{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T13:47:32Z","timestamp":1787060852732,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":59,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2018,11,27]],"date-time":"2018-11-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1543276800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2018,11,27]],"date-time":"2018-11-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1543276800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nat Commun"],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>As academic careers become more competitive, junior scientists need to understand the value that mentorship brings to their success in academia. Previous research has found that, unsurprisingly, successful mentors tend to train successful students. But what characteristics of this relationship predict success, and how? We analyzed an open-access database of 18,856 researchers who have undergone both graduate and postdoctoral training, compiled across several fields of biomedical science with an emphasis on neuroscience. Our results show that postdoctoral mentors were more instrumental to trainees\u2019 success compared to graduate mentors. Trainees\u2019 success in academia was also predicted by the degree of intellectual synthesis between their graduate and postdoctoral mentors. Researchers were more likely to succeed if they trained under mentors with disparate expertise and integrated that expertise into their own work. This pattern has held up over at least 40 years, despite fluctuations in the number of students and availability of independent research positions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-018-07034-y","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,11,13]],"date-time":"2018-11-13T04:40:35Z","timestamp":1542084035000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":98,"title":["Intellectual synthesis in mentorship determines success in academic careers"],"prefix":"10.1038","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4279-4980","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jean F.","family":"Li\u00e9nard","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Titipat","family":"Achakulvisut","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Daniel E.","family":"Acuna","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4135-3104","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stephen V.","family":"David","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,11,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"7034_CR1","unstructured":"Kathy E. K. Mentoring at Work: Developmental Relationships in Organizational Life (University Press of America, Lanham, MD,1988)."},{"key":"7034_CR2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ragins, B.R. and Kram, K.E. The Handbook of Mentoring at Work: Theory, Research, and Practice in: The Landscape of Mentoring in the 21st Century,(Sage Publication, 2007).","DOI":"10.4135\/9781412976619"},{"issue":"5","key":"7034_CR3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"816","DOI":"10.2307\/2094529","volume":"44","author":"J. Scott Long","year":"1979","unstructured":"Long, J. S., Allison, P. D. & McGinnis, R. Entrance into the academic career. American Sociological Review. 44 816\u2013830 (1979).","journal-title":"American Sociological Review"},{"key":"7034_CR4","first-page":"191","volume":"140","author":"T Frances","year":"2003","unstructured":"Frances, T. & Carolyn, P. Exploring the color of glass: letters of recommendation for female and male medical faculty. Discourse & Soc. 140, 191\u2013220 (2003).","journal-title":"Discourse & Soc."},{"key":"7034_CR5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"805","DOI":"10.1038\/ngeo2819","volume":"90","author":"K Dutt","year":"2016","unstructured":"Dutt, K., Pfaff, D. L., Bernstein, A. F., Dillard, J. S. & Block., C. J. Gender differences in recommendation letters for postdoctoral fellowships in geoscience. Nat. Geosci. 90, 805\u2013808 (2016).","journal-title":"Nat. Geosci."},{"key":"7034_CR6","first-page":"239","volume":"840","author":"X Su","year":"2013","unstructured":"Su, X. The impacts of postdoctoral training on scientists\u2019 academic employment. J. High. Educ. 840, 239\u2013265 (2013).","journal-title":"J. High. Educ."