supportive mentee, you can strengthen your mentoring relationship and make the most of this valuable opportunity.

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The Editors

70 questions to ask a mentor for a great mentorship experience

Did you know? We have over 3,000 mentors available right now!

Knowing how to ask good questions to a mentor is key to a successful mentoring relationship. At MentorCruise, our mentees often wonder how to ask the right questions that will lead to meaningful exchanges between the mentee and mentor.

Did you know? We have over 2,000 mentors available right now!

After all, there are so many questions but not enough time to ask them all during mentoring sessions. Whether they’re  on mentoring topics  related to  career paths , job search,  how to ace job interviews , leadership lessons and so on, asking the right questions to your mentor is more of a skill you can improve upon with the right tips.

As a  mentorship platform , we’ve hosted so many successful mentorships. Many of them partly attribute their success to asking the right questions. As such, we’ve decided to put all their key learnings on how to ask the right questions into a guide.

You’ll learn:

• Tips on how to ask good questions to your mentor
• Topics to discuss with your mentor
• Questions your mentor could ask you
• 70 good questions to ask a mentor

7 Tips on How to Ask the Right Questions to a Mentor

Before we dive into what questions to ask a mentor, read these seven tips to get the most out of your mentor-mentee relationship:

1. Ask clear, specific questions instead of vague ones

In your mentoring questions, good questions to ask your mentor are those that are clear and relevant to the mentor’s expertise. Normally, when people look for a mentor, they’re looking for guidance to solve a specific issue in their career.

Figure this out: You’ve decided to get a mentor so that you can learn how to become a better leader. You get into the topic of public speaking because it’s been a lingering issue of yours.

Here are two examples that roughly ask the same question, but one is more specific and the other a bit vaguer:

A: “How do I become better at public speaking?”

B: “What do you do to avoid nervousness when speaking in public?”

A is an example of a bad question to ask if you want meaningful advice precisely because it’s too vague. Why is it not appropriate for a short mentoring session? Because it’s a public speaking question that requires a resounding answer to be effective.

On the other end, B asks a more specific question about nervousness when speaking in public. The mentor can give more actionable advice on this because it’s more specific. You’ve defined the problem concerning public speaking that you need mentoring with.

2. Ask questions on these key topics to get the ball rolling

Coming up with questions to ask a career mentor can be tricky. To help you out, you can try asking common mentorship questions that lead to meaningful conversation and action. For example, you can ask questions on these mentoring session topics to get to know the mentor better and initiate a good conversation:

• Expertise, career development, self-improvement, and building skills. You can ask for specific advice on how to learn and develop a skill or for actionable tactics to help surmount a particular obstacle.
• Stories. Storytelling is a craft that humans naturally gravitate to as social creatures. Relationships develop through sharing stories that help us connect with one another. This principle also applies to your mentoring relationship.
• For example, if you have a  startup mentor, you can ask this story on risk-taking : “What was that one time you took a huge risk and it paid off?” This question can give important insights and will help the mentor become more open with their feelings by telling you their personal stories.
• Situational. Ask about more specific issues regarding your career or theirs. Here’s a sample question on leadership lessons: “My boss told me to take ownership of my managerial tasks. What does that mean?”
• Here’s a question that most experienced managers will know how to answer but may still initially confuse newer ones. If your mentor is much more senior than you and has been in a position of influence, they will know how to answer this.
• Accountability. From time to time, it’s important to circle back and ensure you’re correctly following your mentor’s advice. Ask questions on improving your rapport or if you’ve been making good progress throughout this mentorship.
• Career development and growth . Knowing the next steps in your career can help you plan ahead. Talk about your personal growth and industry factors to get a robust sense of upcoming milestones.
• Career path. No career path is linear. By asking a mentor about career path questions, you can find out if you’re in the right career and how you can incorporate other interests/passions into your work.
• Leadership . Leaders are made, not born. Ask your mentor about what’s important to be a good leader and how to resolve conflicts within your teams.  Entrepreneurship  and business. Finally, starting your own business or cultivating an innovative mindset can be vital to your work. ​ Talk about good entrepreneurial habits and advice about becoming a business owner.

Of course, questions for your mentor don’t have to fit into these categories. These are simply starter topics, but you can write up your own questions to ask a  career mentor , too.

