National Mentoring Community
The APS National Mentoring Community (NMC) facilitates and supports mentoring relationships between Black/African, Latinx, and Indigenous physics students and physics mentors. Membership in the NMC is free for both Mentors and Mentees.
Join NMC
There is no set time commitment to be involved in the NMC; Mentors and mentees can determine the amount of time that works best for their mentoring relationship.
Becoming a Mentor
There is currently a temporary pause on accepting new NMC Mentors. To receive updates on how to become a NMC Mentor in the future, please fill out our interest form.
Anyone with a degree in physics or related field and is not currently a graduate student is welcome as a mentor in the NMC. Additionally, mentors should:
- Have current roles in academia, industry, government labs, and beyond
- Be interested in providing support to Black/African American, Latinx, and Indigenous students
Learn more and become a mentor
View the mentor resource library
Mentor Career Resources
Mentoring is mutually beneficial to both mentors and mentees, and while mentors assist students in beginning their careers they can also build their own careers.
Becoming a Mentee
Any undergraduate or graduate physics student who identifies as part of a historically marginalized or minorized identity is welcome to join the NMC as a mentee. The NMC seeks to center students who identify as part of Black/African American, Latinx, and Indigenous communities, but does not stop any students outside of these groups from signing up. The only requirement is that students must be in a program in physics or a related field.
Mentees are welcome to continue to apply, using their myAPS login. If you do not have a myAPS login, you will need to create one. Before joining, please review your APS affiliation and ensure that it matches your current institution so that you can be paired appropriately with a mentor based on location.
Learn more about being a mentee
Emergency Financial Grants for NMC Mentees
The Bringing Emergency Aid to Mentees (BEAM) Fund provides small grants to NMC Mentees who are facing sudden financial emergencies so that they can continue their physics studies and earn their degrees.
The NMC Community
Join the conversation in the National Mentoring Community APS Engage Community. Here is where you can meet other NMC mentors and mentees, have your questions answered by NMC mentors (or answer Mentee questions) and receive updates from NMC Staff. Once you sign up to join the NMC, you will automatically be added to our APS Engage Community. For questions, please contact the APS NMC team.
NMC Conferences & Events
APS offers opportunities for mentors and mentees connect.
Review past NMC conferences and events
About NMC
Mission
The mission of the APS NMC is to address the minoritization and marginalization of people in physics by providing personal and professional development to mentors and mentees, matching mentors and mentees, and providing resources to mentees.
Vision
The APS NMC program envisions a future in physics and related fields in which no one is marginalized or minoritized on the basis of race or ethnicity. To help achieve this vision of justice and fairness, the program prioritizes mentoring, professional development opportunities, and access to resources for students from Black/African, Latinx, and Indigenous students seeking degrees in physics.
Definitions
APS defines marginalized as a person or group whose experiences are ignored or pushed to the periphery of a larger group or society.
APS defines minoritized as a group of a smaller number than another group or other groups as a result of policies or practices of people in the majority group. For example, being a racial minority in a region due to immigration policies that do not allow (or limit) people of a certain racial group immigrating into the region.
More Resources for Students
The following resources may assist Black/African,Latinx and Indigenous undergraduate physics students as they pursue their education.
TEAM-UP Together Scholarship
The TEAM-UP Together Scholarship Program (TUTSP) supports Black students getting their bachelor’s in physics and astronomy.
DACA
This list of resources has been gathered to help DACA students navigate the educational opportunities available to them, including sources of advocacy and support for DACA students.
APS Bridge Program
Through this initiative for Black, Latinx, and Indigenous undergraduate students, you can find the resources and mentoring you need to succeed in a graduate program.
NMC Mentor Rohana Wijewardhana (L) and NMC Mentee Madelyn Leembruggen (R).
My association with the APS NMC played a pivotal role in changing my attitude about supervising undergraduate research. My mentee’s first poster win, based on her summer research, was at the APS National Mentoring community meeting in Houston in 2016. Since then she has co-authored three papers with our research group, currently working on a fourth one and won a number of poster contests at various locations. She owes part of her success to her participation in the APS NMC.
– Rohana Wijewardhana, University of Cincinnati, NMC Mentor
Information for
About APS
The American Physical Society (APS) is a nonprofit membership organization working to advance the knowledge of physics.
© 2023 American Physical Society | Privacy Policy | Contact Us
1 Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844 | (301) 209-3200