Julie Foncy

I have been actively involved since 2019 in the development and coordination of the Women & Science mentoring program at the Toulouse Centre for Integrative Biology (CBI), led by Julie Batut. In this context, I designed and facilitate a training workshop for mentors and mentees, organized as an internal CNRS training program. The objective of this one-day workshop is to support the development of strong mentor–mentee relationships, using tools from collective intelligence to enhance communication, trust, and collaboration.

Each year, the program gathers between 40 and 60 participants from various doctoral schools and laboratories in Toulouse. This work led to a publication in Nature Biotechnology in 2023, entitled “Collectively building a mentor–mentee relationship through a one-day workshop” (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-023-02056-4
).

In parallel, I facilitate mentor–mentee circles focused on professional development topics and produce a dedicated podcast entitled Doctorat et Développement, available online. To date, six episodes have been released, totaling over 400 listens, contributing to the dissemination of practical advice and supporting the professional development of early-career researchers (https://open.spotify.com/show/6sDGXafYgVAztQpsGZCDTS?si=4b4174f0a2104c87).

These initiatives aim to strengthen personalized support, promote gender equality in research, and foster a network for mutual support and experience sharing within the scientific community.