The Excellent Brains PhD Program provides structured mentoring for all PhD students. Each student may select a mentor from the Cluster’s key researchers—someone with whom they are not directly collaborating. At least one mentoring meeting per year is recommended, with additional meetings encouraged based on the mentee’s needs.

The mentoring meetings are designed to establish a trust-based and productive student-mentor relationship, to clarify mutual expectations and working relationships, to guide the PhD students through their professional development, and to assess the overall status and direction of the project.