Junior Scientist Mentoring

The RCDC@SIGGRAPH Junior Scientist Mentorship Program aims to improve mentorship support for junior faculty/research scientists and graduate students in computer graphics. Our goal is to connect researchers with mentors who can provide guidance at key junctures in career development and help them advance their careers as budding researchers.

We aim to provide graphics researchers with advice in the following areas:

  • Publishing research
  • Securing research funding/fellowships/internships
  • Finding and advising students
  • Managing deadlines
  • Managing collaborations
  • Graphics community service
  • Balancing research, teaching, and service
  • Securing jobs
  • Tenure-track, postdoc, and visiting positions
  • Interviewing skills
Sign-up
Join the Discord Server

Events

For Mentees

As a mentee, you should come with lots of questions to make the most out of the mentorship relationship. Use the Discord server to connect with fellow mentees at a similar career stage (peer mentoring).

For Mentors

Mentors are expected to be members of the graphics community one step ahead of their mentees. Junior faculty mentor graduate students and post-docs; mid-career faculty mentor junior faculty; and senior faculty mentor mid-career faculty. You can sign up as both a mentor and mentee. Mentors are paired with mentees to guide them in areas related to Computer Graphics research, service, and teaching.

Guidelines for Mentoring

  • Potential areas for discussion:
    • Research
      • Directions
      • Publication venues
      • Facilitating and managing collaborations
    • Funding
      • Opportunities
      • Grant writing
    • Service
      • Committee/editorial board invitation
    • Student/postdoc recruitment
    • Visibility
    • Long-term career planning and guidance
    • Time management
    • Ethical and diplomatic issues
    • Graphics teaching materials

Mentors and mentees should establish a regular meeting frequency. Mentors and mentees should meet at least once a year (e.g., at SIGGRAPH) to discuss mentees’ plans in all areas. Mentors should also make themselves available for ad hoc or on-demand meetings.

We’ll check in each year to renew the mentorship relationship. Mentees may ask to be re-assigned to a new mentor at any point, no questions asked. Mentors and mentees must abide by the ACM SIGGRAPH codes of conduct.

Concerns? Please contact us via email or on the Discord server.

The mentor/mentee relationship counts as a conflict of interest for the purposes of peer review.

Organizing Committee