Unfortunately, good mentoring skills are not innate, and the average assistant professor has had little or no training in these skills prior to accepting a tenure-track position. How then does a new professor, whose time, resources and energy are at a premium, successfully mentor their graduate students to cultivate productive, competent members of the scientific community? Here, mentoring tips from various resources will be shared, along with personal mentoring experiences. Topics include:

(1) Defining expectations in the mentoring relationship [what the student expects of the advisor, and what the advisor expects of the student];

(2) Defining roles of a faculty advisor [how the advisor shapes the educational experience, personal and professional development, and networking capacity of the student];

(3) Developing a healthy mentoring style [faculty advisor as coach];

(4) Building support structures [for the student and the faculty advisor];

(5) Building a mentoring environment [creating venues for mentoring moments].