Mentoring for researchers
A good research career takes more than talent.
The mentor the academic system assumes you already have, and that you rarely do.
Horacio Pérez Sánchez PhD
25 years · 200+ papers · €6M in competitive grants · 15 PhDs supervised · 400 podcast episodes
Career. Funding. Leadership.
What this is
1:1 mentoring for researchers at any stage.
I have been doing research and leading a group for 25 years. I have been through every step of the trade: applying for postdocs, writing my first Horizon proposal, losing my first Horizon proposal, supervising PhDs, publishing in journals that matter, presenting results that did not work, securing six million euros, hiring and letting go collaborators, and learning to say no.
That experience is what I share in mentoring: judgement, context and direct recommendations based on what actually works, not what manuals say.
Who I work with
Three kinds of researchers.
Academics at any stage
PhD students, postdocs, junior PIs and senior professors. The problem changes at each stage; the trade is learned in sequence.
Researchers in industry
Pharma, biotech, deeptech, digital health. For those whose challenge is keeping rigour and career inside a business.
Independent or transitioning researchers
For those leaving academia, considering it, or already working on their own. The loneliest part of the trade.
Where I can help
What your supervisor did not have time to teach you.
Career
- Deciding your next step (postdoc, industry, independent)
- Applying for postdocs and finding the right group
- Leaving academia with criterion, not exhaustion
- Academic personal brand and positioning on LinkedIn
Projects and funding
- Strategy for ERC, MSCA, Horizon, bilateral calls
- Proposal structure that passes phase one
- Rebuttal to evaluators and resubmissions
- National accreditations
Publication
- Where to publish and when
- Manuscript structure and scientific storytelling
- Responding to reviewers
- Handling difficult co-authors
Group leadership
- Starting your first group
- Supervising PhDs without losing your mind
- Culture, onboarding and team processes
- Knowing when to close a line or the entire group
Method and tools
- AI applied to research (writing, literature, code)
- Personal knowledge and literature management
- Realistic academic productivity
Mindset and network
- Living with rejection without it destroying you
- Building a professional network from scratch
- Knowing when to say no
- For researchers in Latin America: entering the European ecosystem
How we work
Three formats. Three paces.
Single session
A 60-minute call to unblock one concrete decision (paper, proposal, offer, career dilemma). You leave with a clear plan.
Focused mentoring
A package of sessions spread over 2, 3 months for a defined goal (preparing an ERC, finishing the thesis, writing your first Horizon).
Ongoing accompaniment
A recurring session every 4, 6 weeks for as long as needed. For transition phases or group leadership.
Pricing depends on format and scope. We start with a free 30-minute first conversation to see if we fit and what you need; I then send you a concrete proposal.
Start here
Research career diagnostic.
10 questions in 3 minutes. I reply within 48 hours with where I see your main bottlenecks and where I would start.
It is free. It commits you to nothing. And it helps you whether you use mentoring afterwards or not.
Who I am
The supervisor your supervisor did not have time to be.
I lead a bioinformatics group at UCAM (Spain). I have published over two hundred articles, secured six million euros in competitive funding and supervised fifteen PhDs. In 2021 I started the podcast Investigating the research, which is now at 400 episodes, and which doubles as a public library of what I teach in mentoring.
More detail at Who I am.
The judgement the system assumes you will develop on your own.
If you have been turning a research decision over in your head, writing, publishing, funding, leading, leaving, a thirty-minute conversation can save you months.