CDN Mentoring Program

About

The CDN Mentoring Program is a free, nine-month mentoring program for early-career data scientists in academia. This program offers participants (aka learners) the opportunity to explore their career interests and grow professionally.

Each year, learners are encouraged to nominate their mentors for the Outstanding Data Science Mentor Award. One mentor will be recognized with an award at the ADSA Annual Meeting.

illustration of people on a career ladder

 

Program Details

During the nine-month mentoring program, learners will meet weekly or bi-weekly with an experienced, data science mentor who will help them work toward their goals. Specific and actionable goals are chosen by learners at the start of the program. Learners are encouraged to review these resources before the first meeting with their mentors.

Learners and mentors will be added to a private Slack discussion group, where they may be invited to attend webinars and virtual events for professional development. Membership in the Slack community will continue after the formal mentoring program ends.

The weekly time commitment for the program will depend on the schedule that is agreed upon between each learner and mentor. We encourage participants to meet for at least 30 minutes a week or 1 hour every other week, for a total of 2 hours each month. Mentors and learners may meet more frequently and for longer if they wish.

In addition to the time spent in meetings, learners should also plan to spend some additional time (1-3 hours) preparing ahead for each meeting, including completing tasks that were discussed with their mentor.

Eligibility

Learners

  • Must be a member of the Career Development Network. Membership is free. To become a CDN member, submit this form.
  • Career goal or current occupation must be in a data-related field. Learners are required to have some amount of training, experience, or demonstrated enthusiasm for data science.
  • International applicants are welcome. Some level of conversational English proficiency is required. The success of the application may depend on ADSA's ability to find a suitable mentor with the same native language.
  • Applications must be in English. Materials translated into English from another language are acceptable.
  • Must abide by our Code of Conduct.

Mentors

  • Must have a Master's degree or higher OR have a minimum of 5 years of professional work experience in a data-related field - 10+ years is preferred.
  • Must be able to demonstrate a record of teaching, training, and/or researching data-related topics. A track record of data science program administration is also valuable to learners.
  • International applicants are welcome. Some level of conversational English proficiency is required. The success of the application may depend on ADSA's ability to find a suitable learner with the same native language.
  • Applications must be in English. Materials translated into English from another language are acceptable.
  • Must abide by our Code of Conduct.

Mentors are encouraged to review and reference these helpful tips and resources before and during the mentoring relationship. Also see our suggested topics to discuss during meetings with learners.

How to Apply

Applications are currently closed for this program. There is no cost to participate. We hope to open applications for additional cohorts in the future.

Questions

For questions, please email info@academicdatascience.org. Include "CDN Mentoring Program" in the subject line.