TDR Mentorship Delphi Round 1

TDR Mentorship Delphi Round 1

Thank you for taking part in this first Delphi Survey towards the development of an institutional research mentorship practical guide for LMICs. This survey seeks to build consensus on different parts of the practical guide. It will take ~25 minutes to complete and we ask that you plan to complete the survey in one sitting. For each item, please choose one option from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree". Use the comment box to provide any additional feedback you may have for that item.
PARTICIPANT CONSENT

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Section A: Demographics
1. Gender: Which of the following most accurately describes you? [check all that apply]

MaleFemaleNon-binaryTransgenderIntersexPrefer not to sayOther
2. Age

15-30 years old30-45 years old45-60 years old60-75 years old75+
3. Country (where your home is located)
4. What is the highest degree or level of education you have completed?

Bachelor's DegreeMaster's DegreeDoctoral DegreeOther
Section B: Definition of Institutional Research Mentorship & Preamble

5. Definition:

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
We define institutional research mentorship as the group-level (research teams, universities, professional association, and research institutes) factors that nurture capacity building, training, and education within local environments to improve the effectiveness of the institution.

Comments/Questions:

6. Infographic example of Institutional Research Mentorship:

	1	2	3	4	5

1 is Strongly Disagree, 5 is Strongly Agree

Comments/Questions:

7. Preamble:

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Research mentorship can instill research culture, improve scientific and grant writing, promote career development, and mold the next generation of research leaders. Many research mentorship frameworks and tools that exist have been designed for use in high income settings. However, these frameworks and tools are often difficult to implement and sustain in LMICs because of structural differences, cultural factors, infrastructure issues, and capacity limitations. This calls for tools and practical guidance to build institutional research mentorship for LMICs. We define institutional research mentorship as the group-level (research teams, universities, professional association, and research institutes) factors that nurture capacity building, training and education within local environments to improve the effectiveness of the institution. The following consensus statement and implementation considerations may be used to embed and deliver more productive and fruitful institutional research mentorship in LMICs. We have not focused on how to be a good mentee or mentor as there are other resources focused on this topic and this approach does not address the structural and institutional issues which are critical in the development of research mentorship. The intended audience are people interested in building institutional mentorship in LMICs or resource-constrained settings, including researchers, institutional officials, government agencies, funders, and others.

Comments/Questions:
Section C: General Statements

This section includes general statements for consideration within the guide.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Research mentorship as a collaborative activity: Institutional research mentorship requires support from groups at several levels (research team, university, government, professional associations, institutions, funders) in order to be sustainable and thrive over time.

Comments/Questions:

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Consider intersectional components of mentorship: Research mentorship has a specific intersectional context that often disadvantages some people in systematic ways. Empowering disadvantaged groups and providing structured, systematic, inclusive and equitable ways to enhance research mentorship in resource-limited settings is vital.

Comments/Questions:

10.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Local fit is important: There is no monolithic way to start or sustain research mentorship in LMICs. There is substantial heterogeneity in how research mentorship can be cultivated, and the approach outlined below may require adaptation including use of local languages according to specific needs and contexts.

Comments/Questions:

11.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Embrace the digital world in sustaining mentorship but remember the power of in-person connections: The digital world creates many opportunities for enhancing research mentorship. At the same time, there is inherent value to in-person meetings and connection to advance research mentorship outcomes and performance.

Comments/Questions:

12.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Consider a holistic approach to career development and mentorship: Many exceptional trainees will face competing priorities from home and social lives including family life. These personal aspects of mentorship should be acknowledged as part of a holistic approach to personal growth and leadership development.

Comments/Questions:

13.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Pay-it-forward culture: give generously to others (without an expectation of personal benefit).Purposely cultivate a culture of cooperation rather than competition within research groups. Giving can be contagious and help ignite a passion for research within the team.

Comments/Questions:

14.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Local resources for research and research mentorship: In order to introduce and sustain a culture of research, identifying relevant local resources (e.g., senior research staff, junior investigators, research funding, institutional leadership) is important to ensure continued and long-lasting success.

Comments/Questions:

15.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Don't think about research mentorship as something that only established scientists can be involved in: It’s a dynamic process and all learners and teachers are involved in research mentorship in some way.