},{"key":"7034_CR7","unstructured":"National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering and Institute of Medicine. The Postdoctoral Experience Revisited. (National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 2014). https:\/\/www.nap.edu\/catalog\/18982\/the-postdoctoral-experience-revisited"},{"key":"7034_CR8","first-page":"144","volume":"5200","author":"P Kendall","year":"2015","unstructured":"Kendall, P. The future of the postdoc. Nature 5200, 144 (2015).","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"7034_CR9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"14","DOI":"10.1038\/539014a","volume":"5390","author":"EC Hayden","year":"2016","unstructured":"Hayden, E. C. Young scientists ditch postdocs for biotech start-ups. Nature 5390, 14 (2016).","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"7034_CR10","unstructured":"NRC. National Research Council (United States), Committee on a Study of Postdoctorals in Science and Engineering in the United States and National Research Council (US), Commission on Human Resources. Postdoctoral Appointments and Disappointments: A Report of the Committee on a Study of Postdoctorals in Science and Engineering in the United States. Number 3132 (National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.,1981)."},{"key":"7034_CR11","first-page":"eaao0185","volume":"3590","author":"F Santo","year":"2018","unstructured":"Santo, F. et al. Science of science. Science 3590, eaao0185 (2018).","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"7034_CR12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"aaf5239","DOI":"10.1126\/science.aaf5239","volume":"3540","author":"R Sinatra","year":"2016","unstructured":"Sinatra, R., Wang, D., Deville, P., Song, C. & Barab\u00e1si., A.-L. Quantifying the evolution of individual scientific impact. Science 3540, aaf5239 (2016).","journal-title":"Science"},{"issue":"44","key":"7034_CR13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"E9216","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1702121114","volume":"114","author":"Samuel F. Way","year":"2017","unstructured":"Way, Samuel F. and Morgan, Allison C. and Clauset, Aaron and Larremore, Daniel B. The misleading narrative of the canonical faculty productivity trajectory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114 E9216\u2013E9223 (2017).","journal-title":"Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences"},{"key":"7034_CR14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5213","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1121429109","volume":"1090","author":"AM Petersen","year":"2012","unstructured":"Petersen, A. M., Riccaboni, M., Stanley, H. E. & Pammolli, F. Persistence and uncertainty in the academic career. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 1090, 5213\u20135218 (2012).","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci."},{"key":"7034_CR15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"15316","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1323111111","volume":"1110","author":"AM Petersen","year":"2014","unstructured":"Petersen, A. M. et al. Reputation and impact in academic careers. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 1110, 15316\u201315321 (2014).","journal-title":"Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci."},{"key":"7034_CR16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"365","DOI":"10.1016\/j.joi.2016.02.007","volume":"100","author":"L Waltman","year":"2016","unstructured":"Waltman, L. A review of the literature on citation impact indicators. J. Informetr. 100, 365\u2013391 (2016).","journal-title":"J. Informetr."},{"key":"7034_CR17","unstructured":"Julia L. & Stefano B. The Star Metrics Project: Current and Future Uses for S&e Workforce Data."},{"key":"7034_CR18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e46608","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0046608","volume":"70","author":"SV David","year":"2012","unstructured":"David, S. V. & Hayden, B. Y. Neurotree: a collaborative, graphical database of the academic genealogy of neuroscience. PLoS One 70, e46608 (2012).","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"7034_CR19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"622","DOI":"10.1038\/nature09040","volume":"4650","author":"RD Malmgren","year":"2010","unstructured":"Malmgren, R. D., Ottino, J. M. & Nunes Amaral, L. A. The role of mentorship in prot\u00e9g\u00e9 performance. Nature 4650, 622\u2013626 (2010).","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"7034_CR20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"55","DOI":"10.1016\/j.econedurev.2004.03.011","volume":"240","author":"PM Crosta","year":"2005","unstructured":"Crosta, P. M. & Packman, I. G. Faculty productivity in supervising doctoral students\u2019 dissertations at Cornell University. Econ. Educ. Rev. 240, 55\u201365 (2005).","journal-title":"Econ. Educ. Rev."