It can start with the simple wave of a hand gesturing for someone to come closer:
Let me show you something…
Or perhaps it’s a curious glance across the lab bench as someone asks:
How do I…
Across generations, faculty have strived to pass along coveted knowledge to their students through the mentor-mentee relationship. Whether during informal hallway chats or formalized programs, these relationships fuel the projects that drive humanity’s collective advancement.
Research innovation requires not only creativity and technical skill, but also a network of knowledge-sharing. Mentoring bridges experience gaps, allowing early-career researchers access to the wisdom, critical thinking, habits, and nuanced problem-solving approaches of seasoned scientists.
While mentorship is a sought-after component of many groups, it is not historically something faculty are explicitly taught to do. It is often learned on the fly, shaped by personal experience rather than formal training.
“In my generation, if you weren’t working 16–18-hour days, people would question your dedication,” Andy Bradford, professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, said “The work-life balance was just not there, and you got mentorship wherever you could.”
Recognizing the pitfalls of such ambiguity, universities are now taking a closer look at how mentor-mentee relationships are formed from the onset and acknowledge that effective mentorship can be explicitly taught rather than being left to random encounters.
“When everything is going crazy and bad, you are going to revert to how you were mentored,” Dr. Catherine Musselman, associate professor and program director of Structural Biology, Biochemistry, and Biophysics, said.
As the idea of structured mentorship training gains traction, the National Institute of Health (NIH) has introduced requirements mandating that principal investigators and faculty participating in institutional training grants must complete formal mentorship training.
At the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, this shift coincided with the recent launch of the Academy of Research Mentoring Educators (ARME). ARME is a new initiative developed by the Graduate School and Postdoctoral Office that provides faculty with practical tools to support their mentees through intentional, evidence-based mentoring approaches.
The program is built around the nationally-recognized Entering Mentoring curriculum developed by the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER), with workshops facilitated by an “army” of CIMER-trained CU Anschutz faculty facilitators.
The first round of ARME trainings took place this past March, engaging 55 faculty across 18 departments. Over a total of 8 hours, participants navigated situations from underperforming students to mentoring future collaborators through small-group discussions, case studies, and real-life scenarios.
These approaches taught mentors to reflect on their current practices and encouraged the development of new strategies for supporting mentees. By grounding its curriculum in evidence-based methods, ARME ensures its content is directly aligned with the NIH’s recommended mentor training topics and fulfills the requirements for faculty participating in institutional training grants. ARME additionally encourages attendees to thoughtfully create their mentorship philosophy and lean heavily into imparting their personal methodology to others over case studies that people like Jeff Jacot said, “were situations directly applicable to my lab.”
A stand-out takeaway for at least one participant was being reminded that mentorship is a two-way street. The central focus of the program is building open lines of communication and ensuring that expectations are clearly discussed and aligned from the opening conversation.
“A lot of the conflicts stem out of mismatched expectations. Sometimes the mentor and mentee are never aligned to begin with and things past that initial meeting just get worse and worse,” Dr. Laura Saba, associate professor in the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, said.
The program centers these conversations, providing practical tools and guided exercises to help mentors and mentees navigate expectation-setting together. As a result, participants come away seeing mentorship as an ongoing, reciprocal relationship.
“The experience can go both ways,” Dr. Kristine Erlanson, professor of medicine and infectious diseases, said. She particularly resonated with the idea that faculty can encourage students to “mentor up,” giving value to the belief that mentees, too, have important lessons and perspectives to share.
To recognize their commitment to improving the research training environment, any faculty who complete the ARME program are eligible to earn a Research Mentoring Essentials digital badge — a new university credential developed in partnership with the Office of Digital Learning.
The badge signifies not just the completion of training, but a thoughtful engagement with scientifically-backed techniques and the development of a personal mentoring philosophy. For Dr. Sean Reed, assistant professor of nursing, that reflective process was one of the most valuable components of the program.
“You say to yourself, ‘Here is my commitment to the mentee,’” he said. “That really makes you pause and reflect on what kind of mentor you want to be.”
After completing ARME training, faculty members are equipped to immediately start practicing the mentorship techniques in their labs. Some strategies may take time to show results, but many participants have found immediate applications.
Dr. Ally Nguyen assistant professor of cell and developmental biology quickly incorporated ARME’s Individual Development Plan templates into her new lab.
“I have been using the templates to guide how I make ones for my lab, so students feel empowered to lead meetings with me,” she said.
Similarly, Dr. Regie Santos-Cortez, professor in otolaryngology- head and neck surgery, has continued to make empowering students a central part of her approach. She recognized the ongoing challenge of balancing expectations while fostering an environment where mentees can confidently express their true selves.
“It’s not about being strong (in the face of adversity), it’s about being heard,” she said. She emphasized the importance of encouraging students to advocate for their own paths while remaining respectful of laboratory goals.
“As long as they both keep showing up, things can be worked on,” Santos-Cortez said of mentors and mentees
ARME workshops will continue to be offered twice per year, in the fall and spring. Registration is now open for the Fall 2025 session. All faculty are invited to participate, from those embarking on their first mentorships to seasoned mentors wanting to deepen their skills. To learn more about the program and to sign up, visit graduateschool.cuanschutz.edu/mentoring.
As the landscape of mentorship continues to evolve, programs like ARME are equipping faculty with practical tools and inspiring a cultural shift that values open dialogue, mutual growth, and the courage to listen as much as to lead.
The journey may begin with a simple gesture or a quiet question, but its ripple effects endure, shaping generations of scientists, scholars, and innovators. In the end, the true legacy of mentorship lies not just in the knowledge passed down, but in the voices that are empowered along the way.