Assistant Professor and MnDRIVE Neuromodulation Scholar, Alik Widge, MD, PhD (pictured above with lab members and collaborators at the Society for Neuroscience 2022 meeting), takes an approach to mentoring that is grounded in engineering – learning by doing. “There is no substitute for trying to do something to really understand your strengths and weaknesses and what you need to get better at,” he explained. “Most of my work with young researchers revolves around trying to do a new project, land a grant, or publish a paper. We go through the process to see where they get stuck and then try to get them back on track by providing customized resources.”
One of the ways some of Widge’s mentees may get stuck is not understanding the ins and outs of what’s required, especially when preparing a grant proposal or journal article. He helps his mentees find the window of what they can and cannot do when navigating a peer reviewer’s requests. “I learned mostly through messing up and taking the resulting knocks,” he said. “I like to help my mentees avoid some of the pain I went through earlier in my career.”
