Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Mentor/ Mentee specific

Who can be a mentor?

Anyone who has graduated with a physics degree and is not currently a graduate student. Potential mentors would be interested in providing support to Black/African American, Latinx, and Indigenous undergraduate students.

Who can be a mentee?

The NMC looks to center students who identify as part of the 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 an undergraduate program in physics or a related field.

I am a graduate student, can I join the NMC?

No, as of now, the NMC does not allow graduate students to join the program.

General

How do I find a mentee?

You can find a mentee by inviting someone using the NMC Database (Log in through your APS Account). Doing this will send an automated email to the mentee of interest. If you have a mentee at your institution who can benefit from the NMC, you can invite them to join the NMC with you through the database as well.

How do I find a mentor?

You can find a mentor by inviting someone using the NMC Database (Log in through your APS Account). Doing this will send an automated email to the mentor of interest. If you have a mentor at your institution, you can invite them to join the NMC with you through the database as well.

What do I do if I invite someone to be my mentee and I don’t hear back?

If you send an automated invitation through the NMC database and do not hear back from a mentee, you can try contacting them using their email listed in the database or join the NMC slack workspace and (if they are a member) message the potential mentee there

What do I do if I invite someone to be my mentor and I don’t hear back?

If you send an automated invitation through the NMC database and do not hear back from a mentor, you can try contacting them using their email listed in the database or join the NMC slack workspace and (if they are a member) message the potential mentor there.

How does the system find my “Suggested Mentors/Mentees”?

This is based on the geographical location of your primary affiliation listed in your APS account. This list shows you the registered NMC mentors/mentees that are at your institution or at institutions close to yours. Please make sure your current institution is listed as your primary affiliation under the “My Affiliations” tab in your APS account profile.

Nimble Database FAQ

Why won’t the system let me sign up to be a mentor?

You must indicate in the system that you are not a student in order to sign up as a mentor. Go into your APS account under the “APS Demographics” tab and select “no” under the question “Are you a student?”

Why won’t the system let me sign up to be a mentee?

You must indicate in the system that you are a student in order to sign up as a mentor. Go into your APS account under the “APS Demographics” tab and select “yes” under the question “Are you a student?”

I am having trouble finding my affiliation, and I can’t sign up without it. What do I do?

When searching for your affiliation in your APS account, you may need to simplify your search in order for the system to recognize it. For example, if searching for “University of Maryland” try typing just “Maryland” into the search bar. If you try this and are still unable to find your institution, email us at nmc@aps.org.