In the 2023-24 academic year, the Office of Graduate Education is honoring quality mentoring through shout-outs. Mentorship is a key component of academic science, and it comes in many forms. In addition to “official” mentors, we receive mentorship from peers, labmates, course instructors, dissertation committee members, and so many others. To celebrate mentorship in our community at UNC, this year’s mentoring awards are open to all nominees – faculty, grad students, postdocs, staff, postbacs, and anyone else.

Mentoring takes many different forms, and this year we’re asking nominators to select one (or more) of these types of mentorship that their nominee exemplifies.

  • Coach: helps you to create plans, set goals, evaluate your progress, and stay accountable
  • Advocate: speaks on your behalf with others, helps you navigate power dynamics or UNC policies
  • Connector: fosters your professional and personal networks, introduces you to other scientists and people with careers of interest
  • Role Model: someone who displays skills or qualities that you want to emulate (you may not even work with them directly)
  • Technique Teacher: your go-to person to learn a new technique and troubleshoot
  • Identity Champion: validates your intersectional identities, shows curiosity, provides equitable opportunities
  • General Mentoring: any other mentoring that doesn’t fit the above categories

Criteria for Nominees

  • Mentor others in any capacity at UNC-Chapel Hill in the biological and biomedical sciences
  • Not have already won a previous OGE mentoring award (listed here and here)
  • Nominees can be faculty, staff, students, postdocs, postbacs, or any other official role at UNC

Nomination Process

  • Please submit shout-out nominations through this form: https://unc.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_a8KhD33BAcxPs1M
  • Nominations are due by Friday, March 1, at 5pm
  • Nominations will be evaluated in March 2024. Nominees will be selected for shout-outs based on the details provided by nominators and how their efforts contribute to a positive training environment.
  • Selected nominees will be contacted directly about displaying their shout-outs on our website and social media

If you have any questions about the nomination process or experience difficulty with the nomination site, contact Dave McDonald, PhD at david.mcdonald@unc.edu.