3. Avoid asking rhetorical questions and keep small talk to a minimum

Don’t force a conversation. Your first session will always be the most awkward one. You and your mentor have just met each other for the first time, so you will still need to figure out how to go about this interaction.

Instead, ask the types of questions highlighted in the second tip and be very specific in the way that you’re asking them. More often than not, these tips improve the quality of your conversations and allow you to develop deeper mentoring bonds.

In the worst-case scenario, MentorCruise allows you a 7-day free trial for first-time mentorship sessions. You can end the relationship when you’re not feeling a connection between the mentor and yourself.

4. Be prepared

The worst thing that you do in your mentoring sessions is to come in unprepared, with no specific questions to ask your mentor. This mentorship experience has been built based on your desire for self-improvement. If you don’t want to achieve your goals, then there’s no point in continuing this mentorship.

Mentorship is an investment in time and energy. Being unprepared implies you’re not interested enough to make this mentorship work. And in return, your mentor might grow to care less about your progress. After all, a great mentoring relationship is partly predicated on a mentor who wants to see you succeed, so you have to put in the hard work.

5. Use a mentoring agenda template

A mentoring agenda template is an excellent way to support you in asking the right questions, and this type of preparation shows your mentor how keen you are to succeed. During mentoring sessions, it’s easy for several questions to come to mind, and an agenda can be used as a reference to help ask questions that stay on task and leverage your time together.

You could send your agenda to your mentor before the first meeting so you arrive on the same page. Furthermore, your mentor may want to bring a schedule. If so, there’s no harm in merging the two!

A mentoring agenda template is customizable. We’ll use the mentorship action plan below as an example of how you can prepare an agenda for your mentor meetings:

6. Goal setting

When setting goals and development priorities for your action plan and mentoring agenda template, you’ll likely follow the  most effective goal-setting method : SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound). SMART goals help focus your efforts and make your mentor’s job of tracking and assessing your progress easier.

Here are some high-level “Individual” and “Corporate” goal examples that would be expanded on using a goal-setting technique:

• Individual goal (long term):  A personal goal  could be to lose 100 pounds in 12 months.
• Individual goal (short-term): To achieve the long-term goal, a micro-goal could be to lose 8-9 pounds each month.
• Corporate goal (long term): Improve customer service by the end of the year. Here,  the SMART goal method  would be good for clarifying what a customer service improvement is. Thus, knowing whether the goal has been achieved or not.
• Corporate goal (short term): One way to improve customer service could be faster ticket resolution by resolving problems at the first point of contact, where possible. A short-term goal could be to ensure a 10% reduction in incident tickets going to third-line teams.

Consider the actions/activities you can incorporate into your daily routine to achieve your goals, and perhaps these ideas can be added to a “notes” section.

7. Know the mentoring session topics your mentor might discuss

For productive and flowing sessions, be prepared for some of the topics your mentor may use to initiate conversations.

Mentors know the skills they can offer you. However, they’ll need to judge how best they can use their skills to help you. They’ll discover your objectives and challenges by asking you extraordinary questions.

When you’re familiar with the types of questions your mentor may ask you, you can lightly prepare your answers and think of follow-up questions to ask them. For example, they could ask you how you overcame a challenge at work. As a follow-up question, you could ask for tips on how you can improve your method or how else you could tackle the problem.

Here are some examples of topics your mentor may discuss:

Career journey

• Did you plan your career, or did it happen naturally?
• How would you describe your dream job, and do you feel you’ve achieved it?
• If you could turn back the clock, would you choose a different career?
• How can you adopt a mindset of continuous learning?

Long-and short-term goals

• What quantitative goals do you wish to achieve within the next 1 – 6 months?
• What interested you in working with a mentor?
• What other positions are you interested in within the company?

Company related

• How do you think your role and contribution benefit the company?
• How do you consider the business could be improved through your role?
• How would you describe your company’s culture, and do you feel it resonates with you?
• What methods do you use for effective communication?
• What leadership skills do you already have?
• What leadership skills do you need to develop?
• How would you describe your leadership style?
• How do you feel about your responsibilities? Do you have any uncertainties?

Strengths and weaknesses

• Do you think your current role allows you to leverage your strengths?
• What areas of your job do you consider your weaknesses impede you?
• How do you mitigate your weaknesses?

Getting to know you

• What inspires you?
• If you could learn another professional skill unrelated to your current role, what would it be?
• What’s your favorite superhero, and why?

