Mentoring and Career Track Scheme

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Post-doctoral positions are meant for training researchers at the beginning of their professional life with the expectation that they will be able to take the next step in their career. IMBB, in line with international and EU-Life practices, has adopted specific actions to support postdocs during their time in IMBB and towards their future career development whether that will be in academia or beyond. The IMBB mentoring and career track scheme (MCTS) is designed to provide all post docs and junior PIs with:

(1) effective mentoring by a senior current or past (alumni) IMBB member;

(2) training opportunities to develop, in addition to research skills, broad competences that will help them in their future career;

(3) attending lectures from invited speakers on alternative career-paths within biological sciences;

(4) a track scheme to follow whether set-goals are achieved and how career-development is progressing;

(5) an extended list of mentors, in addition to IMBB PIs, including the IMBB alumni members

The IMBB Mentoring & Career Track Scheme, as part of a series of training workshops that we plan to offer on a recurring basis, is pleased to invite you to register for two upcoming workshops by Fellowsherpa on 23 and 24 September, focusing on the responsible use of AI in scientific writing and on the non-scientific parts of grant applications. Both workshops will be highly interactive, will take place exclusively in person, and can accommodate a maximum of 24 participants each.

REGISTRATION AND PARTICIPATION

Selected participants will be notified and asked to confirm their participation by email by Tuesday 15 September. Because places are limited, please register only if you are confident that you will be able to attend the entire workshop in person.

Following confirmation, participants will be contacted directly by the workshop organizers and will receive preparatory assignments. Please take into account that the workshops require approximately 4-8 hours of work outside the classroom, including work to be completed before the workshop.

WORKSHOP 1 – USES AND MISUSES OF AI IN SCIENTIFIC WRITING

This Fellowsherpa workshop critically analyzes the guidelines and rules for the proper use of Artificial Intelligence tools in several aspects of scientific writing and evaluation: research projects, original research manuscripts, literature reviews, fellowships and grant applications, and peer review. Through a problem-based learning approach, participants will analyze recent cases drawn from the scientific literature, science policy, scientific journal guidelines, and rules put forward by funding agencies. The goal of the workshop is to guide participants towards understanding the potential issues associated with the use of AI and establishing principles to navigate the fast-evolving ecosystem of AI research and writing tools.

For more information: https://fellowsherpa.com/courses/

Who can apply: PhD students and Postdocs
Date: Wednesday, 23 September
Venue: FORTH “Alkiviades Payatakes” Meeting Room [physical presence only]

Duration: 8 classroom hours + approximately 4 hours of preparatory work
Maximum participants: 24

Registration for AI Workshop: https://forms.gle/7zJX5xThyZxVgnzd9

WORKSHOP 2 – EVERYTHING THAT IS NOT RESEARCH: CUSTOMIZING YOUR GRANT APPLICATIONS

This Fellowsherpa course guides participants through the maze of information required by most funders beyond the scientific and technical aspects of their projects. Properly addressing these points can make or break an application. Topics will include impact statements; funder goals and stakeholder engagement within and outside of academia; communication programs; open science and data-sharing requirements; and soft skills, resumés and narrative CVs.

For more information: https://fellowsherpa.com/courses/

Who can apply: PhD students, Postdocs, Facility Managers, Lab Managers/Technicians, PIs
Date: Thursday, 24 September
Venue: FORTH “Stelios Orphanoudakis” Meeting Room [physical presence only]

Duration: 8 classroom hours + 8 hours of preparatory work
Maximum participants: 24

Registration for Grant Workshop: https://forms.gle/XBMsgn9ezWm3wUwd9

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Happy Hour Social Events

Starting in April 2026, the IMBB Mentoring Committee is excited to launch Happy Hour social events following the IMBB Colloquia, organized by IMBB PhD students and Postdocs!

Each Happy Hour will take place on the last Friday of every month, right after the IMBB Colloquium seminar.

You are warmly invited to join these informal gatherings to connect and continue both scientific and non-scientific discussions while enjoying pizza and drinks.

We look forward to seeing you there!

The whole process will be overseen by the MCTS Committee which will act as a contact point between post-docs and mentors. The MCTS committee consists of two IMBB group leaders (Anastasios Pavlopoulos, Emmanouil Froudarakis), two post doc representatives (Eva Zacharioudaki, Maria Diamantaki) and two PhD representatives (Maria Kalogeridi, Christos Katsioulas) .

For contacting the MCTS Committee at IMBB send an e-mail to mentoring@imbb.forth.gr. Alternatively you can contact any of the members directly using the contact details below or the secretary (Rodanthi Lasitiotaki).