},{"key":"7034_CR21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Chariker, J. H., Zhang, Y., Pani, J. R. & Rouchka, E. C. Identification of successful mentoring communities using network-based analysis of Mentor-Mentee relationships across Nobel Laureates. Scientometrics 111, 733\u20131749 (2016).","DOI":"10.1007\/s11192-017-2364-4"},{"key":"7034_CR22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0158423","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0158423","volume":"110","author":"T Achakulvisut","year":"2016","unstructured":"Achakulvisut, T., Acuna, D. E., Ruangrong, T. & Kording., K. Science Concierge: A fast content-based recommendation system for scientific publications. PLoS One 110, e0158423 (2016).","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"7034_CR23","unstructured":"NSB. National Science Board: Science and Engineering Indicators (National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA, 2016)."},{"key":"7034_CR24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"917","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuron.2016.05.030","volume":"900","author":"H Akil","year":"2016","unstructured":"Akil, H. et al. Neuroscience training for the 21st century. Neuron 900, 917\u2013926 (2016).","journal-title":"Neuron"},{"key":"7034_CR25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"L. S. Shapley. A value for n-person games. Contributions to the Theory of Games (Ed. Kuhn, H. W. & Tuck, A. W.) 2:307\u2013317 (1953).","DOI":"10.1515\/9781400881970-018"},{"key":"7034_CR26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"509","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1018839203698","volume":"410","author":"RE Steinpreis","year":"1999","unstructured":"Steinpreis, R. E., Anders, K. A. & Ritzke, D. The impact of gender on the review of the curricula vitae of job applicants and tenure candidates: a national empirical study. Sex. Roles 410, 509\u2013528 (1999).","journal-title":"Sex. Roles"},{"key":"7034_CR27","first-page":"1533","volume":"2850","author":"N Maresi","year":"1999","unstructured":"Maresi, N. & Joseph, C. Postdoctoral patterns, career advancement, and problems. Science 2850, 1533\u20131535 (1999). ISSN 0036-8075.","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"7034_CR28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"90","DOI":"10.1038\/nbt.3766","volume":"350","author":"S Kahn","year":"2017","unstructured":"Kahn, S. & Ginther., D. K. The impact of postdoctoral training on early careers in biomedicine. Nat. Biotechnol. 350, 90\u201394 (2017).","journal-title":"Nat. Biotechnol."},{"key":"7034_CR29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1360","DOI":"10.1086\/225469","volume":"780","author":"MS Granovetter","year":"1973","unstructured":"Granovetter, M. S. Strength weak ties. Am. J. Sociol. 780, 1360\u20131380 (1973).","journal-title":"Strength weak ties. Am. J. Sociol."},{"key":"7034_CR30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Granovetter M. S. Getting A Job: A Study of Contacts and Careers (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL,1995).","DOI":"10.7208\/chicago\/9780226518404.001.0001"},{"key":"7034_CR31","unstructured":"Rogers, E. M. Diffusion of Innovations. Chapter 8 (Simon and Schuster, NY, 2010)."},{"issue":"5","key":"7034_CR32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"699","DOI":"10.2307\/2091138","volume":"30","author":"Diana Crane","year":"1965","unstructured":"Diana C. Scientists at major and minor universities: a study of productivity and recognition. American Sociological Review, 30, 699\u2013714 (1965).","journal-title":"American Sociological Review"},{"key":"7034_CR33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"255","DOI":"10.1007\/BF02017149","volume":"70","author":"J Long","year":"1985","unstructured":"Long, J. & McGinnis, R. The effects of the mentor on the academic career. Scientometrics 70, 255\u2013280 (1985).","journal-title":"Scientometrics"},{"key":"7034_CR34","unstructured":"Hall, R. M. & Sandler, B. R. Academic mentoring for women students and faculty: A new look at an old way to get ahead (1983)."