A study finds that mentoring can help life-sciences faculty members at US institutions that serve ethnic minorities to win more grants, boost their publication rates and participate in more professional activities, including attending scientific conferences and developing collaborations (A. G. Campbell et al. CBE Life Sci. Edu. 12, 394–402; 2013). The study, published on 4 September, partnered 32 faculty members from minority-serving institutions with established scientists at research-intensive universities for 8–10-week internships between 1997 and 2011. Participants' average number of publications rose from 0.84 before the internship to 1.37 afterwards. Their average number of grants increased from 0.06 to 0.59, up to four times the average of a control group of 129 faculty members at the same institutions who were not mentored.