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NM EPSCoR Mentor Awards

The NM EPSCoR Mentor Award recognizes NM SMART Grid Center team members who demonstrate excellence in supporting students’ academic, research, and career endeavors, and in creating inclusive environments for all students.

Excellent Mentors

  • have strong interpersonal and professional relationships with their mentees, demonstrating personal traits of accessibility, honesty, empathy, consistency, and patience.
  • tailor their mentoring styles and content to their mentee’s identity, including adjustments due to culture, ethnicity, gender, and/or age.
  • demonstrate open-mindedness and create an inclusive environment for diverse students.
  • work to advance their mentee’s academic, research, and professional goals in directions most desired by that individual, including advising in research, promoting opportunities outside of the classroom, assisting with successful transitions, and paying attention to the pragmatic aspects of career development.

Adapted from Rackham Graduate School (2015); Burroughs Wellcome Fund & HHMI (2006)

Nominations for the NM EPSCoR Mentor award are accepted each spring. Nominees must be a faculty or staff member, post doc, or graduate student who is an active participant in the NM SMART Grid Center.


NOMINATION INFORMATION

NM EPSCoR is seeking nominations for the 2023 NM EPSCoR Mentor Award which recognizes NM SMART Grid team members who demonstrate excellence in supporting students’ academic, research, and career endeavors, and in creating inclusive environments for all students. The deadline for students or postdocs to nominate their mentors is May 8, 2023. Nominated mentors will be contacted to provide a Statement of Mentoring Philosophy.

ELIGIBILITY FOR NOMINATION

Nominee must be a faculty or staff member, post doc, or graduate student who is an active participant in the NM SMART Grid Center.

NOMINATION INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Nominating student or postdoc: Complete online nomination form and statement of nomination (up to 500 words). Statement of nomination should address how the nominee exemplifies the characteristics of an excellent mentor. Deadline: May 8, 2023
  2. Nominated mentors will be notified of nomination and a Statement of Mentoring Philosophy will be requested.

AWARD CRITERIA

  • Demonstration of excellent mentor characteristics (see above).
  • Contribution to the success of undergraduate and graduate students in the NM SMART Grid Center.

REFERENCES

Burroughs Wellcome Fund and Howard Hughes Medical Institute. (2006). Making the Right Moves: A Practical Guide to Scientific Management for Postdocs and New Faculty, Second Edition. https://www.hhmi.org/developing-scientists/making-right-moves

Rackham Graduate School, University of Michigan. (2018). How to Mentor Graduate Students: A Guide for Faculty. http://www.rackham.umich.edu/downloads/publications/Fmentoring.pdf

Questions?

Contact Selena Connealy at 505-217-5605 or connealy@epscor.unm.edu


Mentor Awardees

2023 / RII 5

We are delighted to announce the 2023 NM EPSCoR Mentor Award winners—Sihua Shao (NMT), Abdullah Mueen (UNM), and Son Cao Tran (NMSU).

2022 / RII 5

We are delighted to announce the 2022 NM EPSCoR Mentor Award winners—Dr. Manel Martínez-Ramón and Dr. Jun Zheng. Both were nominated by mentees and demonstrated characteristics of exceptional mentors, including strong professional and interpersonal relationships; working to advance their mentees’ academic, research, and professional goals; and creating inclusive environments for diverse students. 
 

2021 / RII 5

We are delighted to announce this year’s NM EPSCoR Mentor Award recipients—Dr. Caitano da Silva and Dr. Jay Misra. This award is presented annually to mentors who demonstrate excellence in supporting students’ academic, research, and career endeavors, and in creating inclusive environments for all students. Please join us in recognizing Dr. da Silva and Dr. Misra for their outstanding work in mentoring the students who will define New Mexico’s diverse future workforce.

2020 / RII 5

We are delighted to announce this year’s NM EPSCoR Mentor Award recipients—Dr. Olga Lavrova and Dr. Ali Bidram. Nominated by their mentees, both of this year’s recipients stand out for their exceptional efforts to build strong professional and interpersonal relationships with students; advance their mentees’ academic, research, and professional goals; and create inclusive environments for diverse students. Please join us in recognizing Dr. Lavrova and Dr. Bidram for their outstanding work in mentoring the students who will define New Mexico’s diverse future workforce.

2019 / RII 5

We are pleased to announce the 2019 NM EPSCoR Mentor Award winners—Dr. David Mitchell and Dr. Satyajayant (Jay) Misra. Both were nominated by mentees and demonstrated characteristics of excellent mentors, including strong professional and interpersonal relationships; working to advance their mentees’ academic, research, and professional goals; and creating inclusive environments for diverse students.

2018 / RII 4
We are proud to announce this year's recipients of the NM EPSCoR Mentoring Award: Catherine Brewer, Assistant Professor at New Mexico State University; Marty Kirk, Distinguished Professor at the University of New Mexico; and Juchao Yan, Professor at Eastern New Mexico University. Mentors are able to create a professional and social relationship with students that encourage them to take the next step in their careers through listening, advising, supporting, providing feedback, increasing students’ networks, and solving problems, to name a few roles and characteristics. Click to learn more about these outstanding mentors.