WHOI Funding and Awards --> Mentorship Program

Mentorship Program

The Mentorship Program is funded by generous donors to support and encourage the mentoring of untenured scientific staff by tenured scientists at WHOI. Details regarding this program is as follows:

• An untenured and tenured scientist team prepare a brief (2-page) description of a project they would like to work on together. The project may be related to a proposed or funded project submitted to an external funding agency, but this is not required. Note: The award of funds for mentoring is not tied to obtaining funding for the project from an external funding agency.
• If awarded, the Mentorship Program will provide $20,000 to the team to be used at their discretion for salary and related costs only. The proposal should include a general plan for the use of these funds. The period of performance for these funds will be 12 months and there will be no extensions.
• Criteria for selection (which should be addressed in the 2-page project description) will include:
  • The nature of the mentoring relationship;
  • The importance of the project to the professional development and research programs of the junior scientist;
  • The quality of the Science proposed;
  • The timeliness of the project. (Why is "now" the right time to do this?)
• The Mentor Team is required to submit a brief (1-page) report within 6 months of the end of the award period to the Director of Research describing the benefits of the mentor relationship and the results of the project.

Proposals must be submitted to the office of the Director of Research by March 1 of each year. The Director of Research, in consultation with the Department Chairs, will make the final selection of successful teams and awards will be effective April 1.