Peer Mentoring

In peer mentoring, a self-initiated group of peers has to be constituted before applying to the program. A group should consist of 8 to 15 peers. The group can either be composed of doctoral students and postdocs together, or exclusively of doctoral students, or exclusively of postdocs. All group members have to be a member of one of the six institutions of the ETH Domain during the time span of their mentoring group activities. The groups set a common goal (e.g. career development topic) on which they want to work. They should point out why they want to work on this specific topic. The peers take a proactive attitude and share their knowledge and experiences in the group. Two to five senior mentors assist the groups. The next mentoring process will start in Summer 2025 and will last for one year.

What is peer-mentoring?

The key point in peer mentoring is the mutual support among the peers. They share their knowledge and experiences with each other. Senior mentors support the peers in pursuing a career in academia or industry and they also share their experiences with the peers. The peer groups need to identify in advance at least two persons who would be willing to act as senior mentors.

Read goals & topics from Peer Mentoring groups from runs 2023/24,  2022/23 and 2021/22 

Watch testimonials from 2 peer-mentoring participants

Application requirement

Peer mentoring groups are open for women and men. The first and the second applicant of the group must be female scientists and the group must consist of a majority of female scientists.

After the group is constituted, the newly formed peer-mentoring group should follow the below steps:

The following documents are requested:

The already established peer groups of the previous runs will have the possibility to reapply. Prerequisite for a successful reapplication are the following:

Commitment

Peers commit to regular participation and engagement in the mentoring meetings. They invest sufficient time in the mentoring project according to the planned activities (meetings, workshops/seminars with trainers).
At the end of the program, participants will receive:

What kind of activities can groups organize?

The respective activities have to be related to the chosen career development topic of the peer group.
Examples:

Financial resources

A maximum of CHF 5000.- is available for every peer mentoring group (for further expenses CHF 500.-).The group has to set up a budget for all planned activities in advance (budget form to download). Senior mentors from the ETH Domain cannot be remunerated, external senior mentors can receive max CHF 400 for half a day plus travel expenses. Expenses for trainers (fees, travel expenses) should be included in the budget.

Signature page

Signature page can be downloaded here.

Assessment Criteria

The assessment of the applications will be based on the quality and completeness of the application, the motivation and objectives of the group and the predicted positive impact of the mentoring for the career development of the peers.

What participant say
"Being part of the peer-mentoring group gave us a clearer overview of the different possibilities in academia or industry after the PhD. We had the possibilities to obtain insights from experts in both fields (academia and industry). We got a better perception on the timeline needed to apply for grants, jobs and we learned how to better present and brand ourselves in job applications. Moreover, the workshops attended during the peer-mentoring group were helpful to establish contacts and to grow our network."
"The mentoring program has a very suitable format to let us all benefit from it greatly. What was great to have during the last year were the two workshops, which were true eye-openers in some regards. We have become a group and got to know people from other institutes within our department which was also beneficial from networking."