ISCB Newsletter 11-1

MentorNet Report Card: Year Two

By Kevin Karplus, ISCB Education, Committee Liaison to MentorNet

ISCB student and post doc members have always looked for mentors specific to computational biology. As a Society that serves a global membership without focusing on services within any one institution, ISCB joined MentorNet™, the
E-Mentoring Network, as an Affiliated Partner in April, 2006. We are pleased to report that ISCB has once again committed to continuing this partnership for the next year for the benefit of those members that take advantage of this unique opportunity to be mentored (or to mentor) without geographic restrictions or specific schedules to adhere to.

The 2nd year report card of member involvement in MentorNet is as follows:

54 ISCB student members have enrolled as protégés (31 during the 2nd year).
63 ISCB professional members have enrolled as mentors (32 during the 2nd year).
20 ISCB protégés have been matched to ISCB mentors over the two years.
4 ISCB protégés have had more than one mentoring relationship.
14 ISCB mentors have mentored more than one protégé.

The above numbers still indicate a relatively small ISCB member enrollment
considering we have nearly 700 student members and over 1000 professional members, but for our members that are involved it is an important element of their ISCB membership experience. MentorNet continues to report that there is a shortage of mentors in the bio fields, and those in computational biology are almost non-existent, creating high demand for ISCB mentors. We continue to believe that with time the ISCB participation in this program will grow to become a valuable
benefit for many more of our members, both students and professionals.
If you would like to sign up as a mentor or protégé please join at www.mentornet.net. Be sure to indicate your affiliation as an ISCB member and your preference (requirement, preferably) for an ISCB mentor or protégé match in your profile.