Mentoring Program

The BME PhD Peer Mentoring Program was founded in Fall 2016. The program matches each first year BME PhD student (mentee) with a more senior BME PhD student (mentor) in different research areas.

The program involves:

  • 1) Monthly allowance
    • Mentor and mentee meet up for coffee or light meal
  • 2) September launch event
  • 3) December dinner
    • End the fall semester with a group dinner

  • 4) March or April mindfulness workshop and lunch
    • A guest speaker leads a workshop on mindfulness: “the development of a particular kind of attention, characterized by a nonjudgmental awareness, openness, curiosity, and acceptance of internal and external present experiences, which allows practitioners to act more reflectively rather than impulsively” (Chiesa 2009).

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Email question/comments to:

  • john.gilbert@duke.edu (Grill lab)
  • robert.morhard@duke.edu (Ramanujam lab)
  • nikki.pelot@duke.edu (Grill lab)
  • anastasia.varanko@duke.edu (Chilkoti lab)
  • shikha.sharma@duke.edu (Varghese lab)

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Meeting reimbursement:

  • For matches with 1 mentor + 1 mentee…
    • 3 lunches per semester
    • $25 per lunch total including tip/tax
  • For matches with 2 mentors + 1 mentee…
    •  4 lunches for the mentee per semester
    • For each of the 4 lunches, you have two options:
      • Option 1: Use $25 per lunch total including tip/tax if meeting in a pair
      • Option 2: Use $40 per lunch total including tip/tax if meeting as a trio
  • You may go off campus, but no alcohol.
  • Either the mentor or the mentee pays for the meal; faster reimbursement if you’re on Duke@Work (~2 weeks); otherwise, paper form takes ~1 month and check will need to be picked up at Smith Warehouse
  • Send to Alice Kessing:
    • Subject: “Mentoring lunch”
    • Names of attendees (first and last)
    • Name of payer
    • PDF with itemized receipt (scan or photo) + total receipt (with tip) if applicable.