Mentoring and Career Guidance

“Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction.”
John Crawford Crosby

Sometimes doctoral students suffer from psychological distress. Reasons behind these vary from one person to another. It could be due to a sudden cultural change, language barrier, homesickness, lack of work-life balance or any other situation. Since the LSM student council has become aware of the need to offer our support to those who ask for it, as a first point of contact, we have two excellent volunteers available, so that you are not alone in your time of need. Additionally, the LSM faculty member Dr. Noémie Becker acts as the LSM Ombusperson. She offers neutral, independent, confidential, and informal students´ counselling to help resolve sensitive issues and conflicts.

In the course of the doctoral thesis, many also ask themselves where the professional journey should lead to. What are my talents and interests? What do I want to spend my time with? How can I shape my career in a self-determined way? We would like to exchange ideas and learn from each other about these questions as well. So, feel free to contact us any time!

What we can offer?

Right now, there are two of us on the mentoring team. Annabel is currently working on her doctoral thesis. She has already acquired P2P mentoring certificates in her early years of study and has since then mentored many students. Mauricio is an LSM Alumni and works as a postdoc at EMBL. He likes to share his experiences during his own doctoral thesis and talks about the ups and downs of starting a career.

If you are needing to reachout please do not hesitate to contact them by clicking on their names below and getting in touch to talk about your concerns. All information and conversations will be kept anonymous. Remember, we all went through more or less the same and therefore we might share similar experiences.

 Mentors:                                                                                                              LSM Ombudsperson:

                   Annabel Mechela                           Dr. Mauricio Toro-Nahuelpan                   Dr. Noémie Becker

 Feel free to get connected on LinkedIn         Feel free to get connected on LinkedIn.    LSM faculty member

or learn more about Annabel and Mauricio

Want to be part of the team?

LMU also offers mentoring programs. Doctoral students who want to join our mentoring team must participate first in the Peer-to-Peer-Mentoring Program and obtain relevant experience and certification. Moreover, doctoral students can seek further counseling through events organized by Intercultural Counseling Center in LMU.

Additional Mentoring Links:

• International Student Guide
• Psychotherapeutic and Psychosocial Advisory Service (free of charge)
• Student und Arbeitsmarkt
• Studentenwerk München
• Beratungseinrichtungen der LMU
• Kooperierende Beratungs- und Servicestellen

Interesting PhD Blogs:

Here are some of the blogs about PhD life that we found helpful and entertaining. Have fun checking them out:

• The Thesis Whisperer
• From PhD to Life
• Get a Life, PhD
• Next Scientist
• James Hayton
• Susanna L Harris

PhD and Career Guidance Books:

More serious?

Please follow the link to the Outpatient Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy

(website and help are available in English!)