Advancing Mentoring Excellence

Advancing Mentoring Excellence faculty mentoring training sessions are based on the Office of the Provost’s Foundational Principles of Mentoring Practice and nationally recognized best practices for the mentoring of graduate students and postdoctoral trainees. Participants will learn new tools and develop skills as a mentor, primarily to graduate students and postdoctoral trainees. The program is open to all faculty. 

2026-27 Schedule

Each of the five core, 90-minute sessions is offered in-person in both Evanston and Chicago. Elective sessions are offered once a year on either the Evanston or Chicago campus. Learn more about the 2026-2027 schedule and  register to attend. 

Certificate of Mentoring Excellence 

Five core sessions taken within three years are required to earn a Mentoring Excellence Certificate. Faculty who attended Advancing Mentoring Excellence in prior years but did not complete all five core sessions can contact faculty@northwestern.edu for guidance on their outstanding sessions.   

NIH Training Grant Requirements

Completion of the five core sessions required to earn a certificate will fulfill the NIH training grant requirements for mentor training.

Faculty on training grants are intended to complete either the Provost Office Advancing Mentoring Excellence series or one of the following:

• Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (NUCATS) offers mentoring training for faculty who hold appointments in the Feinberg School of Medicine and faculty in other colleges if they are engaged in biomedical research. This program is designed to develop skills as a mentor, primarily for mentoring early career faculty in the medical school. 
• The Graduate School offers mentor training to graduate faculty and graduate program staff. The Humanistic Mentoring in Practice training is an approach to mentorship grounded in care, clarity and mutual growth.
• See the Training Grants Support Office for more information.