},{"key":"7034_CR35","first-page":"275","volume":"800","author":"AB Ben","year":"2013","unstructured":"Ben, A. B. How to pick a graduate advisor. Neuron 800, 275\u2013279 (2013). ISSN 0896-6273.","journal-title":"Neuron"},{"key":"7034_CR36","first-page":"623","volume":"310","author":"L Xiaohuan","year":"2012","unstructured":"Xiaohuan, L. Permanent visas and temporary jobs: evidence from postdoctoral participation of foreign PhDs in the United States. J. Policy Anal. Manag. 310, 623\u2013640 (2012).","journal-title":"J. Policy Anal. Manag."},{"key":"7034_CR37","unstructured":"Richard B. F. Thanks for the great postdoc bargain. Science\u2019s Next Wave, ISSN 1933-7035 Aug (2002)."},{"key":"7034_CR38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"667","DOI":"10.1007\/s10734-015-9860-3","volume":"700","author":"L Yang","year":"2015","unstructured":"Yang, L. & Webber., K. L. A decade beyond the doctorate: the influence of a US postdoctoral appointment on faculty career, productivity, and salary. High. Educ. 700, 667\u2013687 (2015).","journal-title":"High. Educ."},{"key":"7034_CR39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"ar41","DOI":"10.1187\/cbe.16-01-0066","volume":"150","author":"RL Layton","year":"2016","unstructured":"Layton, R. L. et al. Diversity exiting the academy: Influential factors for the career choice of well-represented and underrepresented minority scientists. CBE-Life Sci. Educ. 150, ar41 (2016).","journal-title":"CBE-Life Sci. Educ."},{"key":"7034_CR40","unstructured":"Ginther, D. K. & Kahn, S. Women\u2019s careers in academic social science: progress, pitfalls, and plateaus. The Economics of Economists (eds. Lanteri A. & Vromen J.) (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2014)."},{"key":"7034_CR41","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"977","DOI":"10.1038\/sj.embor.7401110","volume":"80","author":"ED Martinez","year":"2007","unstructured":"Martinez, E. D. et al. . Falling off the academic bandwagon. EMBO Rep. 80, 977\u2013981 (2007).","journal-title":"EMBO Rep."},{"key":"7034_CR42","unstructured":"Austin, J. Want to be a professor? choose math. Science, Jul (2013)."},{"key":"7034_CR43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"450","DOI":"10.1002\/asi.21695","volume":"630","author":"CR Sugimoto","year":"2012","unstructured":"Sugimoto, C. R. & Cronin, B. Biobibliometric profiling: An examination of multifaceted approaches to scholarship. J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci. Technol. 630, 450\u2013468 (2012).","journal-title":"J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"7034_CR44","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"656","DOI":"10.1016\/j.joi.2018.06.005","volume":"120","author":"RK Pan","year":"2018","unstructured":"Pan, R. K., Petersen, A. M. & Pammolli, F. and Santo Fortunato. The memory of science: Inflation, myopia, and the knowledge network. J. Informetr. 120, 656\u2013678 (2018).","journal-title":"J. Informetr."},{"key":"7034_CR45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"X. Yin, J. Han, & S. Y. Philip. Object distinction: distinguishing objects with identical names. In Proceedings - International Conference on Data Engineering, 1241\u20131246 (IEEE, 2007).","DOI":"10.1109\/ICDE.2007.368983"},{"key":"7034_CR46","first-page":"309","volume":"2","author":"WS Cleveland","year":"1992","unstructured":"Cleveland, W. S., Grosse, E. & Shyu, W. M. Local regression models. Stat. Models S 2, 309\u2013376 (1992).","journal-title":"Stat. Models S"},{"key":"7034_CR47","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"391","DOI":"10.1002\/(SICI)1097-4571(199009)41:6<391::AID-ASI1>3.0.CO;2-9","volume":"410","author":"S Deerwester","year":"1990","unstructured":"Deerwester, S., Dumais, S. T., Furnas, G. W., Landauer, T. K. & Harshman, R. Indexing by latent semantic analysis. J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci. 410, 391 (1990).","journal-title":"J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci."},{"issue":"2","key":"7034_CR48","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"211","DOI":"10.1145\/3130348.3130370","volume":"51","author":"Thomas Hofmann","year":"2017","unstructured":"Hofmann, T. Probabilistic latent semantic indexing. SIGIR Forum. 51, 211\u2013218 (2017).","journal-title":"ACM SIGIR Forum"},{"key":"7034_CR49","first-page":"2825","volume":"120","author":"F Pedregosa","year":"2011","unstructured":"Pedregosa, F. et al. Scikit-learn: machine learning in python. J. Mach. Learn. Res. 120, 2825\u20132830 (2011).","journal-title":"J. Mach. Learn. Res."},{"key":"7034_CR50","first-page":"1","volume":"270","author":"A Zeileis","year":"2008","unstructured":"Zeileis, A., Kleiber, C. & Jackman, S. Regression models for count data in R. J. Stat. Softw. 270, 1\u201325 (2008).","journal-title":"J. Stat. Softw."},{"key":"7034_CR51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Cameron, A. C. & Trivedi, P. K. Regression Analysis of Count Data, Vol. 53 (Cambridge University Press, UK, 2013).","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9781139013567"},{"key":"7034_CR52","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"M. Stone. An asymptotic equivalence of choice of model by cross-validation and Akaike\u2019s criterion. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series B (Methodological), 39, 44\u201347 (1977).","DOI":"10.1111\/j.2517-6161.1977.tb01603.x"},{"key":"7034_CR53","first-page":"63","volume":"100","author":"S Padhraic","year":"2000","unstructured":"Padhraic, S. Model selection for probabilistic clustering using cross-validated likelihood. Stat. Comput. 100, 63\u201372 (2000).","journal-title":"Stat. Comput."},{"key":"7034_CR54","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"997","DOI":"10.1007\/s11222-013-9416-2","volume":"240","author":"A Gelman","year":"2014","unstructured":"Gelman, A., Hwang, J. & Vehtari, A. Understanding predictive information criteria for Bayesian models. Stat. Comput. 240, 997\u20131016 (2014).","journal-title":"Stat. Comput."},{"key":"7034_CR55","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6","DOI":"10.1080\/00031305.1987.10475432","volume":"410","author":"W Kruskal","year":"1987","unstructured":"Kruskal, W. Relative importance by averaging over orderings. Am. Stat. 410, 6\u201310 (1987).","journal-title":"Am. Stat."},{"key":"7034_CR56","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"90","DOI":"10.1080\/00031305.1991.10475776","volume":"450","author":"A Chevan","year":"1991","unstructured":"Chevan, A. & Sutherland, M. Hierarchical partitioning. Am. Stat. 450, 90\u201396 (1991).","journal-title":"Am. Stat."},{"key":"7034_CR57","first-page":"70","volume":"460","author":"J Stufken","year":"1992","unstructured":"Stufken, J. On hierarchical partitioning. Am. Stat. 460, 70\u201377 (1992).","journal-title":"Am. Stat."},{"key":"7034_CR58","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1939","DOI":"10.1162\/neco.2007.19.7.1939","volume":"190","author":"S Cohen","year":"2007","unstructured":"Cohen, S., Dror, G. & Ruppin., E. Feature selection via coalitional game theory. Neural Comput. 190, 1939\u20131961 (2007).","journal-title":"Neural Comput."},{"issue":"1","key":"7034_CR59","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1214\/aos\/1176344552","volume":"7","author":"B. Efron","year":"1979","unstructured":"Efron B. Bootstrap methods: another look at the jackknife. The Annals of Statistics, 7, 1\u201326 (1979).","journal-title":"The Annals of Statistics"}],"container-title":["Nature Communications"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-018-07034-y.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-018-07034-y","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-018-07034-y.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,12]],"date-time":"2024-07-12T05:38:28Z","timestamp":1720762708000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-018-07034-y"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2018,11,27]]},"references-count":59,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,12]]}},"alternative-id":["7034"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41467-018-07034-y","relation":{"has-preprint":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.1101\/273888","asserted-by":"object"}]},"ISSN":["2041-1723"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2041-1723","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2018,11,27]]},"assertion":[{"value":"15 February 2018","order":1,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"11 October 2018","order":2,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"27 November 2018","order":3,"name":"first_online","label":"First Online","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"The authors declare no competing interests.","order":1,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Competing interests"}}],"article-number":"4840"}}