Reboot your retirement through AuthorAID mentoring

Professor Barbara Gastel has written an opinion piece on how retired or nearly-retired academics can continue to support junior researchers through INASP’s AuthorAID mentoring scheme. The article was published by life-science magazine, The Scientist.

Barbara touches upon the intellectual and social benefits of mentoring, and cites a National Science Foundation study that found that one third of scientists in higher education are approaching or have reached retirement.

AuthorAID mentoring is a great way to share your knowledge with those who need it most, and will appeal to many emeritus faculty who don’t wish to continue formal lab work or re-join the ranks of post-doctoral researchers.

As Barbara points out, retired academics are ideally placed to support early-career researchers. While their younger colleagues grapple with administrative duties, retired academics are freer to devote time, knowhow and skills – each of which are in high demand across the universities and civil society organizations in the Global South.

Signing up to become an AuthorAID mentor takes just a few minutes, and there are mentees-in-waiting across many disciplines, languages and time zones.