Welcome to TUM² mentoring

TUM² tandems 09/10 at the kick-off
event (detail)

please click on the photo to see
it complete

TUM² "TUM squared" is the innovative mentoring program set up by TU München which stands for a new kind of generation pact in the education sector.

Alumni of Technische Universität München volunteer to commit themselves to mentoring an undergraduate or doctoral student for a period of one year. Adopting the role of a good listener, they support and counsel their mentees as well as encouraging the development of a customized strategy. Advanced training, networking and nurturing work experience are just some of the valuable assets that TUM² promotes.

Originally the brainchild of a group of dedicated students in 2007, this service has been implemented by TUM's Alumni & Career department since July 2008 to provide careers advice to undergraduates and doctoral candidates and help them to plan ahead in order to achieve their professional and personal goals in life.

Objectives

The TUM² Mentoring program offers advanced students and doctoral candidates from all faculties of TU München, as well as its alumni , an innovative soft-skill enhancement and coaching tool designed to promote motivated mentees and launch them on to the careers ladder with the support of experienced TUM alumni who have been successful in their own particular field. Each mentee is teamed with a suitable mentor for one tandem cycle.

Students nearing completion of their degree or pursuing a doctorate are given the chance to organize and expand their own study timetable along practice-oriented lines. Under the voluntary commitment of their mentors they receive one-to-one support and a great deal more than just a glimpse of their tandem partners' working environment.

Timeframe

Each side of the tandem only needs to set aside a manageable amount of time for its mentoring obligations over the one-year cycle: the kick-off seminar in late autumn marks the beginning of the mentorship, provides an overview of the mentoring concept and introduces the participants to one another. This is followed by the individual tandem sessions, which should ideally take the form of personal meetings every six to eight weeks. A series of other supporting events will be organized during the course of the year (please see the program). Nobody is obliged to take part in these events. Individual arrangements and careers-promoting activities are possible and indeed to be encouraged between the mentees and mentors at any time.

Your commitment

We invite you to peruse the following pages and find out more about the aims and the implementation of the mentoring program, its contents and the multiple opportunities open to everyone who takes part. Please feel free to get in touch with the TUM² program coordinator directly if you have any queries or suggestions to make. Thank you for your interest   -> Contact

Your TUM² team

Glossary

Mentoring

is the term used for the relationship between an experienced and trusted person who shares his or her knowledge and expertise with an, as yet, inexperienced individual, in which the mentor adopts a role model, counselling and encouraging the mentee (or protégé) and providing ongoing support and constructive feedback.

Mentee

is a person with little work or practical experience who receives support and encouragement from an experienced individual over a defined period of time.

Mentor

is a person who passes on the valuable knowledge he or she has gained from experience to a junior, less experienced person and offers guidance and support in developing his/her personal and professional skills and competences in order to progress along their chosen path.

updated: March 03, 2010

contact: finger@tum.de