ADVANCE Faculty
Open to assistant and associate professors working at the University of Luxembourg. Researchers holding a PhD on a permanent contract may also apply.
Participants in ADVANCE Faculty will be matched with an external Mentor from their discipline. The aim is to provide support on how to navigate the academic career and advance, as well as to share experiences and gain insights on leadership skills. In addition to the 1-2-1 mentoring conversations, participants will be able to participate in leadership training and benefit from coaching sessions.
An effective mentorship depends on different factors: the ability to build trust is paramount, the commitment of both parties, and a clear goal. Mentees should embark on this journey with a well-defined objective: what are their needs and what do they expect from their mentors? The associated training programme will allow participants to enhance their personal learning experience.
ADVANCE Faculty will open a call every other year.
The first call is expected in March 2024, the exact timeline will be announced soon.
Eligible applicants can apply by sending a motivation letter, explicitly saying why they want to participate. The letter should also detail what they expect from a mentor and name up to three potential mentors in their field.
Applications will be reviewed by the steering committee and selected participants will be notified by the program coordinator.
- The committee will carefully evaluate each application to ensure that applicants meet the eligibility criteria.
- Additionally, the committee will review any suggested mentors, and they may suggest alternative mentor candidates based on their expertise and compatibility.
- A brief assessment will be written for each applicant.
- The program aims to accommodate all eligible applicants, with a target range of 10-12 participants.
Orientation meeting
The Program Coordinator will host an initial orientation meeting with selected participants. This meeting will provide a comprehensive overview of the program and address any questions or concerns.
Mentor invitation and introduction
Suggested mentors, proposed in the application process and carefully reviewed by the Selection Committee, will be invited to participate. Once mentors accept the invitation the program coordinator facilitates the first mentorship meeting.
Following the mentor introduction, each mentor-mentee pair will be asked to complete and sign a mentorship agreement. The mentorship agreement serves as a vital document, outlining the goal of the partnership, the format and frequency of the meetings, as well as confidentiality rules and other relevant guidelines. It helps establish clear expectations and guidelines for the mentorship journey.
The mentor and mentee should meet 6 times in the subsequent 12 months. The Program Coordinator will check in to ensure the match is working effectively and to support with any issue that may arise.
We expect the mentorship conversations to lead to a careful reflection and action plan, to further encourage it we will ask mentees to write a reflection document, where they briefly share the topics discussed (bullet points), what was most useful from the session, and any actions they agreed to.
- For the pilot, the ADVANCE Faculty participants took part in the Aurora leadership program, run by Advance HE (UK). In the future, we would like to develop an in-house program that caters to the needs of our faculty.
- Participants in the program will also be encouraged to form a peer group (and be introduced to peer-mentoring techniques), and
- Have the possibility to have coaching sessions.
The program coordinator will be always available to guide the mentors and mentees, clarify any issues, and/or adjust; ADVANCE takes an agile approach; our primary goal is to support the participants. In addition, we will carefully monitor and ask for feedback to ensure the quality and efficacy of the program and its different components.