After you have been admitted to a REx pathway group, the EFS team will pair you with an EFS mentor. The EFS mentor’s role is to guide you through the process of applying for a Fellowship through the EFS. It is important to note that your mentor’s role is not to be an editor of your application; but rather to help draw out content and reflections, help you see how your reflections relate with the PSF 2023 and cast a critical, yet friendly eye over your application. The EFS mentoring relationship has a clear scope: your EFS mentor’s role is to support you in writing your EFS application; not to offer career advice or support.
It is important to know that EFS mentors do this work on a voluntary basis while balancing research, teaching, and other professional and personal commitments. They have agreed to spend around ten hours in supporting you with your application over the period of your EFS REx group. To help manage both your schedules, we recommend you agree on a way of working and timeline early on in your working relationship.
How you work together will depend on you and your EFS mentor’s styles, preferences, and schedules. We recommend you discuss how you will work together at the start of the program so that you can develop a mutual understanding of expectation early on. Note that the responsibility for maintaining communication with your EFS mentor and progressing your EFS application lies with you. You are required to have met with your mentor at least once (either in-person or online) and have had mentor feedback at least once on each component of your application before submitting.
If you have any questions or concerns during the mentoring process, please contact the EFS Team via clt@anu.edu.au and we will attempt to assist. There are situations in which the team might decide that a change of mentor is an appropriate strategy to help you finish your application, e.g. because there is a clash of personalities or conflict of interest. It is worth mentioning that this is not a judgement on you or the EFS mentor’s abilities and expertise.
Next steps
All applicants in the REx pathway are required to write a Philosophy of Teaching and Learning as part of their application. Learn more about this text in EFS Collection 2_Philosophy of Teaching and Learning.
Then jump to the resource collection relevant to your category of Fellowship, where you can find more information about application requirements, writing your reflective narratives, choosing referees, submitting your application, and possible application outcomes: