A doctoral peer mentor is a doctoral student who has knowledge and experience of starting doctoral studies at Bath. A doctoral peer mentor will support you with the step up to doctoral studies, help you settle into life at Bath and be a point of contact throughout the first three months of your course.
Find out more about becoming a peer mentor
You can talk to your mentor about a wide range of things, including:
- Life and work at the University of Bath,
- Adapting to studying at a doctoral level,
- The tough times,
- Opportunities available to doctoral students,
- Preparing for approval of candidature and confirmation,
- How to find additional support.
We currently work with the Doctoral College to run mentoring schemes in most departments across the University. Some departments run their own mentoring schemes - speak to your supervisor, personal tutor or director of studies to see if there is a mentoring scheme available in your department.
Read more on the Doctoral College website
Need a reminder on how to reach your mentor? You can email peersupport@bath.ac.uk for more information.
No mentoring scheme?
The Peer Support Team and the Doctoral College are currently looking at increasing the provision for peer mentoring for more doctoral students. If you are a postgraduate student and would like to see a mentoring scheme in your department or faculty, there are lots of things you can do.
Find out more about starting a new mentoring scheme
Doctoral Peer Mentors support new doctoral students as they start their course, providing support during the first few months of their PhD. Mentors can share their experience as a new PhD student and answer questions about the step up to doctoral study and life and work at the University of Bath. Where possible, mentors support students in their own department.
Read the Doctoral Peer Mentor role description
Sign up for training now!
1October 10-11
4 October 13-14
Why should I become a Peer Mentor?
Being a Peer Mentor is a great way to support new students and develop yourself. As a Peer Mentor, you can…
- …develop valuable skills that employers look for, including communication and listening skills, organisation and networking.
- ...develop your influencing and engagement skills – a core component of the Researcher Development Framework (RDF)
- …build a doctoral student community.
- …learn more about the support available in the University.
- …increase your confidence by helping others.
- …be invited to our annual celebration event.
Doctoral students can become a mentor after the first six months of their PhD. It is recommended that new mentors should not be in the last 6 months of their course when they sign up, as they probably will complete their studies before they are allocated mentees.
The SU and the Doctoral College work closely with students in the following departments to run mentoring schemes.
- Architecture and Civil Engineering
- Biology and Biochemistry
- Chemical Engineering
- Computer Science
- Economics
- Education
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering
- Health
- Mechanical Engineering
- Pharmacy and Pharmacology
- Politics, Languages and International Studies
- Psychology
- School of Management
- Social and Policy Sciences
If your department is not on the list, we recommend speaking with your supervisor or director of studies if you are interested in volunteering as a mentor. If your department doesn't have a mentoring scheme and you think that one would be valuable, there are several things that you can do to set up a new mentoring scheme.