“Mentoring Espresso” is an intensive, one-day networking and mentoring event aimed at members of the Polish scientific diaspora. The name reflects the idea of a quick, focused, and energising exchange of experiences - conversations over coffee that spark ideas, provide inspiration, and lead to the first steps towards collaboration.

The Oxford event is a continuation of the inaugural Mentoring Espresso, held in 2025 at MIT in Cambridge, USA. Feedback from that event confirmed the strong intellectual and practical value of the format. Participants particularly appreciated the opportunity to speak freely in Polish with people working at the intersection of science, business, and international collaboration.

 

Organisational Details

Date: October 2026
Location: Oxford, St Vincent Club
Participants: Approximately 30–40 members of the Polish scientific diaspora. The event may be expanded if additional funding is secured. Participants will include PhD candidates, researchers, academic staff, and professionals working at the intersection of science and business.
Duration: A full-day event, with approximately five hours of scheduled activities
Language: Polish and English

 

Event Programme

  • Keynote speaker: Career path and the role of mentoring in professional development

  • Panel discussion or workshop with researchers who have secured funding for their work and organisations that offer grants

  • Roundtable discussions with panel mentors: each table will be led by a different mentor, with topics including:

    • How and where can researchers secure funding for their own research?

    • How can ambitious research projects be successfully delivered?

    • How should grant proposals be written, and which grants are available to researchers and students?

  • Networking: Refreshments, informal conversations, exchanging contacts, and an end-of-day gathering

 

Objectives and Expected Outcomes

  • Bringing together members of the Polish scientific diaspora in Oxford and the surrounding region

  • Presenting the Polonium Mentoring programme and attracting new participants from the UK

  • Strengthening scientific and professional collaboration within the Polish community in the UK

  • Creating a space to exchange experiences related to the commercialisation of innovation

  • Expanding the activities of the Polonium Foundation within the Polish community in Oxford and across the UK

  • Building stronger links with the scientific community in Poland through the Polonium Foundation’s network

 

Organising team

 

Main Coordinator

Magdalena Mroczek

 
 

Local Coordinators

Karolina Słomińska

Ewa Garbarz

 
 

Funding

Initiative co-financed by the Senate Office as part of the Senat-Polonia 2026 competition