Career Mentoring Fellows
Your experience can make a difference
We welcome individuals with physics degrees from a diverse array of career paths and levels, including industry, government, academia, nonprofits, and public service, to apply to become Career Mentoring Fellows.
Benefits for students and early-career scientists
The Career Mentoring Fellows program offers many benefits to help support physics students and early career scientists.
Provide presentation feedback
Fellows can provide feedback during undergraduate research sessions at APS meetings.
Participate in APS job fairs
Participants can take part in mentoring activities, as well as work at the career and resume help desk at APS job fairs.
Speak about physics careers
You can share your expertise by presenting on physics careers at an institution or event near you.
Participate in APS meetings
The 2023–2024 Career Mentoring Fellows can take part in the APS March Meeting, April Meeting, the Division of Plasma Physics (DPP) Meeting, and Conferences for Undergraduate Women and Gender Minorities in Physics.
Fellows can participate in a number of ways, including providing feedback on undergraduate research sessions, serving on career panels, signing up for the resume help desk, and more. Fellows may be eligible for partial travel funding and registration reimbursement, based on financial need and available resources.
Benefits of becoming a Career Mentoring Fellow
As a Career Mentoring Fellow, you will set up students and early career physicists for success while strengthening your own connections in the physics community.
Implicit bias training
You will receive implicit bias training to foster an inclusive physics community.
Mentor training
You will receive mentor training to help you effectively guide students and early career physicists.
Career resource knowledge
You will gain expertise about physics career options and APS career resources.
“[Implicit bias] training was extremely useful for academic mentoring environments … I was really happy with what I learned and how quickly I got to put it into practice.
— 2022 Career Mentoring Fellow
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Apply to join
Applications for Career Mentoring Fellows are open annually from June until August.
Physics degree holders working in industry, academia, government, public service, or the nonprofit sector — including postdocs and faculty — are welcome to apply.
The application form will ask you to describe:
- Your interest in learning about diverse physics careers and mentoring students
- Your previous experience as a volunteer or mentor to students or early career physicists, through APS or another organization
- Your leadership skills, preferably related to activities benefiting students
- Your experience and interest in furthering diversity, equity, and inclusion in physics
As part of your application, you must also include contact information for a student or early-career scientist who can serve as a reference, and describe your assistance or mentorship of students or early career scientists. Your reference will receive a request to submit a half-page statement of support on your behalf. We recommend that you reach out to this reference before you submit your application.
Ready to join?
Applications open annually in June. If you'd like to learn more, please contact the APS Careers team.
Meet the 2023–2024 fellows
We wish to extend our thanks to this year's fellows for their work in supporting physics students and early-career scientists.
Invite a Career Mentoring Fellow to speak
Career Mentoring Fellows come from a variety of backgrounds and are experts in the physics career paths available to students. If you'd like to invite a Career Mentoring Fellow to speak at your institution or conference, please contact the APS Careers team.