2getthere: Highlighting the strong network of mentoring advocates in Luxembourg
Bringing together doctoral researchers and mentors to make their transition to the non-academic world a reality was the promise of the first edition of the EURAXESS Luxembourg 2getthere mentoring programme.
On 26 September 2022, EURAXESS Luxembourg gathered mentors, mentees and supporters at an event to discuss the opportunities and challenges of the transition to non-academia and to celebrate this network of mentoring advocates.
What our mentors say
Inmaculada Peral Alonso
The mentoring experience, on my side, has been very rewarding, through the meetings, I could see how the mentee got clarity and her action plan was getting real and accountable
Jean-Paul Bertemes
I really much like your initiative! Good mentors are very important for the personal and professional development of people. I had the chance to meet some in my professional and personnel life. I will do my best to share the experience that I gained so far with people that perhaps want to try a similar path.
Charlotte Wirion
The transition out of an academic career isn't always easy because of several reasons. However, I consider it very important for both your personal and professional development to be able to put research into application in a non-academic career.
Emilia Tantar
Mentoring and uplifting talented, skilled professionals has always been part of my main inner mission and I have been engaging in various forms through the internal corporate mentoring, by supervising PhD students, master or bachelor students and sometimes even high-school pupils. In the late years I am regularly contacted by young professionals or last year of studies students for mentoring. Thus I find the program as fulfilling a real need and existing gap when transitioning to the professional world.
Artur Furtado
Mentoring is an opportunity to have a high-value experience – both for the mentee and for the mentor. They should take a moment to reflect, looking forward and also looking back, drafting and revisiting their personal and professional goals. The two partners can access new information, learn about interesting networks, enquire about career paths. Most importantly, they can discuss how to best contribute positively to society
Show off your soft skills to employers
During this closing event, a round table discussion brought together the actors of this programme to exchange on the challenges doctoral researchers may face, the job market, the expectations of recruiters and how to make the most of what they have learnt during their doctoral studies.
Most PhDs have great problem-solving skills and resilience which are sought for skills in any company. The ability to work in such a multilingual and diverse environment is something common to doctoral researchers in Luxembourg.Inês Crisóstomo, coach
Soft skills play an important role in the non-academic sector. Most doctoral researchers have led projects from start to finish. This skill is rather limited on the market. It is therefore important to highlight it for companies. Steffi Wolak, Client advisor Senior executives/Recruiting firms at ADEM.
Mentees open to work in Luxembourg
20 PhD candidates from the University of Luxembourg and its interdisciplinary centers as well as from some of the Luxembourg research institutes, including the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) and the Luxembourg Institute of for Socio-Economic Research (LISER), were selected to participate in this first edition.
Active mentees included:
His
in the programme, he was supported by German Castignani and Thierry Goniva.
Agnese Gini is a postdoctoral researcher at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust of the University of Luxembourg.
She was supported by Guy Schumann and Emilia Tantar.
He was supported by Raymond Adam and Francois Sprumont.
Túlio Pascoal is a Brazilian PhD holder from the Critical and Extreme Security and Dependability group (Critix) of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT) at the University of Luxembourg, who has found a job as a Cyber Security & Privacy Consultant at AWK Group Luxembourg.
Read more about Tulio's success story.
Juliette Petit a doctoral researcher in law.
She was supervised by Charlotte Wirion and Ralph Useldinger.
A researcher in Energy Science and Engineering, Omar Ramirez Sanchez is a strategic thinker capable to grasp new concepts quickly and provide solutions, ranging from the synthesis of nanoparticles to the implementation of neural networks.
During the mentoring programme, Omar was supported by Pit Losch and Pierre Orlewski.
Francesca Stefanizzi is a doctoral researcher at the Luxembourg Institute of Health. Her research, funded by FNR, aims at the discovery of circulating non-coding RNAs able to predict the outcome of patients.
She was supported by mentors Charles Betz and Sean Sapcariu.
Alper Ünsal is a PhD candidate in economics at the Luxembourg Institute for Socio-Economic Research (LISER) aiming to get a job in the non-academic.
As part of the 2getthere programme, Alper was supported by Artur Furtado.
Find out more about Alper.
Lindie van der Westhuizen, a Research and Development Specialist within the Computer-Based Assessment research group at the University of Luxembourg.
Within the EURAXESS Luxembourg mentoring programme, Lindie was supported by two mentors, namely Dzmitry Kliazovich and Ralph Useldinger.
Read more about Lindie.
Read more about EURAXESS 2getthere programme.