8. Asking questions is just the start

Having great questions to ask a mentor is just the start of a successful relationship. Your questions should lead to meaningful exchanges and guide your next steps.

In this way, use questions as a sounding board for action. From your ongoing list of  questions and mentorship topics , identify ways to build your career together.

For example, after asking your mentor questions about entrepreneurship, you might come up with a plan to build your business mindset, including leaders to follow and books to read.

Or, as part of your mentorship relationship, you might troubleshoot a current team dilemma and talk about leadership traits to cultivate this next quarter.

Finally, questions you ask a mentor about career development may lead to  actionable mentoring goals  such as improving your networking or interviewing skills.

70 Strategic Questions to Ask a Mentor

Here are boilerplate questions to consider asking a mentor during your sessions. Don’t forget to create your own twist for each question.

Remember that mentorships thrive when mentees ask specific questions instead of vague ones. These are meant to be open-ended questions that you can turn into something more specific.

And one more thing: context is key. Contextualize your questions before or after asking. This helps the mentor figure out how to give meaningful answers.

Take a look at these mentorship topics to get a better idea of what you’re interested in. You can maximize your mentorship experience by asking questions about career development, growth, leadership, career path, entrepreneurship, and more!

Without further ado, here are 70 strategic questions to ask your mentor.

Expertise, self-improvement, and building skills

• Where do you think my strengths lie in?
• How can I develop the right discipline to achieve my goals in this industry?
• What are the  necessary skills  that I should develop to rapidly grow in my career?
• What are some things in your career that you regret not having done earlier?
• How do I effectively manage my time and prioritize accordingly?
• Do you even get impostor syndrome? How did you learn to get over it?
• Did you have a hard time starting out in this industry?
• What are some hard choices that you made to get where you are in your career?
• Did you experience some major setbacks in your  business/career path ? How did you bounce back?
• What are some instances that you would have done differently?

Situational

• How do I handle this situation better?
• Do you have some  tips for networking  online? This question is even more relevant today as more companies embrace working from home.
• I feel stuck. What are some ways that I can apply to solve this issue?
• My boss and colleagues are treating me unfairly. Based on your professional experience, do you think I should move elsewhere?
• I have a job interview coming up. What are some  interview questions  and other things that I need to know about to nail it?
• Do you have any tips on improving my resumé for my job search?
• How do I prepare myself for performance reviews?

Accountability

• What would you like to see me do every week to show that I’m improving throughout this mentoring program?
• Am I progressing in the right direction through this mentoring program?
• Am I correctly listening to your skills or career advice during each mentoring session?
• Are there any other topics you’d like for us to discuss?
• Do you have any feedback on how we can improve our mentoring rapport?
• Do you have any negative feedback or criticisms I can use to improve myself?

Career growth and development

• How can I refine key skills for my career?
• How can I stay competitive in my line of work or at this career stage?
• How can I apply my strengths in my daily work?
• Who should I connect with to improve my career prospects?
• How is my industry likely to change in the next 5 years? In the next 10?

Situational questions to ask a work mentor

• My boss always shuts me down in meetings. What’s the best way to respond when it happens?
• I’ve recently been promoted to a position I know my coworker wanted. I know they resent having to report to me now. What’s the best way to handle this situation?
• I feel my toxic work environment is beginning to affect my health. However, I’m scared to leave my job. What do you think I should do?
• I’ve taken over from a fantastic leader whom the team was very fond of and missed. Unfortunately, I feel like they resent me and want their old boss back. How can I cut through the team’s hostility and get them to at least respect me as their new boss?
• I feel as though my current role suffocates my creativity. How do you think I can make the situation better?
• I’m constantly having to complete or re-do my coworker’s work. What should I do?
• I’d like to apply for an opening in another department, but that department and my current department aren’t on the best working terms. I’m concerned about how the new department will receive me. Do you think I should still switch to that department?

Career path

Questions to ask a mentor about career paths may vary according to your needs. For example, if you want to  change careers , you might have specific questions about the industry you’re interested in.

Here are some initial questions about building your career path to get you started:

• What are the first steps to changing a career?
• How can I combine my interests or passions at work?
• How can I become more proactive about my career direction?
• How can I incorporate meaning into my career?
• What good habits should help me focus on my career?

