An academic career involves many decisions related to research, publishing, collaboration, mobility, and future career paths. The mentoring programs collected here support PhD candidates, researchers, and scientists in developing their academic careers and planning their next steps both within and beyond academia.
University of Copenhagen – Department of Biology offers Biology Mentorordning to biology students and faculty professors acting as mentors. The Department of Biology publishes a formal list of faculty mentors available to biology students.
Who is it for? Biology students and faculty professors acting as mentors
A mentoring initiative from University of Copenhagen – BRIC for postdoctoral researchers at BRIC. BRIC forms peer-mentoring groups of 5–7 postdocs, seeks to match people by career stage and starts new groups on a recurring basis.
Who is it for? Postdoctoral researchers at BRIC
A mentoring initiative from Danish Data Science Academy (DDSA) for data scientists, students, researchers and professionals. The 2026/27 programme starts with a kick-off on 2 October 2026 and is based on recurring one-to-one meetings, typically monthly.
Who is it for? Data scientists, students, researchers and professionals
A mentoring initiative from Aarhus University for assistant professors, researchers and postdocs, with associate professors or more senior academics as mentors. The scheme operates across faculties and matches junior researchers with more senior academics, with HR involved in the programme structure.
Who is it for? Assistant professors, researchers and postdocs, with associate professors or more senior academics as mentors
A mentoring initiative from University of Copenhagen – BRIC/iMED for iMED fellows and early-career researchers, with BRIC alumni and collaborators as mentors. The iMED programme runs for 10–12 months and normally includes 3–5 meetings. Participation is currently limited to iMED fellows.
Who is it for? iMED fellows and early-career researchers, with BRIC alumni and collaborators as mentors
A mentoring initiative from University of Southern Denmark (SDU) – SUND for PhD students and postdocs, with senior academics as mentors. This is a group-mentoring format with one senior mentor and 4–5 mentees, five meetings and supporting seminars across the year.
Who is it for? PhD students and postdocs, with senior academics as mentors
A mentoring initiative from Aarhus University – The Kitchen / AU Career for PhD students and younger researchers, with alumni and industry professionals as mentors. The AU programme lasts eight months, requires at least four meetings and uses a telephone intake before matching researchers with mentors from business and alumni networks.
Who is it for? PhD students and younger researchers, with alumni and industry professionals as mentors
Nordic Mentor Network for Entrepreneurship (NOME) offers NOME Mentoring Programme to life-science startups and experienced mentors. A startup can take part for up to two years and work with a team of 3–4 mentors, typically meeting every 4–6 weeks.
Who is it for? Life-science startups and experienced mentors
A mentoring initiative from Aalborg University (AAU) for PhD students and alumni or professionals from the public and private sectors. AAU performs the matching on the basis of competencies, experience and career interests, while the number of meetings is left flexible.
Who is it for? PhD students and alumni or professionals from the public and private sectors
A mentoring initiative from Aarhus University – Department of Agroecology for postdocs and senior academic or tenure-track mentors. The programme was continued in 2026 after a pilot. Postdocs are matched with a senior academic from another section, and the mentee sets the agenda and meeting rhythm.
Who is it for? Postdocs and senior academic or tenure-track mentors
DTU offers Pre-startup Mentoring to students and researchers developing a startup idea. DTU offers pre-startup teams access to mentors as part of support for developing an early startup idea.
Who is it for? Students and researchers developing a startup idea
SPARK Denmark is a broader programme run by SPARK Denmark / University of Copenhagen + partner universities for researchers and life-science project teams, with structured mentoring as a defined part of the offer. SPARK Denmark offers a 12-month Prospect track and a 24-month Full track, with mentoring as a central part of the programme structure.
Who is it for? Researchers and life-science project teams
Aalborg University (AAU) offers Startup mentorprogram / Mentor- og investorprogram to student and research startups, together with mentors and investors. AAU's startup mentoring offer includes screening and matching of startup teams with mentors and investors.
Who is it for? Student and research startups, together with mentors and investors
Synapse – Life Science Connect offers Synapse Mentorship Program 2026/27 to students and early-career professionals in life sciences. The 2026/27 cycle runs from October 2026 to April 2027 and typically includes 4–6 meetings in each mentoring pair plus programme events.
Who is it for? Students and early-career professionals in life sciences