Comments/Questions:

16.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Avoid mentorship malpractice: this can include taking mentee's project ideas, burdening a mentee with low-yield activities and/or holding the idea that the mentor is in a dominant position to the mentee.

Comments/Questions:
Section D: Mentorship Life Cycle

This section includes items specific to the mentorship life cycle.

17.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Identify institutional champions (experts, groups, students) for mentorship: An informal and formal mapping of key stakeholders in the local institutional environment can be helpful in understanding who organizes research training, research studies, related topics, and where they are being researched.

Comments/Questions:

18.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Communicate with the broader research community: Sustaining research mentorship over time requires cultivating talent within organizations, promotion and recognition of people with mentorship experience and matching of mentor-mentee based on relevant criteria such as expertise, and research interests.

Comments/Questions:

19.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Encouraging and rewarding small habits of routine mentorship: The larger systems of nurturing research mentorship are often underpinned by smaller habits over time, including the following: building an expectation of generosity and pay-it-forward; routine mentorship workshops or training programs; highlighting best practices; and regular meetings between mentors and mentees

Comments/Questions:

20.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Peer research mentorship should be encouraged: Peer mentorship refers to someone providing practical advice to someone at a similar career stage. Peer mentorship and introducing junior scientists including Ph.D. students into mentoring early on will create a culture of mentorship that is sustainable over time.

Comments/Questions:

21.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Build common expectations about the mentor-mentee relationship: including the frequency of meetings, accountability mechanisms, conflict of management and resolution. This may include a written individualized development plan.

Comments/Questions:
Section E: Leveraging Existing Resources

This section includes items specific to leveraging existing resources.

22.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Mapping and leveraging existing resources is critical: Institutional research mentorship can be cultivated and nurtured in low-resource settings. Identifying existing resources to support research mentorship is an important strategy that is useful in a wide range of LMIC settings. Research institutions and academics shall introduce/access core funding for mentorship program support

Comments/Questions:

23.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Catalogue existing expertise and identify areas where you do not have local expertise; this information can be used as a resource for mentees to approach potential local home institution-based mentors. Keeping this catalogue of institutional expertise and potential mentors as well as international partners should be accessible on-line and should be maintained as a standard practice. Potential mentorship resources and mentors outside the institution should also be documented.

Comments/Questions:

24.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Leverage trained local scientists and academics who have managed funded research, mentored junior scientists/scholars, and even led meaningful mentorship and research integrity capacity-building initiatives: Scientists who are leading such projects should be encouraged to mentor young investigators to learn through the process and serve as inspiration. Funded projects are often collaborative efforts with scientists from HIC and create an opportunity for matching mentees with international experts.

Comments/Questions:

25.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Leverage ongoing training grants (short and medium-term): National, regional, and global training programs can provide practical strategies to enhance institutional research mentorship. For example, TDR and Fogarty both support LMIC researchers to undertake mentored research.

Comments/Questions:

26.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Leverage ongoing research funding (medium-term): Ongoing research grants can provide a strong foundation for cultivating research mentorship by including graduate, postgraduate students, and other trainees. Direct costs for research can be used to employ research assistants, provide mentored research opportunities, and cultivate mentor-mentee relationships. This provides a way to embed mentorship in research routine activities.

Comments/Questions:

27.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Leverage institutions that enhance research mentorship (long-term): Consider the professional associations, universities, government organizations, and other institutions such as relevant government bodies (ministry of health and innovations) that promote research mentorship. This can help to leverage existing structures, competencies, and research infrastructure. Identifying these key champions can help create collaborative networks that support institutional mentorship.

Comments/Questions:

28.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Twinning brings together relevant mentor-mentee programs/organizations: where trainees at similar levels from LMIC and HIC can establish a longer-term partnership that allows for easier interaction and mutual capacity strengthening. Allow mentees to take the lead in skills and knowledge transfer and encourage them to develop new ‘twinning’ relationships on their own where pairing with researchers from an outside or international collaborative project at a similar stage of development can also provide additional peer mentorship.

Comments/Questions:

29.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Leverage internal collaborations (different departments within an institution or other in-country institutions) if you have no external collaborators: Building a multi-dimensional network that includes a variety of mentoring styles and interactions can provide comprehensive mentorship. If your department has no external partners, it may be possible to solicit senior experts from your institute in another department or field of study. Such institutions can also establish a collaboration within country where there is relatively better capability.