Questions to ask a cyber security mentor

• How did you get into cyber security? What sparked your interest?
• What were some hurdles you experienced in becoming competent and skilled in cyber security?
• What are the most helpful certifications or company resources to become a [cyber security role]?
• What has helped you to overcome the challenges in this industry?
• What do you enjoy the most about working in cyber security?
• How do you see the industry’s future changing over the next ten years?
• What is something you think most clients don’t understand about cyber security?

Questions to ask a project manager mentor

• What knowledge, skills, and abilities are required for project management competency?
• How do you get started with a new project and set it up for success?
• What is more important to a project’s success, the project manager’s soft or hard skills?
• How do I stand out from my peers? What qualities do you think I need to develop?
• How can I be a more strategic project manager?
• What strategies have you found successful in project management?
• What techniques do you recommend for managing stress?
• What leaders do you look up to for inspiration?
• What are some books you can recommend on leadership?
• How do you keep your team motivated?
• What qualities are lacking among today’s leaders?
• How do you continue to grow and develop as a leader?

You can think of questions to ask a career mentor related to their personal experiences as well. For example, you might want to ask about:

• What was your worst leadership decision?
• What was the worst conflict you had to resolve?
• What was the biggest leadership risk you took?
• What was your proudest moment as a leader?
• What are your current goals as a leader?

Entrepreneurship and business

• What do you enjoy most about entrepreneurship? What is hardest about it?
• What are some mistakes you wish you could have avoided?
• What advice would you give to newbie entrepreneurs?
• How do you brainstorm and finalize business ideas?
• What are the biggest mistakes first-time entrepreneurs can make?
• How do you plan on growing your business or entrepreneurial mindset?
• What was the toughest moment in your business journey? How did you overcome it?
• Is there any popular entrepreneurial advice that you agree/disagree with? Why?

If you’re considering starting your own business, you can also ask for specifics about the business name, entity, business plan, funding, publicity/marketing, scaling, and competition. And if that wasn’t enough, you can get  even more entrepreneurial questions to ask a mentor  here.

Insert your mentorship question here

Finally, you may still have questions to ask a mentor that doesn’t neatly fall into these categories. No problem! Come up with your own questions to ask a career mentor so that you can make the most of your mentorship relationship.

After all, the mentorship experience is all about your needs, so write up those questions that don’t fit into the topics above about career development, growth, leadership, career direction, entrepreneurship, etc.

Join MentorCruise to find the right mentor for your professional needs

In this guide, you’ve learned how to ask the right types of questions in your mentoring sessions and questions to consider asking, helping you to achieve success in your mentoring efforts.

Remember that asking your prospective mentor the right questions is only one part of the equation. You also already need to learn how  to choose the right mentor  to help you achieve your goals and get the career advice that’s right for you.

The road to career success  is often a bumpy one, and career development may often seem confusing. But imagine how much easier it would be if you had an experienced industry leader available anytime to offer career advice and expert guidance. At  MentorCruise , you can pick through many experts and industry leaders to see the right mentor for your needs.

Find an expert mentor

Get the career advice you need to succeed. Find a mentor who can help you with your career goals, on the leading mentorship marketplace.

International Programs

From cultural adaptation to career building: a guide to international faculty success.

University of Iowa International Programs hosted a webinar focused on international faculty success where veteran faculty from international destinations shared their advice and experiences with early career international faculty members. Russell Ganim, associate provost and dean of International Programs, and Meenakshi Gigi Durham, professor, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, planned and facilitated the discussion.

Panelists included:

• Anny-Dominique Curtius , professor, Department of French and Italian, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Aniruddha Dutta , associate professor; Departments of Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies and Asian and Slavic Languages and Literatures; College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Sandra Guzmán-Armstrong , clinical professor and advanced education program director of operative dentistry, College of Dentistry
• H.S. Udaykumar , associate dean for graduate programs, research and faculty, College of Engineering

Each panelist gave a brief history of their career and what brought them to the University of Iowa, followed by questions related to how they adapted to administrative and cultural challenges. Here they share guidance based on their experiences.

Find mentors, both inside and outside of the university

Anny-Dominique Curtius shared her academic journey, which began in Martinique and led her to graduate school in Montreal, Canada, and a postdoctoral position at the University of British Columbia. She eventually joined the faculty at Iowa, where she was drawn to the interdisciplinary work here. She met numerous colleagues whose research aligned with hers, and she recognized that these individuals would become her mentors.

