21. Person-centred Mentoring | Dr. Kartik Aiyer

CW: Academic bullying and abuse

Emily chats with Dr. Kartik Aiyer, who opens up about the benefits of a good academic mentor and support network on mental health and productivity.

Kartik opened up previously, in episode 20, about the impact a poor Faculty relationship had on his mental health during his PhD.

This episode covers:

Kartik’s music obsession and the positive relationship with his family
The benefits of supportive research group culture on mental health but also productivity
The need to train and empower junior researchers to value their own contributions whilst also learning from the research experience of others
That clear, respectful communication between mentors and mentees is key
What to look for in a mentor
Places to seek mentors
Shutting out negative thoughts and focussing on personal strengths
Suggested policy shifts to improve mentoring and training

If you find this episode valuable, and have some spare change, please consider supporting the podcast!

Resources:

Kartik’s blog post on ‘Empowering early career researchers and improving culture in academia.’
Kartik’s science communication blog
Professor Jen Heemstra – as a role model tweeting to bring out the best in researchers

Full transcript of the podcast is available here, with many thanks to Dan Ranson. If you find these transcripts useful, please consider supporting accessibility! 

Mental health support: please contact your GP or use the appropriate support for your country at https://checkpointorg.com/global/

You can find out more about Voices of Academia & other personal stories at @academicvoices or our website.

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Recorded: 04/10/2021.

Sound: Mindset by Ketsa is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, available through Free Music Archive.