Staff networks and mentoring

Get to know your colleagues, get support and share best practice by joining a staff network or mentoring scheme.

Faculty Professional & Technical Services Mentoring Scheme

In February 2018, the Faculty launched its own mentoring scheme for all staff who identify as professional or technical services.

Effective mentoring can assist staff in identifying and meeting objectives to drive personal and professional development, whether this is a focus on developing a particular area of expertise or set of skills, progressing to the next step on their career pathway or achieving higher job satisfaction in the workplace.

Mentoring is an enabling and citizenship activity which is encouraged by the Faculty and should be recognised in appraisals.

Please contact Avili Feese (a.feese@ucl.ac.uk) for more details.  

Faculty HR network

The Faculty HR Network is a network for colleagues working in HR within the Faculty, and meets on a monthly basis. Please contact Network Co-Leads Sonia Theodoric (s.theodoric@ucl.ac.uk) and Wing-Chau Tung (w.tung@ucl.ac.uk) for further details.

Faculty of Brain Sciences Digital Strategy Board

The Board aims to identify and help resolve major or recurring IT issues, and surface and pursue strategic IT development priorities, with a view to maximising the benefits of IT for all users within the Faculty. The Board works by consensus, with members drawn from the Faculty’s institutes and divisions, and across academic and professional services. 

The current Board members are (as of July 2023):

  • Belen Altozano Gosalvez (Division of Psychiatry)
  • Nadia Berthouze (FBS representative on Digital Research Group, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences) 
  • Declan Chard (Chair of the Board, Institute of Neurology)
  • Dave Cash (Institute of Neurology)
  • Morgan Douglas (Division of Psychology and Language Sciences)
  • John Duncan (Institute of Neurology and UCLH)
  • Geoff Dunk (FBS Director of Operations)
  • Sam Gilbert (Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience)
  • Andy Heap (FBS Head of IT)
  • Dave Hetherington, Dave (Division of Psychology and Language Sciences)
  • Nicholas Lesica (Ear Institute)
  • Nikolas Pontikos (Institute of Ophthalmology)
  • Neil Roberts (FBS Faculty Learning Technologist)
  • Jonathan Wadsworth (Institute of Prion Diseases)

If you have a matter you would like the Board to consider, please contact Declan Chard, or the member most relevant to your area of interest.

Institutional and Divisional networks and mentoring

Some of our Institutes and Divisions offer their own informal networks and mentoring schemes.

The Division of Psychology and Language Sciences (PALS) runs the WoW mentoring scheme and the PALS Women Mentoring scheme.

The Institute of Neurology has a network for female academic and research staff, and for professional services staff. The Institute also has maternity and paternity mentors to give practical support and advice to staff on or about to take maternity/paternity leave.

The Institute of Ophthalmology mentoring scheme provides full training through a workshop and a one-to-one mentor/mentee relationship with a local mentor for a year.

UCL-wide networks and mentoring

The UCL Human Resources department has a list of equalities networks and mentoring schemes that UCL staff are encouraged to join, including: groups for LGBT+ staff; staff with disabilities; women in professional services; women in STEM; working parents; BME staff; and more.

Some of these UCL-wide networks have their own websites:

uMentor is UCL’s online mentoring platform for staff across the institution to share and learn best mentoring practice and resources. This is available to both mentors and mentees and includes a ‘Mentor Matching’ tool.

Communications

Find out more about comms networks available to professional, research and academic staff across the Faculty and UCL.