Campus Mentorship Goes from a Simmer to a Boil

Providing a “world-class educational and training experience” is central to the mission of the Graduate School at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. For many early-career scientists, that experience is defined by the mentorship they receive.  

Enter the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experience in Research (CIMER). CIMER seeks to improve mentoring relationships, specifically in research settings, and at all career stages. Earlier this month, the Graduate School brought in CIMER for a two-day, in-person training to teach faculty how to facilitate the CIMER Entering Mentoring curricula. 

“Mentoring is central to educating the next generation of PhD and postdoctoral scientists. We know mentorship is an essential ingredient in the success of early-career scientists and the CIMER curricula provide instruction in evidence-informed mentoring practices,” Dr. Bruce Mandt, Associate Dean of the Graduate School, said.  

Coincidentally, the timing of this type of training perfectly coincided with news from the National Institute of Health (NIH.) 

“The NIH just announced that starting in 2025, T32 training grants will require that all training grant faculty receive formal instruction in mentoring,” Mandt said.  “Examples of the types of content that should be covered included the modules taught in the CIMER curriculum.” 

Twenty-nine CU Anschutz faculty members are now CIMER-certified facilitators. Participants represented PhD and postdoctoral programs and came from the School of Medicine, College of Nursing, and the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.   

“It was an incredible course, and we all met some amazing campus colleagues,” Dr. Richard J. Ing, Professor of Anesthesiology, said. “I look forward to serving on campus in this space in any way possible moving forward.” 

Attendees of the training found community amongst others with a passion for mentorship, and it created an energized and enthusiastic environment for learning and collaboration.  

“This effort was just step one. In the future, through partnerships with these and other CIMER trained faculty, we will expand our institutional capacity to deliver evidence-informed research mentor training across campus,” Mandt said.