The report ‘The Molecular Bioscience PhD and Women’s Retention: A Survey and Comparison with Chemistry’ highlighted the importance of a healthy and productive relationship between supervisor and student. The adverse effects of this relationship were seen to affect female students more than male students with 17% of female respondents stating that supervision problems had detracted from their PhD experience being a positive one.

In addition, 31% of female molecular biosciences students felt that their supervision experience could have been enhanced with more adequate mentoring and more general advice. As a result of this the Biochemical Society has set up a one year pilot mentoring scheme with help and support from the UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (UKRC SET). The Society will contact all of its female members in April 2009 and we hope to match 15 pairs during the pilot year.

In this pilot year, the scheme will be aimed at female PhD students in order to directly tackle the issues raised in the research but in the subsequent years we hope to increase the number of mentors and mentees involved and offer the scheme to our male members. Importantly, pairs will be matched on the basis of compatibility rather than first come, first served in order to increase the effectiveness of the relationship.