CW: Academic bullying and abuse Emily chats with Dr. Kartik Aiyer, who opens up about the benefits of a good academic mentor and support network on mental health and productivity. Kartik opened up previously, in episode 20, about the impact a poor Faculty relationship had on his mental health during his PhD. This episode covers: Kartik’s music obsession and the positive relationship with his family The benefits of supportive research group culture on mental health but also productivity The need to train and empower junior researchers to value their own contributions whilst also learning from the research experience of others That clear, respectful communication between mentors and mentees is key What to look for in a mentor Places to seek mentors Shutting out negative thoughts and focussing on personal strengths Suggested policy shifts to improve mentoring and training If you find this episode valuable, and have some spare change, please consider supporting the podcast! Resources: Kartik’s blog post on ‘Empowering early career researchers and improving culture in academia.’ Kartik’s science communication blog Professor Jen Heemstra – as a role model tweeting to bring out the best in researchers Full transcript of the podcast is available here, with many thanks to Dan Ranson. If you find these transcripts useful, please consider supporting accessibility! Mental health support: please contact your GP or use the appropriate support for your country at https://checkpointorg.com/global/ You can find out more about Voices of Academia & other personal stories at @academicvoices or our website. Interested in being interviewed? We’d love to hear from you. Please submit this brief form. Recorded: 04/10/2021. Sound: Mindset by Ketsa is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, available through Free Music Archive.

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