| Promotes others |
For the mentee, a mentor's own first-author publication record is less important than that of the latter's prior mentees. It is not uncommon to find a senior faculty member who has an exceptional publication record but has less success getting postdoctoral mentees or mentored junior faculty the same level of success. Mentors who have a track record with mentees receiving mentored grants are an added plus. The causes of such a failure are myriad, but what is important is the outcome. Avoid mentors who do not have a track record of bringing success to others. |
| Technically resourceful |
New entrants to basic science research often find themselves without the equipment or personnel to successfully obtain preliminary research findings. A generous mentor can provide such resources at the most crucial times. |
| Socially resourceful |
Mentors should already have an established social network of other senior researchers in the field. If an issue arises that a mentor cannot help out with directly, a good mentor will have someone they can call who can. |
| Common interests |
Mentors do not need to have perfectly aligned research interests, but it is important that a mentor has at least a working knowledge and passion for one's own research topics. Advice, resources, and technical help are difficult to obtain if one's mentor is only vaguely familiar with the details of one's field of research. |
| Available |
Academic faculties are routinely overwhelmed. It is important to ensure that one's mentor has the ability to dedicate an appropriate amount of time to mentorship. |
| Incentivized |
Incentives for mentors take all forms from intrinsic altruism to need for mentored publications to well-defined institutional incentives for mentorship. The driving force of the incentive is unimportant. What matters is that a mentor wants a mentee to be successful and has some form of vested interest in the latter's success. |
| Experienced |
The vast majority of advice comes through prior mistakes. A mentor needs to have made enough mistakes over a research career to help a mentee avoid them. |
| Extramural funding |
An appropriate mentor must have extramural funding from the National Institutes of Health (R-series). |
