Mentoring Plus

Your experience counts. So does your PhD. 

Target group: Women, trans, inter, and non-binary (TIN) PhD candidates
Language: German
Duration of the program: 12 months

Program overview

Have you ever found yourself searching for your place in academia, caught between high expectations and a lack of guidance? As a female, trans, inter, or non-binary (TIN) PhD candidate, do you encounter obstacles that make your path more difficult? Are you the first person in your family to attend university and find that you lack networks or informal knowledge based on experience? Or would you like to approach your doctoral studies with more confidence, but don't know where to start?

Then this mentoring program is just right for you. Mentoring Plus consists of five components:

The program line 2026 puts a special focus on the topic of first-generation academics' background and experiences. All women and TIN individuals in the doctoral phase are welcome to apply, regardless of whether they themselves come from a non-academic family background. However, they should be interested and open to addressing issues of equal opportunity, educational backgrounds, and diversity in academia.

Mentoring Plus stands for intersectional[1] and equal opportunity talent promotion for women and TIN persons in the doctoral phase. This means that academic development and career opportunities are always influenced by social positioning, privileges, and experiences of discrimination and therefore cannot be promoted in isolation from these factors. As an equality measure at the University of Potsdam, Mentoring Plus focuses on gender while also taking into account other experiences such as social background, racism, disability, or neurodiversity.

There are many paths to academia, and Mentoring Plus supports you in confidently pursuing your own path with excellent guidance.

[1] Intersectionality describes the overlap and interaction of different forms of discrimination.
 

Program goals

The program improves your career and advancement opportunities by

• providing targeted support through mentoring, career reflection, and skills development,
• increasing your visibility and involving you in intergenerational knowledge and technology transfer,
• promoting diversity and equal opportunities in science,
• raising awareness of diversity and expanding your scope of agency, and
• experiencing and helping to shape empowerment and anti-discrimination as the basis for an equal opportunity university.
   

Funding and cooperation

Mentoring Plus for PhD candidates is offered by the Equal Opportunity Coordination Office at the University of Potsdam and the Potsdam Graduate School. The program also cooperates with Mentoring Plus for students, which is managed by the Career Service.