via:mento_international and via:mento are mentoring programmes for female postdoctoral researchers of all faculties at Kiel University. They are directed at women who, having achieved their doctorate, aim to pursue their academic career. The programmes' participants (mentees) will be supported in the planning and implementation of their career steps concerning the transition from their status as postdoctoral researchers to professorships. An individual mentoring relationship with a renowned professor or senior scientist, acting as mentor, is at the core of the programme. In addition, these mentoring programmes offer the opportunity to acquire interdisciplinary expertise and provide room for exchange among the participants.

Since 2020, participants may choose between two programme lines.

The first cycle of the English mentoring programme via:mento_international started in 2020. Its perspective is an international one, meaning that it is specifically directed at female postdoctoral researchers of Kiel University who have either only recently arrived in Kiel, or are planning an extensive stay abroad. The programme’s emphasis lies on cross-cultural competence and the acquisition of third-party funding.

In 2010, via:mento started as the first German-speaking mentoring programme for female scientists at Kiel University, thus celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2020. The programme’s 5th cycle commenced in December 2020, attending to a group of 15 highly qualified scientists over a period of 21 months. The programme’s focal point is on the German scientific system.

Funded by the Cluster of Excellence "The Future Ocean" and the DFG-funded Collaborative Research Center 754 "Climate - Biogeochemistry Interactions in the Tropical Ocean", and designed specifically for the needs of female marine scientists, the English programme branch via:mento_ocean was conducted from 2012 to 2019. Further information concerning via:mento_ocean is available here.