Affiliation-Independent Mentoring at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility

Entering a plasma physics research laboratory as a student or early career scientist can be overwhelming. There is so much to learn and understand in your research area but also about the facility, meetings, people and procedures. While many of your new colleagues are welcoming and friendly, it can be intimidating to ask them “newbie” questions. This period of integrating into your new program can be very challenging and at times frustrating, speaking from personal experiences, and has caused people to leave the program.   Having more experienced colleagues that you can come to with your questions and concerns, can significantly speed up this integration time.  We started mentoring a few students ourselves, grew a passion for this role and then created the DIII-D Social Connection (SoCon) program in May of 2020. Since then nine SoCon pairs have been created. Eight of the junior SoCon participants are graduate students and one a postdoctoral scientist and the senior SoCons are all early career staff scientists.  Each pair share a similar topic area but are a different institution to widen the new team member’s social circle. Lessons learned from personal mentorship experiences and this inaugural program will be discussed.