Supervising is about helping each other expand and grow. Effective supervising provides opportunities to share talents, skills, experiences, and knowledge gained through regular training, ongoing coaching, and feedback for both mentees and supervisors.
Impact Scholars Supervisors during the program
The Impact Scholars Program aspires to the mentorship standards set by Harvard University in which supervisors and mentees both establish their goals and expectations and actively collaborate to maintain a mutually beneficial mentoring relationship.
Impact Scholars Supervisors matching (October)
IS Supervisors are matched to project groups based on subject expertise, preference, and, where possible, timezone compatibility. Supervisors and mentees receive a joint introductory email from the program organizers.
First interactions (November)
Mentorship can take place through synchronous meetings on a video conferencing platform and asynchronously via email or another, mutually agreed upon communication platform.
We suggest that the first supervisor-mentee interactions:
Discuss background, experiences, and interests of everyone involved. This will give the mentees an opportunity to practice their networking skills and allow the supervisor to tailor their mentoring approach to the mentees’ needs.
Set clear expectations. What do you wish to gain from the supervising relationship? How often will you communicate? What communication channels will you use? When suggesting communication platforms, be mindful of potential accessibility restrictions elsewhere in the world.
Discuss the project proposal. The proposal outlining the mentees’ current results and the work proposed during the program is attached to the introductory email sent by the organizers. Bear in mind that scholars are working on their project part-time and are required to submit a micropublication by 27 April 2026.
Work together to set specific, achievable goals for the next month. These will help the mentees allocate responsibilities among themselves and will assist the supervisor in their next interaction with the scholars.
Progress updates (October to March)
Subsequent mentoring interactions should be geared towards helping the scholars make progress on their project in line with the previously set expectations.
This should involve, but need not be limited to, guidance on analysis approaches, result interpretation and visualization, and the planning of next steps. We suggest that the previously defined monthly goals are revisited and that new goals are set for the next period after progress evaluation. It is important to give the mentees an opportunity to share their successes and struggles alike. As part of this process, supervisors are welcome to share learning and development resources to help their mentees achieve their collective and individual professional goals.
Planning these interactions will keep the mentoring partnership on track and focused on significant objectives.
In addition, we encourage supervisors and mentees to regularly assess the effectiveness of their collaboration and to respectfully work to improve it. If either of the involved parties do not feel content with the partnership and is struggling to resolve the problems internally, please do not hesitate to reach out to the program organizers via email impactscholars@neuromatch.io.
End of program support (May)
Supervisor-mentee interactions should be organized with the program end date in mind, such that the mentorship focus gradually shifts from data analyses and interpretation to result presentation.
It is also important to understand that the end of the program and formal mentorship need not mean the end of the professional relationship between the supervisors and the scholars. Your final interactions during the program are an excellent opportunity to share your overall experience with the program, celebrate achievements, and, if there is mutual interest, discuss ways for the partnership to continue beyond the program. For example, if the supervisor and the scholars are keen to continue their collaboration and develop the project into a journal publication or a conference presentation, we will try our best to facilitate the process and extend scholar access to computing resources.
Micropublication review
After scholars submit the final draft of their micropublication (deadline: 27 April 2026), the program organizers will assign each supervisor a micropublication from a different group to review. Supervisors will have until 12 May 2026 to provide written feedback. Please note that supervisors will not review the work of their own scholar group to ensure fairness and objectivity.
Scholars will then have time until the end of May to address the received feedback and submit a revised version of their micropublication.
Ethics of supervising
Supervisors and mentees should be aware of the Academies Code of Conduct. Supervisors must continually examine and reflect on their ethical values and how they can influence decisions in their mentoring practice. Supervisors must take responsibility for the power they hold and never use it abusively over more vulnerable others. We are committed to having an open and transparent reporting structure for any abuse of power. Please report any anomaly at impactscholars@neuromatch.io and report any violations of the Code of Conduct through this reporting form.
Supervising best practices
We ask that supervisors strive to follow the best mentorship practices and actively work to hone the following qualities (source: Manchester Metropolitan University).
Self-awareness: relates to having your own personal goals, career, and knowing your own strengths.
Organizational know-how: means individual knowledge that supervisors have and that provides an advantage over others in the same field. It is about knowing how things work.
Credibility in determining objectives and developing capabilities: it is important that supervisors have personal and professional credibility in their area.
Accessibility: The success of mentoring depends on the time dedicated to the mentees. Additionally, supervisors should talk regularly to establish a comfort level in the relationship around easy topics, then, when a challenge or concern arises, it is much easier to have a helpful discussion.
Communication and active listening (taking into account interests, body language, attention, and giving advice) help determine the motivations and needs of your mentees.
Ability to empower: Supervisors have the ability to create a work environment in which mentees feel safe to contribute in different ways.
A desire to help others train: Supervisors must understand how mentees gain experience from mentoring.
Inventiveness: Supervisors must be open-minded to do new and different things in mentoring to help mentees gain broader perspectives from their experiences.
Empathy: the ability to sense the learners’ emotions or what they might be thinking or feeling.
Understanding: Supervisors can observe their mentees’ learning and provide constructive feedback.