A new approach to mentoring for research careers: the National Research Mentoring Network

Abstract

Background and purposeEffective mentorship is critical to the success of early stage investigators, and has been linked to enhanced mentee productivity, self-efficacy, and career satisfaction. The mission of the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) is to provide all trainees across the biomedical, behavioral, clinical, and social sciences with evidence-based mentorship and professional development programming that emphasizes the benefits and challenges of diversity, inclusivity, and culture within mentoring relationships, and more broadly the research workforce. The purpose of this paper is to describe the structure and activities of NRMN.Key highlightsNRMN serves as a national training hub for mentors and mentees striving to improve their relationships by better aligning expectations, promoting professional development, maintaining effective communication, addressing equity and inclusion, assessing understanding, fostering independence, and cultivating ethical behavior. Training is offered in-person at institutions, regional training, or national meetings, as well as via synchronous and asynchronous platforms; the growing training demand is being met by a cadre of NRMN Master Facilitators. NRMN offers career stage-focused coaching models for grant writing, and other professional development programs. NRMN partners with diverse stakeholders from the NIH-sponsored Diversity Program Consortium (DPC), as well as organizations outside the DPC to work synergistically towards common diversity goals. NRMN offers a virtual portal to the Network and all NRMN program offerings for mentees and mentors across career development stages. NRMNet provides access to a wide array of mentoring experiences and resources including MyNRMN, Guided Virtual Mentorship Program, news, training calendar, videos, and workshops. National scale and sustainability are being addressed by NRMN “Coaches-in-Training” offerings for more senior researchers to implement coaching models across the nation. “Shark Tanks” provide intensive review and coaching for early career health disparities investigators, focusing on grant writing for graduate students, postdoctoral trainees, and junior faculty.ImplicationsPartners from diverse perspectives are building the national capacity and sparking the institutional changes necessary to truly diversify and transform the biomedical research workforce. NRMN works to leverage resources towards the goals of sustainability, scalability, and expanded reach.

The Global Health Research Capacity Strengthening (GHR-CAPS) Program: trainees’ experiences and perspectives

“…It is now widely recognized that emerging researchers, including those who have assumed academic positions, need mentoring in this regard. 23 , 24 In GH, a number of mentorship programs have begun to implement strategies to address this need. 4 Our experiences highlight the importance to not only provide career advice, but also to provide assistance with formulating and building a program of research and early decision-making in order to properly lay the foundation for a research career.…”

The Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) Translational Research Network: Building and Sustaining Capacity for Multi-Site Basic Biomedical, Clinical and Behavioral Research

“…Subsequently, to address this unacceptable status quo on minority underrepresentation in biomedical and behavioral research and other challenges cited by the Working Group on Diversity in the Biomedical Research Workforce (WGDBRW), NIH funded the Diversity Program Consortium (DPC) in 2014. This consortium includes three programs: Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD); 12 National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN); 13 and Coordination and Evaluation Center (CEC). 14…”

Exploring Professional Development for New Investigators Underrepresented in the Federally Funded Biomedical Research Workforce

“…18 The National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) is a key component of the National Institutes of Health's Diversity Program Consortium. Aligned with the NRMN goal to enhance diversity in the biomedical funded workforce, 19,20 we implemented four Grantsmanship Coaching Programs (GCP). As a nationwide consortium, we leveraged the collective expertise of biomedical professionals and institutions to offer evidence-based programs and evaluate their effectiveness with the ultimate objective of informing the future education and training of a di-verse biomedical research workforce.…”