Get guidance and advice through our various mentoring programmes
At the Hertie School, we understand that mentoring can play a pivotal role in personal and professional development by providing valuable guidance, knowledge, and support. It bridges the gap between theory and practice, offering students the opportunity to learn from experienced mentors who have navigated similar paths, ultimately promoting their growth and success.
Find below an overview of our mentoring initiatives, designed to nurture talent, facilitate learning, and inspire meaningful transformations.
- Target group: 1st and 2nd-year students exploring or stepping into leadership roles — within group projects, student initiatives, internships, or future jobs. Especially relevant for students navigating team dynamics, project ownership, or early-stage management.
- Mentors: Alumni, professionals, and members from the advisory council with leadership experience across sectors — from mid-level managers to project leads, founders, and public sector professionals.
- Duration: October - May
- Goal for mentees: Develop as values-driven, effective leaders — getting equipped not just with career guidance but with the mindset, confidence, and leadership capacities required to lead ethically and inclusively in today’s complex environments.
- Goal for mentors: Gain insight into different fields of activity; receive new impulses, perspectives and inspiration; self-reflect and rethink personal decisions.
- Format: One-on one mentoring with flexible engagement: online, hybrid, or in-person, based on pair preferences.
- Additional measures: Onboarding workshops for both mentors and mentees; monthly leadership themes with curated blogs, prompts, and discussion ideas; mid-program survey and structured reflection session at programme close.
- Contact: Career Development Team
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- Target group: 1st year MIA/MPP/MDS students who are the first in their family to pursue higher education.
- Mentors: Faculty, Postdoctoral and PhD researchers
- Duration: September - May
- Goal for mentees: Academic orientation and advice for personal and professional development; network building within 1st Gen community at the school and beyond.
- Goal for mentors: Get the opportunity and open space to engage and interact closely with the student community.
- Format: One-on one mentoring including in-person consultations, video calls, attending events jointly, coffee chats.
- Additional measures: Training for mentors (Arbeiterkind.de); kick-off meeting get-togethers and workshops for mentees; coordination and advice by DEI Office
- Contact: Katalin Karsai
- Additional information: DEI website and Moodle
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- Target group: MPP / MIA / MDS / Executive MPA Women-identifying students who are interested in careers in the fields of climate, energy, and sustainability
- Mentors: Women in the fields of climate policy, energy policy or sustainability
- Duration: September - May
- Goal for mentees: Recognising that sustainability fields are often male-dominated, the programme has a special focus on providing career-oriented guidance, support and training to women who are pursuing a careers in these areas.
- Format: Group mentoring sessions
- Additional measures: Kick-off meeting in Fall; meetings with Centre Faculty
- More information: Centre for Sustainability website
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- Target group: MPP, MIA, MDS Masters´ students (so far both 1st and 2nd year, exchange students, but not EMPA). Priority given to students with demonstarted interest in the EU (e.g. EU Governance concentration, EU Policy Club)
- Mentors: Alumni or Hertie School/Jacques Delors Centre collaborators (e.g. instructors, fellows, members of the advisory board) who either work or have worked in a EU instition or in close cooperation with the EU.
- Duration: One academic year, from October through May.
- Goal for mentees: To connect with professionals working in or with the EU and potentially build a career at the EU.
- Format: One-on one mentoring either in person or online.
- Additional measures: Kick-off event in early October and career talk on finding an internship at the EU.
- More information: Jacques Delors Centre website
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- Target group: Hertie School Alumni (both, mentors and mentees can apply)
- Mentors: Experienced individuals from the diverse, international network of all programmes of the Hertie Foundation (both, mentors and mentees, can apply)
- Duration: 8 months (July – March)
- Goal for mentees: Exchange with experienced professionals, orientation and advice on personal and professional development, expansion of network, insights into sector of interest, self-reflection
- Goal for mentors: Exchange with motivated young professionals, new impulses and perspectives on different topics, self-reflection
- Format: The structured programme starts with an in-person kick-off meeting. The core element of the programme is one-on-one mentoring between mentee and mentor. The tandems discuss their goals individually and work on them regularly.
- Additional measures: Throughout the programme mentees and mentors receive methodical guidance and support in reflecting on their specific roles and tasks. Regular digital skills and feedback sessions complement the exchange.
- Contact: Maria Bramer ([email protected])
- Additional information: Mentoring Programme
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This programme is a collaboration between the Hertie Network on Digitalisation (HNoD) and the Centre for Digital Governance.
- Target group: MIA/MPP/MDS/EMPA students who would like to learn more about career paths in digital governance.
- Mentors: Selected from faculty, alumni, and professionals with expertise in digital governance, working for think tanks, foundations, NGOs, ministries and in the private sector.
- Duration: Academic year from October through May.
- Goal for mentees: The programme will centre on building skills, fostering networks, and providing insights into academic and professional pathways within the field, with a focus on upskilling for the German labour market.
- Format: The mentorship programme will adopt a group mentoring model, bringing together a diverse cohort of 10-15 mentees with a changing group of 2-4 mentors per session.
- Additional measures: Thematically, the emphasis will be on the Centre’s three research strands: Digitalisation of government; AI and human transformation; as well as governance of social media and digital services.
- More information: Centre for Digital Governance website
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