# Mentorship guidance

###### tags: `guide` `mentorship programme` `research software camps`

*This document contains guidelines for mentors and mentees.*

**Table of contents**

1. [Introduction](#Introduction)
2. [Setting up for success](#Setting-up-for-success)
3. [Challenges](#Challenges)
4. [Useful resources](#Useful-resources)
5. [Contact the team ](#Contact-us)

**Welcome to the mentorship programme**
First of all, the Research Software Camps team welcomes mentors and mentees.

Congratulations again on submitting a successsful application to the programme!

## Introduction
The Software Sustainability Institute started the Research Software Camp mentorship programme in 2021 to allow researchers who have just begun their research journey to receive one-to-one support from volunteer mentors to further develop their skills and knowledge:

> “This [mentorship] programme was a valuable learning experience, and has encouraged me to continue to learn more about the field of Research Software Engineering, especially within the area of Psychology.” RSC mentee

The RSC mentorship scheme benefits mentors, too:

> “[Being a mentor is] a valuable opportunity ... to pay forward the generosity of those who mentored us and a chance to reinforce your own coding fundamentals.” RSC mentor

Through its RSC programme, the SSI has coordinated mentor support for 22 researchers
worldwide so far.

Over the last two years, we have been refining the process by which we support programme participants and mentors. This guide is meant to set the basis for the weekly meetings so that mentees and mentors alike can get the most out of this experience.

## Setting up for success
Whether you’ve joined the programme as a mentor or a mentee, it’s important that everyone involved knows what to expect and when. If you’re a mentor, you should clarify the boundaries of your relationship; that is, to what extent you’re going to be involved in the mentorship.

### Meetings
First things first, make sure you have a regular time slot to meet with your mentee. This will facilitate having achievable milestones every week.

### Infrastructure
Decide on the infrastructure you’ll use. We recommend using HackMD for taking shared notes and Zoom to meet up; however, if there are other tools that suit you better, please discuss them with your mentee.

### Goals
It’s important to set goals from the get-go. You can always change those goals as the programme moves along; however, having something to focus on from the first meeting will go a long way and you’ll avoid having no goals halfway through the programme.
### Milestones
Milestones can help you measure your progress and serve as a reference for what you’ve already achieved. We have some programme milestones, and we strongly recommend that you set up a few milestones specific to your mini-project.

The programme milestones are:

**19th April: Information session**
We will go over this document as well as help mentees set up the infrastructure we’ll be using as part of the programme. This is a great place to start if you have never used Slack, Github, or HackMD before.

**Week of the 24th April and beyond**
*Set up goals*
As part of your second meeting, you should talk about what the mentee wants to achieve and what is feasible. Drawing up a plan and setting mini-project milestones will help you keep track of progress.

**26th April: Launch Q&A**
The first meeting between mentor and mentee should already have happened or is scheduled for the week of 24th April. The Launch Q&A will be a space to come and ask questions to the mentorship programme team.

**26th May: Mid-term Q&A**
We will hold another Q&A session where we’ll check in with mentees and mentors. This is a great place to share experiences and talk about your journey so far. We’ll also ask participants to complete a feedback survey to help us improve the programme.

**28th June: Graduations**
The end of the programme will be celebrated by hosting online graduations. Mentees will be asked to talk about their mentoring experience. The graduation will be livestreamed so your friends and family can celebrate this achievement with you!

**Mini-project milestones**
Consider 2-4 key steps that need to be achieved along the way to reach the mentorship goals, and decide an estimated target date for each milestone.

Ensure that the milestones and target dates are realistic and achievable, particularly given any other work or other commitments during the period of mentorship.

## Challenges
Best-laid plans seldom work as we expect them. We completely understand this and want to support our mentors and mentees as best we can.

We’ve listed a few potential challenges here:

I can’t get in touch with my mentor/mentee.
I don’t feel like I’m making any progress.
I’m finding it hard to commit to the programme due to unforeseen circumstances (increased workload, illness, etc.).

If you encounter any issues, please make sure to contact the SSI team as soon as possible.

## Useful resources
* [Guide to HackMD](https://hackmd.io/@RSC5Mentorship/Guide_HackMD/edit)
* [Download Zoom](https://zoom.us/download)
* Slack channel
* You should've received a link to sign into the space. We strongly encourage participants to use this. You’ll get a faster response from the RSC team and you can also ask your peers questions or post comments!
* [Slack Guide ](https://hackmd.io/@RSC5Mentorship/Guide_Slack)

## Contact us
* via Slack or email
* RSC team
* Selina Aragon ([e-mail])
* Denis Barclay ([e-mail])
* Gina Pegu ([e-mail])
* Lucie Wöllenstein ([e-mail])