Comments/Questions:

30.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Familiarize leadership with existing on-line resources and workshops: There is a diversity of online resources (courses, workshops, materials, etc.) on mentorship, however, it is important that the institution defines the goal and scope of the institutional mentorship program, this will allow it to choose the most appropriate material. A "content curation" process should be established, and the material should be accessed through tools such as Intranet, Learning Management System (Moodle)

Comments/Questions:

31.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Leverage and strengthen the institutional culture of mentorship, inclusivity, and diversity: by embedding mentorship into the DNA of the institution, it becomes more sustainable and not dependent on an individual champion. However, policies and processes to facilitate their adoption will take more time to institute.

Comments/Questions:
Section F: Measuring and Evaluating Institutional Mentorship

This section includes items specific to measuring and evaluating institutional mentorship.

32.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Measuring mentorship is important for continued success: Measurement and evaluation of research mentorship is essential for demonstrating success, rewarding exemplars and effective mentorship, identifying areas for improvement, and sustaining institutional mentorship over time. Feedback can be for both mentors and mentees.

Comments/Questions:

33.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Using feedback to iteratively improve over time: Establishing effective, structured feedback is crucial to improve mentorship experiences and outcomes; reduce intentional bias; and protect both mentors and mentees. In line with this, it is crucial to establish mechanism to mitigate negative mentorship experiences within the established framework of mentor-mentee relationship

Comments/Questions:

34.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Tailoring monitoring and evaluation based on the extent of research mentorship: Adapting measurement metrics based on how well the existing mentorship programme has advanced.

Comments/Questions:

35.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Quantitative measurement of research mentorship: Quantitative metrics to understand the effectiveness of research mentorship include the number of trainees, the number of trainees retained in research over time, the number of trainees who secure independent research positions, the number of trainees who secure independent research funding, the number of research mentors, the number of research mentors (Outcomes such as research “confidence and independency, perceived skills and capacity, research identity, research ethics, integrity, relationship quality, attitudinal, psychological welling and success)

Comments/Questions:

36.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Qualitative measurement of research mentorship: Qualitative analysis of research mentorship is important to understand gender dynamics and disparity, racial, and intersectional issues that serve as structural and socio-economic barriers and facilitators to institutional mentorship in LMICs. This could include semi-structured interviews, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, or crowdsourcing open calls.

Comments/Questions:

37.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Celebrate success within research teams: Recognizing that research is a team effort, provide incentives, awards, and formal recognition of the units, teams, and structures that nurture research mentorship. For example, an award not to an individual mentor or mentee, but to a research group, department, or unit.

Comments/Questions:

38.

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Tracking and system of documentation of mentorship activities at the different levels of the program process: inputs, activities, outputs and impacts (individual/mentor/mentee, institutional level).

Comments/Questions:

39. Below are recommended open access resources for mentorship guides/toolkits: *

	1	2	3	4	5

1 is Strongly Disagree, 5 is Strongly Agree

Mentorship and how to conduct research: A research primer for low- and middle-income countries https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33304799/ 

Global Health Mentoring Toolkits: A Scoping Review Relevant for Low- and Middle-Income Country Institutions https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30430981/ 

A mentorship toolkit for Teachers and researchers in pharmacology and other biomedical sciences in developing countries https://faseb.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.lb464

Strengthening mentoring in low-and middle-income countries to advance global health research:an overview https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30430982/

Conceptual Framework of Mentoring in Low- and Middle-Income Countries to Advance Global Health https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30430983/
Comments/Questions:
Thank you for taking the time to participate in this survey.

The results will be aggregated and presented at the AHRI meeting on 23-24 June and granular feedback will be shared with subgroups.
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TDR Mentorship Delphi Round 1

PARTICIPANT CONSENT

Section A: Demographics

Section B: Definition of Institutional Research Mentorship & Preamble

Section C: General Statements

Section D: Mentorship Life Cycle

Section E: Leveraging Existing Resources

Section F: Measuring and Evaluating Institutional Mentorship

Thank you for taking the time to participate in this survey.