Rockefeller University’s mission of scientific excellence brings together leading faculty, postdocs, and students to investigate fundamental questions in biology. In its new Strategic Plan, The Rockefeller University made a commitment to enhancing postdoctoral education and training and affirmed that “the education and training of young scientists is a central component of the University’s mission.”

The University recognizes that a crucial component of postdoctoral education and training is effective mentoring by their advisors or heads of lab. Mentors, due to their close scientific and personal association with postdocs, hold enormous influence over the postdoc’s development as a scientist as well as their overall scientific experience at RU. Therefore, the University continues to emphasize to its faculty the need to provide quality mentoring for all postdocs. In addition to providing proper research guidance, the mentor should give regular feedback about scientific progress being made, help broaden the postdoc’s scientific network, and also help develop the postdoc’s scientific career. The mentor should also adhere to fair and professional methods of discourse and conflict resolution if and when they arise.

The University will strive to develop means by which the quality of mentoring of its postdoctoral body can be evaluated, and conflict resolution policies to ensure that mentor-postdoc conflicts can be quickly identified and properly resolved.

The enthusiasm new postdocs bring to the University is an asset as important as their scientific expertise. RU will aim to safeguard these basic qualities while adding to postdocs’ scientific development. Proper mentoring from leading scientists will contribute to the postdocs’ scientific development and help train a generation of scientists who are equally adept at conducting research as being good mentors themselves.

The PDA and the Dean’s office have formulated a guideline to enhance the quality of mentoring postdocs receive. This document will be elaborated into a handbook that will carefully outline aspects of mentoring that are crucial for good postdoc training.