Attending your first SSAR conference and want to meet fellow early career scientists and more experienced conference-goers? Or are you a conference veteran looking to encourage participation by new members? For several years, the SSAR mentorship program has helped new attendees get the most out of our annual conference and provided an impactful way for attendees of all career stages to support new members.

Signing up for the program

The program organizers use a questionnaire to determine participants career level as well as research and career interests, then they will use the responses to make meaningful mentor-mentee matches.

Folks who’d like to act as either a mentor or mentee for the program should use the same form. We expect the diversity of mentors to reflect the diversity of our new meeting attendees. Therefore, individuals from all career types and stages are invited to participate as mentors, from students to postdocs to established professionals.

How the program works

Everyone in the program meets as a group near the beginning of the SSAR meeting. This meeting gives everyone the chance to get to know each other, and it provides an opportunity for program organizers to give suggestions for making the most out of the mentorship interactions.

After the initial meeting, mentor-mentee pairs can meet up when and how they choose. Interactions often include attending poster sessions together, checking in over coffee, and/or talking over a meal. Mentors can also help their mentees to meet other researchers and help grown their networks.

Please fill out the questionnaire by May 31, 2024: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd_MhpB-PbdGOlSBMoF_Fx7fK_W89sMSKzNEwD1TChmwiLfMg/viewform

If there are any questions about this program or participation form, please contact Dr. Rob Denton (rdenton@marian.edu).