About our facilitators and mentors
Our program participants benefit from sound, real-world advice from people who have been there before.
We have partnered with leaders in Australia's entrepreneurial and innovation sectors to build a national network of expert mentors and facilitators to support delivery of our accelerator experiences and innovation programs.
Alongside our mentors, we are supported by a network of skilled facilitators who run our programs, coach our teams and offer expert advice throughout our programs.
And no need to worry - they have all signed non-disclosure agreements, so your ideas are safe with us.
Become an innovation mentor
Do you have broad experience in the startup lifecycle, have a business development background or have experience within a deep tech industry sector? Are you looking for an opportunity to share your insights and passion with others who are developing their skills in this space?
We are always looking to add to our enthusiastic team of mentors. We seek people who are passionate about science, innovation, and entrepreneurship, and have the drive to deliver their passions to others.
We’re delivering a range of innovation programs that are designed to help Australian organisations and publicly funded researchers develop the skills they need to fast-track the impact of their technology and ideas.
What’s involved with being a mentor
Becoming a mentor in our innovation programs provides you with a unique networking opportunity. It’s a great way to connect with likeminded professionals with whom you can share insights and experience while participating in creating new knowledge, processes and innovations.
You’ll also have a front-row seat into some of the best and brightest ideas coming out of Australia’s publicly funded research institutes. We do our best to match mentors with a team (or teams) that can benefit most from their skills and experience.
We ask that our mentors:
- join the mentor briefing webinar at the start of the program
- evaluate and provide feedback on submitted applications (typically five to 10 applications of two to three pages in length)
- meet with your team for at least an hour per fortnight during the program face-to-face, online or by phone (~9 weeks for ON Prime. ON Accelerate will have additional time commitments.)
- join us at the showcase presentations.
How you would support teams
We appreciate that our mentors volunteer their time to support teams, and ask that mentors meet with their teams for at least one hour per fortnight. Of course if you want to meet more often that’s entirely up to you.
To help get the most out of these sessions, mentors need to be willing to:
- provide advice on industry connections and market trends
- provide feedback on the value proposition, commercial readiness and alternative paths to market
- provide the team and individuals constructive feedback on presentation, communication, and language
- ask questions that expand, change or challenge the teams viewpoint and assumptions
- help the team to design the work they need to do, to validate the value proposition and proof of market
- share feedback on team progress with with facilitators or CSIRO team members.
If selected as a mentor, our team will provide program support and resources to help you to meet the expectations and needs of the team/s you are partnered with.
Administrative details
- Mentoring roles are unpaid positions.
- We will ask you to sign an agreement with CSIRO covering confidentiality and IP.
How to register your interest
The first step to becoming an innovation mentor is to register your interest.
Have a question?
If you have questions about becoming an innovation mentor, please contact us on email on@csiro.au
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