Mentoring Program TÜ-SEED - “Planting ideas, growing careers ”
Mentoring Program TÜ-SEED - “Planting ideas, growing careers ”
Are you ready to take the next step in your scientific career?
TÜ-SEED offers you the chance to connect with experienced mentors, expand your professional network, and develop strategies for success — all within a supportive and inspiring environment.
For the first time, the Medical Faculty of Tübingen (empowered by the BioMedical Scientist track of the Talent Academy) is launching a broad-based, low-barrier mentoring initiative open to all early-career researchers in the biomedical sciences.
Take this exclusive chance to be among the very first to join the TÜ-SEED pilot program.
Not only will YOU benefit greatly from tailored guidance and peer exchange, but YOU will also help shape TOGETHER the future of mentoring at OUR faculty — building a program that could support and inspire generations of early-career scientists to come.
Target Group
Biomedical scientists only / max. 22 mentees
- PhD students (second half of PhD) (up to 10)
- Postdocs (up to 6)
- Junior group leaders (up to 6)
Timeline
- Call for applications (pilot program): first week of September 2025
- Selection of pilot project participants: November 11, 2025
- Finding mentors: until end of 2025
- Mentee trainings: January/February 2026
- Mentor trainings: January/February 2026
- Mentoring phase: March 2026 to March 2027
- Interim evaluation and, if necessary, program adjustments: September 2026
- End of the pilot project and final evaluation: March 2027
- Decision on general expansion of the program to other disciplines: June 2027
Accompanying program
To ensure a successful mentoring experience, the pilot program will be accompanied by a structured framework:
- Introductory training for mentees and mentors (mandatory)
- Informal team-building event at the beginning of the mentoring year, once match-making is complete
- Peer coaching groups for mentees: participants will be grouped by career stage (PhD, postdoc, junior group leader) to enable peer coaching; one initial meeting will be facilitated by the program team; subsequent meetings will be self-organized by the mentees to offer mutual support, exchange experiences and discuss mentor interactions
- Mentor exchange: one peer group meeting for the mentors mid-term to discuss mentoring and issues that typically come up
Application guidelines and documents
Application period: September 01 to November 03, 2025
Eligibility Criteria
You are
- a biomedical scientist.
- affiliated with the Medical Faculty of Tübingen.
- advanced-stage PhD-student (second half of PhD), postdoc, or junior group leader.
How to apply
To apply, please complete the application form and send it as a pdf file to talent.academy@med.uni-tuebingen.de before November 4, 2025.
Opportunities for Mentee
- Reflect on your current position and challenges
- Define priorities for your career development
- Define and implement strategies to overcome challenges
- Reflect on your role
- Expand your professional network
- Team-up with peers at the same career-stage to exchange experiences, ideas and strategies for challenges and opportunities
Opportunities for Mentors
- Share your knowledge and experience
- Reflect on your own career path
- Improve your advisory skills and leadership competence
- Enjoy the rewarding experience of supporting early-career scientists
- Enlarge your network (mentor peer-group!)
- Enhance your CV
If you’d like to volunteer as a mentor, drop a note toTÜ-SEED Coordination Committee
Prof. Bettina Weigelin
Werner Siemens Imaging Center
Prof. Daniel Sauter
Institute for Medical Virology and Epidemiology of Viral Diseases
Yuliia Skliarenko
Internal Medicine VIII
Dr. Fabian Schmidt
Werner Siemens Imaging Center / Nuclear Medicine and Clinical Molecular Imaging
Dr. Julia Marzi
Medical Technologies and Regnerative Medicine / Schenke-Layland Laboratory
Brigitte Lindenbauer
Talent Academy Office