Mentees and Mentors
Mentoring is a collaborative at-will relationship in which one person—a mentor—shares their knowledge, skills, and experience with another person, a mentee, who is typically not as knowledgeable or experienced and benefits from the mentor’s guidance and perspective. Mentoring is considered a highly effective talent development measure that can yield especially positive results in gifted students. Through this support, mentees can gain knowledge in their field of interest, learn specific skills, and receive valuable advice on their career plans and advancement.
Outstanding STEMM Students
Building on these principles, Global Talent Mentoring connects outstanding STEMM students as mentees with renowned STEMM experts as mentors. The mentees will have the opportunity to consult regularly with their mentors through the program’s online platform, which enables messaging, exchanging files, videoconferencing, and collaborating on projects with participants from all over the world. Mentors support their mentees for several years and each mentee and mentor will have the chance to evaluate each other regularly. Both mentees and mentors will receive guidance and training to optimize the productivity and development of their interactions with one another, as well as their participation on the platform. All of these features come at no cost, as participation is free for everyone.
Mentees and mentors can interact with one another on the platform on different levels: in one-on-one settings, in small groups, and in the larger program community (i.e., across the entire Global Talent Mentoring network).
One-on-one
Each mentee is matched with one mentor who provides individual support in their chosen STEMM field(s), their current projects, and their goals. Mentors assist their mentees to reach their goals by identifying the skills mentees need to develop in order to excel in their given field. Mentors also act as inspiring role models, sharing their own path to excellence as an example to their mentees. Mentees and mentors are matched largely based on mutual STEMM interests and research interests, with additional consideration for other criteria (e.g., time zone differences). Global Talent Mentoring also aims to match participants who share the same gender.
Small groups
Mentees and mentors also connect with one another through small groups. These groups could be impromptu set-ups to discuss an issue or solve a problem. They can also constitute long-term collaborations, working on projects or finding solutions for real-world challenges. Small groups can consist of mentee–mentor dyads (i.e., two-person groups consisting of one mentee and one mentor) or mentees and mentors in any configuration. Their collaboration—in the form of small groups—is a place for inspiration and provides opportunities to complete more comprehensive and interdisciplinary project work.
Networking
Global Talent Mentoring is creating a hub of exceptionally talented STEMM youths and renowned STEMM experts from all over the world. The collective knowledge and expertise of this network has amazing potential, providing opportunities to support one another, exchange ideas, and collaborate on projects. With the online platform, mentees and mentors possess the tools they need to easily reach out to one another, invite the best collaborators to their research projects, and connect to solve the world’s most pressing challenges.