mentoring

Philosophy

My goal as a mentor is to inspire students to achieve their goals by creating an atmosphere that fosters critical thinking and high levels of engagement. I commit to guiding and supporting each student individually, taking the time to listen and offer help. My approach is one of professionalism, respect, and inclusion.

“We are shaped and fashioned by what we love” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

We are not robots, so I am convinced we need to enjoy what we do to be productive. Be honest about your interests/motivations, both with you and with me, so that we can coexist in symbiosis. Based upon these, we will mutually agree on the expectations of our academic relationship, which will serve as a guiding thread also to set short- and mid-term expectations on the different projects we will work on together. But nothing is written in stone, and we can go back to reassess expectations (global or particular) at any time.

A fruitful academic relationship requires trust, which is built, first and foremost, on mutual respect. I am an open-minded, mildly extroverted person, passionate about nature and its functioning. My natural way of behaving is friendly and slightly informal. I will ask you how you are doing both at work and in life. However, if this does not suit you, or it is important for you to set boundaries, that is totally fine with me. In the long term, trust building is also related to our capacity to pay attention to details, and respecting your demands will help with this.

I value diverse backgrounds and experiences. I have worked in three countries across four institutions (in four different languages!), each with a unique working culture. I advocate for cultural diversity and equal opportunities. One thing where I might be less open is that I do not tolerate any form of discrimination. If we can agree on this, we will do just fine.

I will try my best to share my experiences, give you advice and provide you with as many opportunities as possible for self- and scientific development. But I also expect ownership from you. The way I work with my mentees can be summarized in the following schematic:

My job is to keep you in the flow channel. I will challenge you to reach new heights and, at the same time, do my best to guide you through the new skills you will need to acquire. But this will only be fruitful if you share with me what you are getting from your experiences. Effective communication between mentor and mentee is essential. Therefore, it is vital that we meet regularly and constantly evaluate approaches, tools, learning, etc. I prefer a one-hour meeting per week, but modifications to this can also be agreed upon.

I welcome potential students to reach out and ask any questions you may have about my mentoring style.

Best; Oscar