News: Learning Together, Growing Together: Mentoring.UR at the University of Regensburg

On December 1, 2025, the University of Regensburg celebrated a major milestone of its Mentoring.UR program, marking the successful completion of the 10th cohort and welcoming the 11th. Professor Miriam Banas, UR's Deputy Representative for the Equality of Women in Academia and the Arts and Senior Physician of the Department of Nephrology at the University Hospital Regensburg, hosted the evening alongside programme coordinator Anna Theresa Wolferstetter M.A. 

Vice President for Research and Support for Emerging Academics Professor Ernst Tamm welcomed the guests, among them members of UR’s Executive Board and Professor Astrid Ensslin, UR's Representative for the Equality of Women in Academia and the Arts and Professor for Dynamics of Virtual Communication Spaces (at DIMAS). Dr Tatiana Klepikova, a mentee from the 9th cohort, delivered the keynote speech. 

The event highlighted the decisive role of mentoring in fostering academic careers, promoting gender equality, and strengthening interdisciplinary networks, while sharing concrete success stories from mentees and alumni. Through keynote reflections, personal testimonies, and institutional perspectives, the celebration showcased Mentoring.UR as a vibrant, impactful program that empowers women early-career researchers and helps shape the future of academia.

Why Mentoring Matters

At the celebration of the 10th cohort and the launch of the 11th Mentoring.UR programme, Miriam Banas opened the event with a reflection on the impact of mentoring in academia. Drawing on research and her own experience, she highlighted mentoring as a key driver of personal development, strategic career planning, scientific productivity, and long-term retention of young researchers at the university. 

Using vivid references from Greek mythology and contemporary science alike, she illustrated mentoring as a network of guidance, protection, and shared wisdom. The success of the program was underscored by concrete achievements, including the 2025 City of Regensburg Prize for Women in Science and Art awarded to a former mentee of the program, PD Dr. Stephanie Kandsperger.

Voices of the Mentees
 

Miriam Banas and Anna Theresa Wolferstetter congratulated the new 11th cohort and reflected on a decade of mentoring success through the voices of the mentees themselves. Participants described gaining confidence, learning to navigate academic cultures, building clear research profiles, and recognizing their own strengths as established researchers. 

Across disciplines, mentees emphasized that mentoring helped them understand they were not alone and that asking for support can be transformative. In 2025, the program once again brings together mentees from a broad range of faculties, highlighting Mentoring.UR’s interdisciplinary reach and inclusive vision.

A Program with Impact
 

Welcoming mentors, mentees, and guests, Ernst Tamm emphasized that Mentoring.UR is more than a program—it is a space for learning, connection, and shared growth. Since 2009, more than 140 early-career researchers from all faculties of the University of Regensburg have taken part, strengthening women’s representation in academic leadership and addressing structural inequalities. 

The program’s unique strength lies in its equal and mutually enriching mentor–mentee relationships, complemented by career coaching and peer networking. Celebrating the milestone of the 10th cohort, including the successful introduction of an English-language track, he thanked all participants for shaping a vibrant and forward-looking mentoring community.

Precarity, Courage, and Joy in Academia

Former mentee Tatiana Klepikova concluded the event with a deeply personal keynote on the precarities and joys of an academic career, reflecting on her path through doctoral and postdoctoral research. She spoke candidly about uncertainty, mobility, and pressure, while also emphasizing the freedom, creativity, and collective strength that come with early academic stages. Her message resonated across disciplines: mentoring creates solidarity, perspective, and the courage to shape change, even in imperfect systems. 

The evening ended with a networking reception, turning reflection into connection and reinforcing the spirit of Mentoring.UR—learning together, supporting one another, and shaping the future of academia.