What makes a good supervisor? Someone who allows students to ask questions, no matter how silly they might seem? Someone who lets students grapple with problems before jumping in with answers and explanations? Or someone who emphasizes the positive, even when an experiment goes awry?
Words of encouragement: Tom Kibble, winner of the lifetime mentoring award, always found time to help his students.The winners of the first Nature/UK National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) awards for mentoring in science have all these qualities. The winner of the lifetime mentoring award is Tom Kibble, senior research fellow and emeritus professor of theoretical physics at Imperial College, London. The mid-career mentoring award was presented to Innes Cuthill, professor of behavioural ecology at the University of Bristol. The winners demonstrate that intellect and humanity can combine to advance both the mentor's and the protégé's careers, say the scientists who proposed them for this award.
Kibble's nominators describe him as modest, brilliant and always approachable. Even when Kibble's administrative duties and importance grew during his career, he still found time for his students. "This approachability was very important; it is easy to feel intimidated by a person of such stature," says Danièle Steer, a lecturer at the University of Paris VII.
She recalls a conversation she had with Kibble soon after beginning her thesis work. "I had that sinking feeling that I did not understand anything and would never be able to understand anything," she says. Kibble sensed that something was amiss. He told her there were many things he didn't understand either. "He was completely sincere," says Steer. "That small comment helped me during my thesis, and indeed ever since."
Ed Copeland, professor of theoretical physics at the University of Sussex, says Kibble would always make time for students — even if they weren't his. Towards the end of his PhD, Copeland was interviewed for a position at Imperial College. After his seminar was over, Copeland asked to meet Kibble. "Although clearly very busy, and not really working on the topic of my research, he spoke with me for half an hour, asking me about my work, telling me about his, and finally offering some advice about delivering seminars."
Besides advising the young scientist not to use yellow pens during seminars, Kibble helped him learn when a problem is worth solving, realize when it could lead to a brick wall, and when to look for alternative routes around it.
Mark Hindmarsh, reader in theoretical physics at the University of Sussex, also benefited from Kibble's instincts and astute diplomacy. When Hindmarsh came to Imperial College as a PhD student, he was determined to study quantum gravity — even though he didn't really understand what it was. "I am deeply grateful to him for gently steering me away from it (without ever issuing instructions) into the far greener pastures of particle cosmology," Hindmarsh says. It was a wise decision; his first-choice area has seen little progress, whereas the field that Kibble directed him into has flourished.
Perhaps Kibble's greatest achievements as a mentor are the workshops he organized that taught science and helped younger scientists to serve as mentors to each other. During his early years at Imperial College, he initiated a weekly discussion group on particle cosmology and related fields. It grew from a few dozen people from the college to drawing over 60 from around Britain, says Neil Turok, chair of mathematical physics at the University of Cambridge. Kibble's open-door policy, as well as the promotion of his discussion group, benefited both sides: young scientists gained papers early in their careers, and Kibble's own publication record took off.
Kibble's achievements stem from his ability to foster individual relationships, a skill he shares with his fellow winner. Cuthill, say his nominators, has an uncanny ability to treat scientists as individuals, and to tailor training to different needs and personalities.
Nancy Rothwell presents mid-career award winner Innes Cuthill with his prize (upper picture) during the celebratory party at the Science Museum, London (lower picture).H. MENTZJohn Swaddle, associate professor at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, recalls being taking aback in graduate school when Cuthill left him alone but gave another graduate student specific reading assignments and a detailed set of research questions to explore. "At the time I thought I had it easy, as Innes was not asking me to do these assignments, and that the other student was being treated more harshly," Swaddle says. "With a couple of years' hindsight, I realized that Innes was merely motivating this other student in a more appropriate way for their adviser–student relationship." And he realized that Cuthill was hands-off with him because he was heading in the right direction.
Sarah Hunt, Young People's Programme Development Officer at the British Association for the Advancement of Science, says that Cuthill is so good at understanding each scientist's "idiosyncrasies" that he can understand what motivates different individuals and adjust his approach to each person as they develop. "I have watched other colleagues being moulded to specific ways of working and thinking," she says. But that wasn't Cuthill's way of doing things.
Hunt recalls her first day of graduate school. Cuthill showed her to her desk, then said he didn't care what time she turned up in the morning, as long as she got her work done in the end. "As it happens, I've never worked harder, and never enjoyed it so much," she says.
During Hunt's first year, Cuthill played a big role in her development. He helped her choose experiments, taught her how to work with animals and helped her learn to use statistics. As a result, she had two papers in press by the end of her first year. "Innes then took a back seat and allowed me to be independent," Hunt says.
Cuthill's patience and non-judgemental attitude also proved helpful for the many other young scientists he has mentored. Sasha Dall, lecturer in mathematical ecology at the University of Exeter in Cornwall, calls him the "single most influential person in my professional life" — and not just for the entertaining lectures that Cuthill delivered, which remind him that teaching is an important part of being a researcher. "He had (and still has) the knack of listening to my often incoherent ramblings and gently revealing the useful ideas buried deep within via very constructive criticism," Dall says.
Jonathan Wright, professor of biology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, says that Cuthill doesn't have any single formula for successful mentoring. "He just seems to quietly get it right on a one-to-one basis with each of his students," he explains.
That sounds like a good approach for other mentors to follow.
