A compilation of tips and resources.

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Constructive Feedback

A large role of a mentor is to provide mentees with positive and constructive feedback to guide their growth as researchers, teammates, and leaders. Sometimes giving or receiving feedback can feel awkward, or even uncomfortable. Drawing from Radical Candor, the following information can help reduce the barrier and make sure your feedback lands well.

Formula for Constructive Feedback

CONTEXT + OBSERVATION + RESULT + INVITATION

  • Context = cite a specific situation
  • Observation = describe a behavior
  • Result = what happens for your mentee or for others
  • Invitation = ask your mentee to participate in finding solutions
Examples

“When you come to our one-on-one meetings, I noticed that you tend to ask me to take the lead. As students progress in their projects, it can be beneficial for them to take the lead in meetings instead. That way we use our time as it is most helpful to you, and you get to manage your project more yourself. What do you think about trying that the next time we meet?”

“During your practice presentation, you seemed to get more nervous when the group asked questions, and your responses became more blunt. Sometimes that can tell an audience that you don’t want to engage in a scientific discussion. What were you feeling in the moment, or what thoughts were going through your head?”

 

Mentoring Compacts & Agreements

Purpose & Goals Potential Pitfalls

  • Make expectations clear
  • Set in stone
  • Structure to mentoring relationship
  • Mutual agreement – document as foundation of relationship
  • Accountability – if one party is falling short, we have a tool to revisit
  • Showcase values of mentor and lab
  • Consistent communication
 Potential Pitfalls

  • Pushback from mentees
  • Context-dependent: lab vs. working from home; computational vs. bench
  • Drift in actual behavior
  • Still need to reinforce values through relationships and one-on-one meetings
  • Without conversation, can feel like a rigid contract
  • Picking the right time to begin or revisit
  • What is the purpose of the document?
  • Intimidating or patronizing tone
  • Updating a document to target an individual
Creating Your First Compact
  • PI can create first draft, then invite comments
    • Alternatively, co-draft with mentees
  • Dedicate a lab meeting (or more) to work on it together
  • More buy-in with team approach
  • Start with values, then add on expectations for mentor and mentees
  • Flexibility – what is a consistent expectation for everyone? What should be flexible to meet the mentee where they’re at?
Potential Sections and Approaches
  • Separate policies into a different document
    • Time off
    • Onboarding/offboarding steps
    • Facilities
    • Key contacts
    • Important resources
    • Key protocols
    • Conflict resolution
    • “Nuts and bolts”
  • Adapt for particular trainees?
    • High school students –
    • Undergrads – expectations for grading if enrolled in research-for-credit courses
    • Postbacs –
    • Grad students –
    • Postdocs –
    • Techs/lab managers –
    • Trainees can see different expectations
  • Tone
    • Formal tone can feel like a legal document
    • Informal tone can feel more supportive and conversational (I will do… vs. the PI will do…)
  • Bullet points
    • Lots of text may not be read and can feel overwhelming
    • Be specific
  • Consistency vs. flexibility
    • Some trainees (PhD students) have particular milestones in place, so you may not have to replicate those expectations
    • Individuals for trainees – professional development, career goals, meeting schedule
  • Invitation to ask for the support you need to be successful
  • Table of responsibilities for mentor and mentees to show how they complement each other
Revisit
  • Once per year or when many new people start – dedicate a lab meeting to update together
  • Each new trainee – revisit compact along with their IDP once/twice per year
    • Can combine with long-term project planning
  • If someone isn’t meeting the agreed expectations
    • Face to face conversation
    • What’s the observed behavior?
    • What’s going on? (invite disclosures)
Resources

 

Rotation Tips

This information was compiled from a panel discussion with faculty in December 2025.

Purpose of a Rotation
  • The working relationship is more important than getting data in a rotation. The rotation is a 2-way evaluation of the working partnership and lab culture / mentoring style. Students gets a project, and the faculty sees what they do with it – data not necessary, but do they take ownership of the project? Data are great and good for a poster, but that’s not the yardstick by which students are evaluated in rotations.
  • How is “fit” evaluated? Weekly meetings, communication effectiveness, feedback and response to feedback, shared values.
  • Some students do make a choice based on scientific niche, but that is not the only consideration
Communication & Feedback
  • Ask students to create an agenda for each meeting to ensure that they cover the topics they want to discuss with faculty and bench mentors. This also gives them more ownership of their project and time. It may take some time and modeling for them to know how to use this opportunity efficiently.
Projects
  • Broad (dabbling in multiple methods) versus deep (focus on one)? Benefit of broad is that student can see which methods they take to best. Benefit of focus is that they get a bit of data for presentations.
  • It’s helpful for the faculty to write a one-page description of project. The more concrete the description is, the better to help with expectations and focus.
  • Another option is for the student to write the description of their project after meeting with everyone in the lab and reading some papers
  • During the rotation, the student should balancing learning background versus learning methods/this specific project. Focusing on the background at first can help to understand the big picture, then focus more on the project as they progress.
Expectations & Work
  • Spending time in lab is how students will learn the lab environment, scope and work style. It’s also how lab members learn who the student is and whether they would be a good colleague. To that end, students should have the flexibility to do homework / coursework in lab, working around experiments, to maximize their time in the lab.
  • If students need to work remotely, it’s important to set expectations and increase other forms of communication.
  • Lab expectations document is super valuable