Manchester Gold: open for applicants now!
16 Feb 2026
Join our colleague mentoring scheme
Manchester Gold’s spring cycle is now open for applications from both mentors and mentees! Manchester Gold is our flagship mentoring scheme, led by the Talent Development Team. It connects mentors and mentees from all roles, across the University, empowering colleague growth and encouraging the sharing of invaluable experience.
Applications are now open and will close on Friday, 3 April 2026. Matching will take place in April with relationships live from May 2026 – February 2027.
Sonal Patel, Director of Talent Development:
‘Manchester Gold is about more than mentoring, it is about strengthening our University community. By learning from one another, we create a culture that thrives on openness, collaboration, and shared success.’
Following high demand, for the first time last year we ran 2 cycles of Manchester Gold with huge success. We were able to facilitate an additional 200 mentoring relationships in our Autumn cycle, meaning we had over 600 Manchester Gold mentoring relationships in 2025.
Apply to be a Mentor
As a Manchester Gold mentor, you'll have the opportunity to support a colleague’s professional growth, share your experience, and develop your own mentoring skills. We welcome applications from mentors from all grades and from all types of roles, and there is full training and support for those new to mentoring.
Apply to be a Mentee
Colleagues join the scheme seeking mentorship in various areas, including career direction, promotion support, leadership development, project management, communication skills, grant applications, research income, evidencing teaching excellence, confidence building and more.
Further information
- Manchester Gold StaffNet site
- The results of our 2025 Your Voice Matters survey show that only 47% of respondents feel their career aspirations are being met here. Mentoring is a great way to learn from one another, explore opportunities at the university, and work towards career goals.
- Check out our other learning and development opportunities available for colleagues.