Mentorship for Research
Structured one-to-one support for your research journey. Develop your research skills, clarify your research direction and work towards practical research goals through structured mentoring.
Mentorship for Research — Starter
A practical, accessible starting point for researchers who want focused support across four one-to-one sessions.
- 4 x 60-minute one-to-one mentoring sessions
- A mentoring plan shaped around your research stage and priorities
- Clear next steps and accountability between sessions
Choose your programme and continue to secure payment. Session dates are arranged individually after booking.
A structured research development service
Mentorship for Research is a structured mentoring programme designed to support students, postgraduate researchers and early-career academics as they develop their research capabilities and progress through their research journey.
The programme provides practical, focused mentorship around the challenges researchers face at different stages — from developing a research idea and designing a study to strengthening academic writing, developing publications, improving research visibility and planning future research opportunities.
Mentoring is tailored to the participant’s needs and research stage. Participants work with a mentor to identify priorities, establish practical goals and develop an achievable plan for research development.
The programme is designed around progress, accountability and practical research development rather than simply providing advice.
Who is the programme for?
The programme is suitable for:
• Undergraduate students undertaking research projects • Master’s students • MRes students • PhD and doctoral researchers • Early-career academics • Early-career researchers • Researchers developing their publication profile • Researchers seeking guidance on research direction and development • Researchers who want structured accountability and mentoring
What can the programme support?
A growing space for learning, sharing and making research matter.
Discover our purposeResearch idea development
Turn an initial research idea into a clearer research problem, aim, objectives and research questions.
Research design and methodology
Think through research design, methodological choices and how a proposed study can be practically conducted.
Literature review
Develop a structured approach to finding, organising, evaluating and synthesising relevant academic literature.
Academic writing
Strengthen the structure, clarity, argument and academic presentation of research writing.
Research proposal development
Develop and strengthen proposals for dissertations, MRes or PhD applications, research projects or other academic purposes.
Publication development
Understand the process of developing research into academic outputs suitable for publication and dissemination.
Research profile and visibility
Think about research identity, research communication, dissemination opportunities and the visibility of your work.
How the mentorship works
The programme follows a structured mentoring process rather than simply providing ad-hoc advice.
STAGE 1 — INITIAL RESEARCH ASSESSMENT The participant identifies their current research stage, research interests, immediate challenges, goals and the areas where mentoring would be most useful.
STAGE 2 — MENTORING PLAN The mentor and participant agree on a small number of priorities and practical objectives for the mentoring period.
STAGE 3 — MENTORING SESSIONS Regular one-to-one sessions are used to review progress, discuss research challenges, develop research skills and agree on practical next actions.
STAGE 4 — PROGRESS AND ACCOUNTABILITY Each mentoring session concludes with clear next steps so that the participant knows what they should work on before the next session.
STAGE 5 — RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT Over the course of the programme, the participant develops greater confidence, clearer research direction and stronger research practice.
Starter programme structure
SESSION 1 — RESEARCH DIRECTION Understand the participant’s current position, identify the main research challenge, clarify goals and develop an initial mentoring plan.
SESSION 2 — RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT Focus on the agreed research-development priority, review progress, identify barriers and establish the next practical actions.
SESSION 3 — RESEARCH OUTPUT Focus on the participant’s chosen research output or development priority. This could include a research proposal, literature review, methodology, academic writing, publication development or research profile.
SESSION 4 — PROGRESS AND NEXT STAGE Review progress across the mentoring period, identify remaining gaps and develop a practical plan for the participant’s next stage of research development.
Expected outcome
By the end of the programme, participants should have a clearer research direction, stronger research-development skills, a practical action plan and greater confidence in progressing their research.
Mentorship supports research development and practical progress. It does not promise publication, funding, PhD admission, employment, successful supervision or any other specific academic outcome.
Ready to plan your next research stage?
Choose Mentorship for Research — Starter and purchase four structured one-to-one mentoring sessions.