In 2022, the Inria Lille centre together with the CRIStAL and Painlevé laboratories will run an experimental mentoring program. The program is intended for researchers — post-docs, CR, MCF, but also DR and PR — members of the teams of the centre and/or the labs.
The objective of the mentoring program is to provide (younger) researchers looking to achieve some specific goal with additional feedback from more experienced colleagues, which would not be affected by any existing professional relation. The mentor and mentee will meet several times over an academic year, in a friendly context. The questions and topics addressed can be, for example,
- how to prepare the post-thesis career?
- how to prepare for position applications?
- how to take responsibility within a team?
- how to change the research theme?
- and many more.
The initial idea originates from the working group « Égalité Femmes-Hommes » at IRISA and the Inria Rennes – Bretagne Atlantique centre, who are running this programme since 2018.
Started initially in the United States and Canada since the 70s in all branches of society (schools, universities companies, associations…), mentoring has developed in parallel with coaching in a context of multiple crises (economic, employment, crisis of meaning etc.), which have given rise to an increased need for support. It is expanding today because it corresponds to the needs of a society in profound change aspiring to more sharing, exchanges between peers, collaborative commons, mutual aid networks, favoured by the expansion of digital technology.