The mentoring system is a pillar in the supportive infrastructure of the Graduate School. Doctoral researchers choose a professor of the department to support them throughout their PhD in all matters that would require a second opinion other than the supervisor’s.
A mentor is a professor who will support the doctoral researcher during the PhD. It is a third figure in the student-supervisor relationship, who is meant to offer a second opinion on non-mathematical matters: career advice, doctorate progress, etc. In the event of conflict between the doctoral researcher and their supervisor, a mentor can take over a mediation role and suggest a strategy to deal with the issue.
The student-mentor relationship can be shaped in many forms: some prefer to meet every once in a while; others only meet when necessary. There are two steps that are common to all mentorships: the Progress Reviews.
There are at least two progress reviews (the first after 1-1.5 years, the second after 2-2.5 years) as part of the doctoral studies within the MMGS. Further progress reviews can be scheduled as required. A progress review consists of a short report by the doctoral researcher, a joint meeting between the doctoral researcher, the supervisor(s) and the mentor and a subsequent short report from the mentor. In each progress review the status and perspectives of the doctoral project are discussed. In particular, both progress reviews will be factored into the discussion about the possibility of a contract extension, which underlines their importance.
Any professor from the various Institutes that are part of the Cluster can be a mentor. Ideally, it would be somebody from a different research group, to guarantee some space between your mentor and your supervisor.