GÉANT Mentoring Programme (GEM)

Empowering our community by building meaningful connections, fostering growth, and encouraging the exchange of knowledge and expertise

GEM began as an initiative to support and develop female talent within our community. However, it quickly became clear that to create a truly inclusive and impactful programme, it should be open to everyone. Now, GEM welcomes all individuals—regardless of gender—whether you're seeking to be a mentor, mentee, or a peer to discuss the most pressing topics in our field. The programme facilitates the exchange of valuable knowledge within our community, helping us support each other’s career development and better understand the diverse and complex domain we work in.

If you have any questions contact us.

How does the mentoring programme work?

Individuals keen to mentor or receive mentoring (or both), can register on our dedicated mentoring platform.
After outlining goals and availability, individuals identify potential partners via the platform, based on their preferences.
Once paired, the mentee and mentor collaborate to set goals and communication parameters, scheduling calls accordingly.

REGISTER FOR GEM >

GEM platform statistics:

Registered users: 65

Matched users: 29

Completed sessions: 135

Francisca

"As a mentee in the GÉANT mentoring programme, I am having a highly positive experience, since the programme allows me to have contact with people with extensive experience. Beyond technical skills, it is the deep knowledge on strategic and organisational matters that mentors transmit, which makes this programme exceptionally fruitful. Valuable feedback and support from my mentor have been crucial to developing my skills and expanding my professional connections."
Francisca Martín-Vergara - University of Málaga | Mentee

Lisa

"Joining the GEM Programme as a mentee has been an inspiring and supportive experience. I've had the chance to connect with mentors who have offered valuable insights to support my professional and personal growth. The GEM platform schedules mentoring meetings, provides suggested session outlines, and records feedback to track my progress. The programme is fantastic and I look forward to each mentoring session."
Lisa Melrose - Learning Coordinator, GÉANT | Mentee

Donal

"I've really enjoyed teaching network engineering as part of the mentoring programme – and my mentee has too! I've learned how the profession looks for someone starting their networking career, and my mentee has taken leaps and bounds in their path to a career in network engineering. We both look forward to our meetings and I can’t wait for the next one."
Dónal Cunningham - Technical Architect, HEAnet | Mentor

Dónal Cunningham - Technical Architect, HEAnet

Rosanna

"Venturing into this initiative I anticipated a rewarding experience - and it has been nothing short of that. I was selected to mentor two women, and our interactions have been extraordinary. Each meeting enriches me professionally and personally, and the joy of witnessing my mentees flourish and gain self-assurance mirrors my own growth. I look forward to navigating this path together and seeing where this experience will take us."
Rosanna Norman - Communications Manager, GÉANT | Mentor

Andjela

"This programme has provided me with invaluable knowledge and insights, and I deeply appreciate the way it has been thoughtfully and professionally designed. I would like to give special recognition to my mentor, Hrachya Astsatryan, who is incredibly knowledgeable and highly skilled. His expertise, dedication and willingness to share his vast knowledge have made a significant impact on my learning experience. It was truly an excellent match! I wholeheartedly recommend this programme and extend my highest praise to both the initiative itself and my mentor. Thank you for this incredible experience!"
Andjela Arsovic - AMRES | Mentee

Daniela Brauner - Research Engagement Manager, GÉANT

Hrachya

"As a mentor in the programme, I worked on a hands-on learning journey focused on deploying real-world deployment scenarios of lightweight cloud services based on Docker and Kubernetes. It was rewarding to guide my enthusiastic mentee through this experience, helping break down technical challenges into manageable steps. Her dedication to mastering these technologies will be an asset in her future endeavours. I highly recommend the GEM programme for fostering meaningful mentorship opportunities and enabling knowledge exchange in cutting-edge areas of ICT."
Hrachya Astsatryan - Leading Researcher, National Academy of Sciences of Armenia | Mentor

Mentoring topics

Find out about some of the most popular mentoring topics on the GEM platform, and remember – you can propose your own as soon as you are registered!

Hard skills

Project management
Product and service development
Software development
Event planning
Network
Cloud services
Trust & Identity
DevOps
Writing a news item
Storytelling
Research engagement

Soft skills

Communication and influence
Problem-solving and decision making
Teamwork
Planning and organising
Leadership development
Negotiating and handling conflicts
Creativity
Ownership
Emotional intelligence
Time management
Self-awareness

What to expect from the programme

Time commitment

We suggest three to six hours for mentoring sessions, and some time for preparing for each meeting.

Access to materials

Participants have access to a range of materials on mentoring, including suggested topics for discussion.

Feedback

Participants may be asked to provide feedback on their experience to the Learning and Development team.

For Project beneficiaries

Mentors from Project beneficiaries may charge time they spend mentoring to WP1T5. Beneficiaries include GÉANT's 40 members and their beneficiaries, (e.g. universities which are National Research and Education Network (NREN) members could charge time via their NREN).