NSF Postdoctoral Researcher/Graduate Student Mentoring Plan

If your National Science Foundation (NSF) submission requests funding for one or more graduate students and/or postdocs, NSF now requires that you have a mentoring plan as part of your proposal submission. Separate plans are not required for postdoctoral scholars or graduate students if your proposal requests funding for both. The plan may, however, specify how different components of the mentoring program will be enacted for the two types of researchers.

The mentoring activities that will be provided to the supported postdocs/graduate students must be described in no more than one page. This plan requirement must be met regardless of whether the postdocs/graduate students will reside at Kansas State University, at any sub-recipient organization or any organization participating in a simultaneously submitted collaborative proposal. Mentoring activities provided to postdoctoral researchers/graduate students supported on the proposed project will be evaluated under the Broader Impacts review criterion.

Mentoring activities suggested by NSF include, but are not limited to:

career counseling, training
preparation of grant proposals
publications and presentations
guidance on ways to improve teaching and mentoring skills
guidance on how to effectively collaborate with researchers from diverse backgrounds and disciplinary areas
training in responsible professional practices.

NSF now also requires that the mentoring plan include an Individual Development Plan, or IDP, for each of the covered postdocs and graduate students. Some resources addressing such plans include guidance from Stanford, Northwestern and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Other resources on the postdoctoral mentoring plan itself include NSF 101: The Mentoring Plan.

Guide and sample plans

Kansas State University Graduate School’s Mentoring and Individual Development Plans Website

This is an excellent resource on how to develop a mentoring plan and an individual development plan for graduate students. An individual development plan template is also available on this site as well as links to a number of applicable resources. Note that much of the guidance provided can, with some reorientation, be transferred to developing similar plans for postdocs.

This excellent postdoctoral mentoring guide was produced by the University of Nebraska, Lincoln and can be tailored to graduate students as well. It provides general guidelines and gives two example plans. 1) The first example refers to attachments. These references should be REMOVED because NSF does not allow attachments to the mentoring plan. The third paragraph has a nice description of an IDP. 2) The second example can/should be condensed to meet the one-page limit and its discussion of the IDP should be more detailed following the wording in the first example.

Example plan from the University of Texas, San Antonio (PDF)

This plan is a good basic model but should provide more detail on the Individual development plan.

K-State Resources for Inclusion in a Mentoring Plan

The following resources are available for K-State postdocs and graduate students. The Office of the Vice President for Research also houses the K-State Postdoctoral Association website and the K-State Graduate School’s website is a great information source for resources available for graduate students.

The Office of Research Development, or ORD, offers a series of workshops each semester that are open to postdocs and graduate students on writing competitive research proposals and on specific funding programs/agencies. Please consult our events calendar to see the topics and dates for these workshops.
ORD publishes the Funding Connection, a weekly newsletter of open funding opportunities which includes sections specifically for postdocs and for graduate students. Individual meetings can be scheduled through our office to help postdocs and graduate students learn to routinely search for funding on their own.
The University Research Compliance Office offers a series of training modules on responsible professional practices including the responsible conduct of research which are open to both postdocs and graduate students.
The Graduate Student Council offers professional development events each semester. Graduate students and postdocs who attend at least five of these events are eligible for a GSC Professional Development Certificate.
Kansas State University is a sustaining member of the National Postdoctoral Association, or NPA. Both postdocs and their faculty mentors/PIs are eligible for free membership in the NPA, which is an invaluable resource for online professional and career development materials. The association provides program activities in three areas: advocacy and education, resource development, and community building/networking. A welcome letter and instructions for joining as affiliate members are available on the K-State Postdoctoral Association website.