Physical Sciences Area Mentoring Program
The Physical Sciences Area Mentoring Program is one aspect of Berkeley Lab’s mentorship network. Year-long programs, such as the PSA Mentoring Program, are available to all lab employees, as is the single-day Just In Time mentorship events, which are organized by the Lab-Wide Mentoring Committee. The focus of the PSA Mentoring is to give Area employees an opportunity to find mentoring that best suits them and to establish a robust culture of support for the Physical Sciences Area. We hope the program facilitates Physical Sciences staff and researchers' growth and engagement at the Lab and in their careers through one-on-one mentor–mentee relationships.
With assistance from an area-wide committee, the mentoring program will advance professional support in the Area by matching interested employees with mentors and will facilitate mentorship training. Participants of all levels of experience are given the opportunity to build broader networks, explore new challenges, and gain fresh perspectives on their career development, goals, and Berkeley Lab.
What is Mentoring?
Mentoring is a confidential relationship in which a more knowledgeable or experienced person facilitates the professional development or growth of another, outside the normal line management supervisory structure. The focus of mentoring goes beyond learning specific competencies or tasks and builds a climate of trust so the mentee can feel secure to seek advice on issues impacting their professional success.
Mentoring achieves its goals primarily by listening with empathy, sharing experiences, facilitating the development of insight through reflection, and encouraging the mentee to take action toward the achievement of self-driven goals. As such, the relationship is mentee-driven, based on goals and expectations that are mutually agreed with the mentor. Mentoring is attentive to the mentee’s values and needs, and respectful of the mentor’s time, resources, and experience. Mentoring is not intended to be a means of fostering technical skills, nor is it intended to foster advocacy; rather, it is considered a coaching relationship.
A mentoring relationship may address such topics as:
Career paths at the Laboratory and beyond.
Networking and interpersonal skills.
Presenting and publishing your work.
Understanding the formal and informal workings of the Laboratory.
Developing professional skills and adjusting to changes.
Achieving work-life balance.
Who can be a mentee?
Consider signing up to be a mentee if you seek guidance from a mentor on any of the above topics and are prepared to initiate setting goals and expectations for your mentoring relationship.
Who can be a mentor?
A mentor guides and nurtures the development of a mentee. We encourage you to sign up to be a mentor if you have experience or knowledge that others can learn from.
Being a mentor provides the opportunity to:
Improve your management skills—particularly advisory and supporting skills.
Learn about the perspectives and views of others.
Impart your knowledge and experience to someone who will benefit.
Expand and diversify your professional network.
Program Eligibility
Launched on a limited basis in 2021, the Physical Sciences Area (PSA) mentorship program is now offered to all PSA researchers, postdocs, GSRAs, technical staff, and administrative staff.
A major contributor to the success of the program is the ability to match eligible mentees with mentors. Interested employees in Career, Term, Postdoc, Rehired Retiree, and Retired Affiliate positions are strongly encouraged to volunteer as mentors to ensure that the mentor/mentee matching process is successful.
Who can participate?
All eligible employees will receive an invitation from their respective Division Director. The specifics of the program are as follows:
Scientific and engineering staff, researcher positions, postdocs, LBNL GSRA’s, technical staff, and administrative staff are eligible to participate.
Affiliate postdocs who work primarily at and with LBNL scientists may be invited by their division.
Postdocs are eligible to mentor graduate students.
Graduate students are eligible to participate as mentees only.
Rehired Retirees and Retiree Affiliates are eligible to serve as mentors.
Mentors may volunteer to have more than one mentee.
Mentees must continue to meet performance expectations for their current position.
Participation
The committee will accommodate as many participants as possible.
Eligible employees may participate both as a mentor and a mentee in the program.
Mentors will be selected primarily from the Physical Sciences Area (PSA) Divisions. If a suitable mentor cannot be found within PSA, the committee will seek mentors in other Areas of the Lab and/or well-qualified Affiliates.
Matching Process
The Physical Sciences Area mentoring program committee coordinates mentor-mentee pairings. The committee will attempt to match as many participants as possible.
Mentors and mentees apply to participate by filling out the respective Sign-Up forms.
Mentee applicants provide information on areas they seek mentorship.
Mentor applicants provide information on which topics they are qualified to give advice.
Access to the application forms will be provided via email sent from your division director.
Eligible employees may fill out both forms to apply to participate as both a mentor and mentee.
The Mentorship Committee, with representation from each division and HR, will match mentors and mentees subject to the following:
Matches will be kept confidential.
Mentees will not be matched with supervisor or work lead.
The committee will actively seek to make matches across program and division. boundaries to help improve broader awareness and collaboration in the Physical Sciences Area.
Mentors and mentees will participate in separate training workshops.
Mentors and mentees will meet one-on-one for the duration of the program.
Program Expectations
The formal duration of this year-long cycle of this program is January 2, 2025–December 20, 2025, though relationships are welcome to be continued further, if both participants agree to do so.
Mentees will not be matched with their supervisor or work lead, and HR will not keep records of matches. Mentors and mentees may disclose their participation in the program generally, without revealing their partner's name. If mutually agreed, the mentor and mentee can choose to disclose their relationship to a third party.
Mentors and mentees commit to:
Attend or watch a recording of one of the hour-long training sessions that will be held in January/February 2025.
Jointly establish the ground rules and goals for the relationship; e.g., relationship is confidential.
Meeting at least once a month for at least 30 minutes throughout the program cycle.
Provide a trustworthy, respectful, and confidential environment.
Participate in a mid-program and end-of-program evaluation survey.
Mentees commit to:
Embrace ownership and responsibility for their mentorship.
Come prepared to meetings with topics and goals identified and questions and ideas to explore.
Be open to constructive feedback and learning new things.
Seek counsel and advice while working towards independence.
Be respectful of the mentor’s time and resources.
Mentors commit to:
Value and respect differences and be culturally aware.
Ask their mentee questions that will generate thought and guide them to find solutions rather than provide solutions.
Encourage mentees to set the agenda and pace.
Provide mentorship, not recruitment or sponsorship.
Role and expectations of the Mentoring Committee:
Design, advise, and promote the program.
Match mentees and mentors.
Maintain confidentiality of participants and information shared in the sign-up form.
Be cognizant of bias and blindspots in the matching process.
Field questions on the program.
Review survey results and suggest improvements to the program.
Key Dates
Early November 2025: First communication to all Divisions. Sign-Up form opens.
November 14, 2025: Deadline for mentors and mentees to submit their applications.
Mid-December, 2025: Matches completed and communicated.
December 20, 2025: Formal 2025 Mentoring program ends.* End-of-program survey.
January 2026: Start of the formal 2026 program.
January/February timeframe: multiple 1-hour mentoring trainings will be scheduled
December 20, 2026: Formal 2026 program ends.* End-of-program survey.
*Relationships may continue beyond the formal end of the program if mutually beneficial.
