Become an InitiaSciences mentor
Are you a master's, doctoral or post-doctoral student? Do you like to pass on knowledge and share your passion for your discipline? Do you want to be part of a unique mentoring experience? Join the team and become one of our mentors!
The 2024-2025 bids are now open!
You can register for the webinars on December 1 and December 8, 2023 to find out more!
Why become an InitiaSciences mentor?
Communicating and sharing
your passion for science, your profession as a researcher, to allow young people to accomplish themselves, to awaken their curiosity and to arouse vocations.
Training
during five workshops offered free of charge to our mentors by experts affiliated with Scientifines andAcfas, among others.
Develop skills
in scientific communication, teaching, coaching, team and project management, thanks to a unique experience in Quebec.
How to become a mentor?
Let us know if you are interested by filling out this form. We will then send you an invitation to attend one of our introductory webinars. The role of a mentor will be presented in more detail, as well as the next steps to take. You can also consult our Mentor's Guideand our FAQ.
It's decided, you will be an InitiaSciences mentor? Then fill out the application form. Tell us about yourself, your motivations and your research project. We will review the applications and notify you at the end of March if you are selected!
Important: three conditions are necessary for your application to be valid:
- Have the support of your supervisor(s);
- Read and accept our Code of conduct;
- Consent to a criminal background check if selected.
Applications are now open
for the 2024-2025 cohort
Rffill in our form and we'll get back to you!
Once your application has been accepted, we will offer you free training, consisting of 5 workshops on pedagogy, scientific communication, ethics, diversity and inclusion. This training is mandatory and must be completed in full before you can be assigned a youth team. (The 2024-2025 training schedule is not yet available, but it will resemble the 2023-2024 schedule).
You are now ready to mentor a team of young people! Now you need to define the project you will work on together. It must be :
- Original: A currently ongoing, innovative and unpublished research project;
- Resulting from your research in progress: an excerpt from your master's, doctoral or post-doctoral project, adapted to the level of your mentees;
- Concise and focused: your mentees will have 8 months to complete their project from start to finish, without any initial knowledge.
You will have until August to define your project, which may evolve during the year. We will accompany you during the training workshops. Do not hesitate to consult our Mentor's Guide for more information.
In September, students in high school 3-4-5 and CEGEP will be introduced to the InitiaSciences program and your projects. They will choose their mentor and their team, and will be trained in some of the basics of scientific research. At the beginning of October, you will be able to meet your mentees (2 or 3 young people) and start introducing them to your research project. You will supervise them until June, for 2 to 4 hours per week (one to two meetings per week). In June, you will help them prepare their presentation for the InitiaSciences Annual Symposium.
Resources
Mentor's Guide
Who can become a mentor? What is the mentoring project? How do you provide a positive and motivating environment for your mentees? Our Mentor's Guide answers all of these questions in detail! You will also find many tips to help you throughout the mentoring process, as well as the training schedule.
Mentor Code of Conduct
It is essential that you read and sign our code of conduct to become an InitiaSciences mentor.
2023 training calendar
The actual timetable for the 2024-2025 cohort of the project will be published shortly, but will look something like this.
All mentors will be trained free of charge by our team and partners in five mandatory workshops on pedagogy, science communication, ethics, diversity and inclusion.
The 2022 workshops will take place from early April to mid-JuneOne to two 1.5 to 2 hour workshops per month (online).
1. Introduction & preparation of the mentoring project
Workshop in the form of a round table with 2022-2023 mentors (Léa Marpeaux, André Beaudoin and Léo Guiramand).
Presented by Liliana Potes (Research Project Coordinator, InitiaSciences team).
April 14, 2023
2. Pedagogy
Dynamic and instructive workshop.
Presented by Valérie Bilodeau, Executive Director of Les Scientifines.
April 18, 2023
Workshops 3 to 5
Coming soon.
Coming soon.
Coming soon.
For the year 2023, we are honored to have two partners contribute to the training of our mentors:
