T. Leitner, S. Tretiak, B. Uberuaga win Postdoc Distinguished Mentor Awards

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Postdoc Distinguished Mentor Awards recognize the positive impact and contributions that a mentor makes during a postdoc’s appointment and who demonstrate a level of mentoring substantially beyond expectations. Technical contact: Mary Anne With

Thomas Leitner (Theoretical Biology and Biophysics, T-6) demonstrates his exceptional dedication, willingness, and ability to foster the intellectual development of his postdocs and support their growth into independent scientists. He is a great role model for his mentees due to his scientific integrity, intellectual curiosity, and open-mindedness to new ideas and approaches. Leitner gives his postdocs the freedom to pursue and develop their varied research interests while providing insightful feedback and ensuring that the projects stay on track. He treats his mentees as valued and respected colleagues, genuinely cares for their well-being, and is sensitive to their individual needs. Leitner encourages open discussion about research progress and direction and the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance. He provides postdocs opportunities to attend international conferences, mentor students, and to pursue international collaborations. Leitner encourages his postdocs to take an active role in all aspects of grant writing, which is critical in becoming an independent scientist. He aids the career aspirations of his postdocs, initiating conversations about their future plans and making it clear that he will do everything that he can to help them along the way. Having recently acquired the necessary funding for the conversion into staff of one of his postdocs, Leitner is pursuing other funding opportunities to increase the flexibility of future career prospects for his other postdocs. His postdocs hold him in the highest of regards and feel fortunate to have him as a mentor. Quoting one of his postdocs, “Any future success I find in science, I will owe, in large part, to Thomas.”

Postdoc Research Associate Taina Immonen (T-6) nominated Leitner.

Sergei Tretiak(Physics and Chemistry of Materials, T-1) was nominated for his mentorship in advanced research pursuits, insightful guidance, and dedication to education and training the new generation of scientists. In less than 15 years as a LANL staff member, Tretiak has hosted nearly 50 students, and he has mentored 11 postdocs from diverse backgrounds in addition to the 5 postdocs he currently mentors. Nearly all of his past postdocs have become either technical staff in national labs or entered faculty positions in academia. This outcome demonstrates his dedication to prepare his postdocs for future positions. Tretiak’s influence extends beyond his postdoc’s time at LANL: most of his past postdocs are continued collaborators, and many of their students visit LANL and work with him.

Tretiak has a unique ability to adapt his mentoring style to meet individual needs. Tretiaks’s investment with his postdocs goes beyond research and writing publications. He encourages postdocs to gain exposure within the larger scientific community by giving seminars, attending conferences, hosting Lab visitors, and developing collaborations. Tretiak stimulates the growth of leadership skills by encouraging his postdocs to co-advise summer students. Postdocs have an opportunity to propose an idea and be responsible for training a student and for the successful outcome of the project. His postdocs hold Tretiak in the highest regard for his support and mentorship. He consistently demonstrates an ability to increase the their scientific abilities, exposure, and career opportunities. One of his postdocs stated, “He has truly mastered the very difficult balance of being hands off enough for his protégés to teach themselves what they need to know and make their own mark on their research while being involved enough to know exactly when to step in and prevent an extended period of time in the ‘wilderness of research’. ” 

Seven current or former postdocs, all of T-1 and/or the Center for Nonlinear Science, nominated Tretiak. Current postdocs include Feynman Fellow Tammie Nelson, current Postdoc Research Associates Amanda Neukirch, Lyudmyla Adamska, and Josiah Bjorgaard; former postdoc Hao Li, and faculty members Svetlana Kilina and Andriy Zhugayevych.

Blas Pedro Uberuaga (Materials Science in Radiation and Dynamics Extremes, MST-8) currently mentors 6 postdocs, and has successfully mentored 13 postdocs in the past at LANL. Five of his past postdocs are technical staff in industry, two have been converted as scientific staff at LANL, two have joined other laboratories, and three have taken academic positions. Uberuaga is a very dedicated mentor who improves his postdocs’ career portfolio and motivates them to become successful researchers. He accommodates, inspires, and trains culturally diverse postdocs with variety of abilities and interests, and mentors them to pursue successful careers. Uberuaga shows a keen interest in future goals of postdocs and acts as a career guide, offering a vision and tailoring support to each. As an experienced leader for several projects, he shares the importance of effective communications in scientific paper writing, technical presentations, and proposal writing. Uberuaga is very organized and meets regularly with his postdocs. He encourages them to think independently and establish new collaborations to gain visibility in the field. Uberuaga provides postdocs with great freedom and encourages them to try new ideas that could lead to novel discoveries. When projects are successful, he displays remarkable humility and gives the credit to postdocs. This helps postdocs develop leadership abilities and gain visibility in scientific circles. Uberuaga is determined to leave a legacy of how to be a good mentor through role modeling and instituting policies that set high expectations and standards for mentorship. He is a world-renowned materials scientist, but that persona pales in comparison to the generous, thoughtful, dedicated mentor he is to postdocs. Current MST-8 postdocs Pratik Dholabhai, Ghanshyam Pilania, and Satyesh Yadav nominated him.

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