“We become good mentors when we have good mentorship,” said Curtius. “The very first weeks at Iowa I received great mentorship – it motivated me and gave me the support I needed and that I am now re-disseminating to my students and junior faculty.”

Sandra Guzmán-Armstrong came to the U.S. from Colombia, intent on improving her English skills, the language most dental literature is written in. She ended up at Iowa after discovering the field of operative dentistry, an advanced training that is not common in Colombia.

“I realized the majority of the students that were applying to the College of Dentistry were international,” recalled Guzmán-Armstrong. “I had wonderful mentors, and the college was especially welcoming to international students. I have also realized I needed mentorship outside of my department and outside of this university. I got involved working with organizations and institutions that have helped me grow. It is important to branch out and see what others are doing nationally and internationally.”  

Seek out discomfort

H.S. Udaykumar grew up in Mysore in the south of India. He went to the University of Florida, and stayed for a post doctorate, then came to Iowa in 1999.  

“This is a lovely place, and my kids have grown up in this town; they went to City High,” said Kumar. “It is a family place. I’ve lived here longer than any other place in my life, this is home.”  

Udaykumar spoke of some of the adjustments he had to make to adapt to life in Iowa, especially when adapting to cultural differences.  

“We do carry some imposter syndrome; you need to shake that off,” said Udaykumar. “Intrinsically this is something we have to deal with – we are out of our comfort zone. We don’t quite fit in, we don’t quite understand what it is about football, sports in America. How can you be super effective, a leader in your field or institution? How can you have a voice that is heard? Seek out discomfort. Go to those sports parties, make yourself visible and heard. Don’t limit your congregation to people from your country. Break out of that. That is not the road to success.”

Curtius also commented on the importance of integrating into the community.

“It is so important to reach out to people from the very beginning,” said Curtius. “Speak that 'non-native' American English, and then you’ll be fine, like everyone else. You have to make that jump.”

Ask questions early on, specifically about tenure/promotion processes

Aniruddha Dutta grew up in a small town in eastern India and completed a lot of their graduate education in India. They spent some time in Minnesota until a position in their field opened up at Iowa.

“Allowing me to do collaborative work, extensive field work, and allowing enough scope for my tenure package to be built around what I was doing, not an expectation of what it should look like, is one of the things that drew me to Iowa in the first place,” said Dutta.

Dutta addressed the dual challenge of navigating through the promotion process while simultaneously managing their immigration status, which can be as demanding as a full-time job. Dutta shared some of the things they learned when going through the tenure process.

“Tenure expectations can be very discipline- and department- specific,” said Dutta. “You need a clear channel of communication on this. You need to be proactive about this to learn the tenure expectations. If your DEO or department don’t reach out to you, don’t hesitate to set up meetings with them.”  

Guzmán-Armstrong added that it is important to document things early on, find an area of expertise, and focus on something you have a passion for.

“Make lots of connections and network, that’s the key to success,” offered Udaykumar. “It doesn’t matter how qualified or exceptional you are in your field; nothing works without connections.”

Be proud of who you are and what you bring

In closing comments, the panelists underscored how important it is that international faculty be proud of who they are and of the richness they bring to the University of Iowa.

“Be proud of your background and what you are bringing as an international faculty,” said Guzmán-Armstrong. “We have a lot of curiosity and adaptability. You don’t need to blend in but stand out for how unique you are and what you can bring to your institution.”

"We have crossed many oceans and many borders, and we have our place at the University of Iowa,” reiterated Curtius. “It really is a matter of believing in ourselves and branching out with domestic faculty, creating a new discourse at Iowa that only international faculty can bring.”

International Programs is planning additional sessions focused on international faculty success for the upcoming academic year. 

International Programs  (IP) at the University of Iowa (UI) is committed to enriching the global experience of UI students, faculty, staff, and the general public by leading efforts to promote internationally oriented teaching, research, creative work, and community engagement.  IP provides support for international students and scholars, administers scholarships and assistance for students who study, intern, or do research abroad, and provides funding opportunities and grant-writing assistance for faculty engaged in international research. IP shares their stories through various media, and by hosting multiple public engagement activities each year.

• international faculty

International Programs at the University of Iowa supports the right of all individuals to live freely and to live in peace. We condemn all acts of violence based on race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, and perceived national or cultural origin. In affirming its commitment to human dignity, International Programs strongly upholds the values expressed in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights .