ACNP Near-Peer Mentorship Program
Applications for the 2026 Near-Peer Mentorship Program will open in late-May 2025.
Deadline: June 23, 2025 at 5:00pm Central
Mentee Eligibility Requirements
- Applicant must be trainee/early career scientist
- Applicant cannot have previously received an ACNP Travel Award
- Applicant must identify from disadvantaged backgrounds or geographically underserved areas (those areas and populations with high or persistent poverty, including international)
ACNP defines an individual to be considered from a disadvantaged background if they meet two or more of the following criteria
- Were or currently are homeless.
- Were or currently are in the foster care system.
- Were eligible for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program for two or more years
- Have/had no parents or legal guardians who completed a bachelor’s degree
- Were or currently are eligible for Federal Pell grants
- Received support from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) as a parent or child
- Grew up in a rural area or in a low- or middle-income country.
- Have/had significant social or physical challenges
- *International Scientists Only* Were considered from a disadvantaged background from your country (if reside outside the U.S.).
ACNP will make every effort to keep this information private but cannot guarantee this information would not be unintentionally released within the College.
Mentor Eligibility Requirements
- ACNP Associate Members, Members, and Fellows are eligible.
The ACNP Near-Peer Mentorship Program is designed to provide mentorship from ACNP member mentors to scientists who identify from disadvantaged backgrounds or geographically underserved areas (those areas and populations with high and/or persistent poverty, including international) who plan to enter or are early career scientists in research fields in and adjacent to neuropsychopharmacology. The program provides education on topics such as career skills, goal setting, negotiating, time management, career life balance, and individualized mentoring relationships. This is an intensive multi-year program that includes monthly one-on-one virtual mentoring, monthly training workshops, onsite orientation at the January 2026 Annual Meeting, and an in-person half-day mentoring program just prior to the January 2027 ACNP Annual Meeting.
The program will be managed by the ACNP Near-Peer Mentoring Task Force and the College, utilizing materials from the Center for the Improvement for Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER). The primary goal of the program is to optimize mentoring relationships by providing mentors and mentees with an intellectual framework for effective mentoring relationships, an opportunity to experiment with various methods, incorporating individualized mentoring, and a forum in which to solve mentor/mentee dilemmas with the help of their peers to improve the mentorship skills of ACNP Members and future awardees and members of the College.
If you are interested in learning more about the program or in applying, either as a mentee or a mentor, please contact the ACNP Executive Office (acnp@acnp.org) or visit the Near-Peer Mentorship Program poster during the poster sessions at the ACNP Annual Meeting.
Congratulations to the 2025 Near-Peer Mentorship Cohort!
