As a campus community, we recognize the transformative impact mentors can have on graduate students’ experience at Berkeley, their well-being, and their academic success, especially in these challenging times. To recognize both our faculty and graduate students who do this best, the Graduate Division and the Graduate Assembly sponsor two awards that recognize outstanding mentoring of graduate students by faculty members, as well as one award to recognize the outstanding peer mentorship of current graduate and professional students.

Nominations for the Graduate Division’s Carol D. Soc Distinguished Graduate Student Mentoring Awards, the Graduate Assembly’s Faculty Mentor Award and the Outstanding Graduate Peer Mentor Award are being accepted now through Friday, February 24, 2023. The winners will be recognized in April 2023.

Carol D. Soc Awards

The Graduate Division is accepting nominations for the Carol D. Soc Distinguished Graduate Student Mentoring Awards honoring junior and senior faculty members who exemplify UC Berkeley’s best practices for graduate mentoring.

The awards — $2,500 each — are funded by a generous donation from the estate of Carol D. Soc, a longtime staff member of the Graduate Division.

The nomination and selection procedures are explained here:

Nomination letters must be received electronically by Friday, February 24, 2023, 11:59 p.m. Nominators should signify their intent to nominate using this form. They will then be invited to a Box folder to submit a formal nomination.

Faculty Mentor Award

The UC Berkeley Graduate Assembly Faculty Mentor Award honors members of the Berkeley faculty and teaching staff who have shown an outstanding commitment to mentoring, advising, and supporting graduate students. The Graduate Assembly presents three awards to selected mentors every year.

The primary nominator must be a current graduate student or recent graduate (graduated no earlier than May 2022) who has directly benefited from some aspect of the candidate’s mentoring or advising. Associate nominators can include undergraduates, postdocs, or consist of jointly written letters. Each nominator must submit their letter of nomination through this form.

For more information about the award and how to nominate a faculty member, visit the Graduate Assembly website. The deadline for nominations is Friday, February 24, 2023, 11:59 p.m.

Outstanding Graduate Peer Mentor Award

The UC Berkeley Graduate Assembly’s Graduate Student Peer Mentor Award honors Berkeley graduate and professional students who have shown an outstanding commitment to mentoring, advising, and generally supporting either undergraduate students or their fellow graduate students. The Graduate Assembly will present four awards to selected mentors each year. Although only one nomination letter is required for a mentor to be considered for the award, we encourage nominators to reach out to others to provide supplemental letters of nomination.

All nominators must complete this form. The primary nominator must be a current graduate student or recent graduate (graduated no earlier than May 2021). Associate nominators can include postdocs, faculty, staff, or consist of jointly written letters.

For eligibility requirements and selection criteria please visit the Graduate Student Peer Mentor Awards page. The deadline for nominations is Friday, February 24, 2023, 11:59 p.m.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to nominate a colleague or peer who deserves this special recognition.