Please note that this Peer Mentoring Group as well as the associated info session and workshops are in German. An English Peer Mentoring Group will be available later in 2025.
Peer Mentoring - briefly explained
In peer mentoring, mentees with the same level of qualification support and advise each other without a mentor – they meet regularly and exchange ideas in small groups of around 5 to 7 participants using the method Peer-Group Supervision. These meetings are typically well-structured and self-organized and address professional, career and everyday issues. At the beginning, the participants are given Peer-Group Supervision training, with a refresher training course a few months later.
The program is scheduled for 1 to 3 years, depending on each peer mentoring group.
What are the goals?
According to the motto "Share experience, secure success, broaden perspectives", you reflect on relevant professional, career and everyday issues with your peer group in a trusting, appreciative and non-competitive setting. This enables you to share your experiences, sharpen your problem-solving skills, develop individual solutions to issues you are currently facing, and expand your network.
What is Peer-Group Supervision?
Peer-Group Supervision is a structured consultation session in a group, in which one group member consults the other members according to a pre-structured, fixed process with assigned roles. It provides space for reflection and development. The aim is to come up with solutions to a specific key question.
The method is used as an effective personnel development tool in companies, organizations and universities at various hierarchical levels.
At the beginning of the program, the participants will receive Peer-Group Supervision training.
How does it work?
Peer mentoring at GRADUS is structured in three stages:
- Information session: interested doctoral researchers receive an overview of the program and of the Peer-Group Supervision method, so that they can then decide whether they would like to explore this topic further and become a member of a peer mentoring group.
- Workshop: Training in "Peer-Group Supervision" (full day): The participants learn how to use the method theoretically and practically by using it directly in peer mentoring group that are formed during the training. After the event, the peers are able to meet and advise each other independently in these groups. From this point on, each group coordinates its own meetings and defines their framework (type of meeting, time, dates, etc.).
- Refresher Workshop: After about half a year, all groups meet again to reflect and discuss experiences and, if applicable, find solutions for possible challenges faced by the groups.
If necessary, the individual groups can take advantage of team coaching.
To take part in the ExploreScience Peer-Mentoring Program, we ask the participants to pay a one-time participation fee of 20.00 Euros. This fee helps us to offer catering at the networking events within our mentoring programs.
Deadlines and Registration
|
Information Session (online) |
September 30, 2025, 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. Registration deadline for the info session: September 28, 2025 – Registration |
|
Workshop: Training in "Peer-Group Supervision" Location: Internationales Begegnungszentrum der Universität Stuttgart „Eulenhof“, Robert-Leicht-Straße 161, 70569 Stuttgart |
October 24, 2025, 10 a.m. – 4.30 p.m. Registration deadline for the workshop (and the entire Peer Mentoring Program): October 10, 2025 You can register via the button below. |
| Meetings of the Peer Mentoring Group | regularly, self-organized |
| Refresher Workshop (online or in person) | April 2026 (half a day) |
| Meetings of the Peer Mentoring Group |
regularly, self-organized, for 1 to 3 years |
| Evaluation |
October 2026 |
Ekaterina Deckers
Coordinator Mentoring Programs
Nina Gillé
Assistant Mentoring Programs