Frequently Asked Questions

What is mentoring?

Mentoring is a tried and tested tool for promoting young talent and staff development in companies, universities and other organizations. The term mentoring describes the personal relationship between an experienced person (mentor) and a less experienced person (mentee) to support personal and professional development. CheMento is designed as one-to-one mentoring, ie a mentor looks after a mentee.

What is a mentor?

A mentor is a person with (professional) experience who offers assistance with questions of personal and professional development. CheMento are experienced chemists (at least 3 to 5 years in the profession) who work in business, science or administration. You can find the conditions of participation on the "Information for Mentors" pages (see also " Who can participate? ").

What is a mentee?

A mentee is a person with little (professional) experience who receives support in their personal and professional development. CheMento is for students and doctoral candidates who are about to start their careers, as well as young graduates from all areas of chemistry. You can find the conditions of participation on the "Information for Mentees" page (see also " Who can participate? ").

How long does the program last?

A mentoring cooperation can be limited in time or last for many years. CheMento is designed to last for one year.

How many tandems can participate in one year?

A tandem is the combination of mentor and mentee according to a matching process. CheMento is carried out with a maximum of 30 tandems.

What are the selection criteria?

Important criteria for the selection process are professional and professional orientation, personal development and the physical distance between the places of residence. Personal interests and experiences of the mentees and mentors also play an important role.

The aim of the matching is to allocate suitable mentors to all mentees selected for the program. This means that the tandem partners who are suitable for the mentees are selected from a pool of potential mentors. It is therefore not possible to allocate a mentee to every person registered as a mentor.

Can mentees express wishes about their mentors?

Yes, that is possible. In the registration form, mentees should, among other things, address their expectations and wishes of their mentor. However, you cannot specify a preferred mentor.

When is the registration deadline?

The registration deadline (mentors) or application deadline (mentees) is October 15, 2023. Since the supporting program includes three joint events for the participants, CheMento is designed with a joint start for all participants. A continuous entry into the program is therefore not possible.

Applications for mentees will be possible again from autumn 2023. Mentors can register all year round.

What happens to the submitted data?

Your data will be treated confidentially and only for the processing of the mentoring program. Apart from the GDCh career service, no other GDCh employees have access to the data.

Contact details of the participants will be provided to the respective tandem partner (mentee and mentor) at the end of the matching phase so that the mentee can contact them.

When is the decision to accept or reject the applications made?

The documents will be viewed and matched from mid-October to the end of November 2023. After that, the Advisory Board will make the official decision on the participation of the applicants. All mentee applicants and mentors will be notified by the beginning of December.

What are the reasons for rejecting mentee applications?

Unfortunately, we only have 30 tandem places at first. So not all applicants can take part.

Based on the wishes and expectations of the mentee applications, which are formulated in the registration form, we try to find a suitable mentor. Unfortunately, this does not always work. This means that there is not a suitable mentor for every mentee candidate.

The selection is therefore neither based on special qualifications nor on "hardship cases".

What are the reasons for not considering mentors?

Based on the wishes and expectations formulated in the registration form of the mentee application, we try to find a suitable mentor for these mentees. This means that a mentee cannot be assigned to every mentor. Non-consideration is therefore not an assessment of the mentor's qualifications.

Is the program paid?

No, participation in CheMento is free of charge. All active participants (mentees and mentors) must bear travel expenses and, if applicable, accommodation expenses themselves.

Why do mentees have to pay the travel expenses themselves?

Even if the mentors work on a voluntary basis, there are costs for the program. These include e.g. B. Personnel costs for the employees involved in the organization in the office, costs for materials (flyers, information for participants, etc.) and events (premises, catering).

These costs are borne by the GDCh and thus by its members. Since the vast majority of members support the program without benefiting from it, we consider it appropriate that those who actually benefit from it also make their own contribution to CheMento.

Travel costs can be kept low with carpooling, ride-sharing agencies, long-distance buses and rail fares, and even if personal contact is very important, some meetings can also be held via Skype. In our view, this does not place an undue burden on mentees.

What does the CheMento Advisory Board do?

The advisory board checks and ensures that the implementation of CheMento corresponds to the expectations and objectives of the GDCh board. He has the final decision on the composition of the tandems (matching).

The following GDCh structures each send one member to the advisory board:

 

• GDCh Board
• working group opportunities in chemistry (AKCC)
• Association for Chemistry and Economics (VCW)
• Young Chemists Forum (JCF)
• Head of Career, education and science (GDCh Office)

The chairman of the advisory board is Dr. Hildegard Nimmesgern (AKCC).

Who do I contact for queries?

CheMento is part of the career service in the GDCh Office office. The contact person is Yasmin Yasin, mentoring@gdch.de, telephone 069 7917-665.