Faculty Mentor Spotlight Lunch Series
Each term, Student-Faculty Programs invites a Caltech faculty member recognized for exceptional mentorship to share lunch and conversation with a small group of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars at The Athenaeum.
These informal gatherings offer an opportunity to hear directly from faculty about their mentoring, journeys, and philosophies. Attendees explore what it takes to be a good mentor and mentee, how mentoring relationships evolve across a research career, and how to build a suportive research environment of their own.
How to Participate?
The series is open to current Caltech graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. Six seats are available at each lunch and are filled by lottery.
To enter, complete the Lottery Submission Form at least one week before the scheduled lunch. SFP will notify all applicants of their selection status a week before the event. Selected participants who can no longer attend should notify SFP as soon as possible so we can offer the seat to someone on the waitlist.
Lunch is provided at no cost to participants.
Ralph Adolphs, Bren Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Biology, will join us for lunch at the Athenaeum on Thursday, November 5, 2026, to launch the series!
Ralph Adolphs investigates the brain and psychological processes that shape human social behavior. His lab explores how people read emotions and social cues in faces, make social and moral judgments, and navigate emotionally charged decisions, using approaches ranging from brain imaging and eye tracking to recordings from individual neurons. A Caltech PhD alumnus, he returned to campus as a faculty member in 2004 after a postdoctoral fellowship and faculty appointment at the University of Iowa. His honors include the ASCIT Award for Excellence in Mentoring Research and the Social and Affective Neuroscience Society's Distinguished Investigator Award.
Submit the Lottery Submission Form by Wednesday, October 28, 2026: https://forms.gle/ro2jUxYDcSnSymfz9.