Program Areas, Content and Duration

IMNIS Engage is a high impact program of industry mentoring, professional development and networking. This one-year national program prepares Australia’s early-stage STEM researchers from leading research organisations to engage with industry.

IMNIS Engage also includes the REDI Connect and IMNIS International programs that are part of the REDI initiative.

Who can participate?

IMNIS Engage is open to all postgraduate students completing higher degrees by research (HDR) and postdoctoral researchers up to 3 years post-PhD*. Additional eligibility criteria may apply (see specific program information).

IMNIS Engage programs connect motivated mentees with an influential industry mentor who can provide pragmatic career advice, support professional skills development and facilitate broad, cross-sector professional networking to enhance mentees’ capacity to engage with industry, understand commercialization and regulatory processes related to innovating their research, and engage with confidence.

IMNIS Engage programs extend professional networks in different parts of the STEM sector across their state, nationally and internationally, and educates IMNIS mentees about the career opportunities beyond academia.

Industry Mentoring

In these programs, mentees are matched with an influential industry leader with extensive experience and expertise who will be their mentor for the year. Industry mentors are motivated to ‘give back’ to the STEM community and generously volunteer their time to share their knowledge, guidance and advice.

Monthly mentoring meetings enable goal-setting, review of progress and milestones, and discussions about career aspirations, skills development and accountability.

IMNIS Engage – Events and Activities

IMNIS provides structured support to mentors and mentees, and hosts a series of events and workshops to facilitate industry-based education, connections and broad professional networking during the year. Topics include leadership, industry engagement, the innovation pipelines, STEM careers and networking.

Events and workshops include:

– Visionary Leadership                                     – Engaging with Industry

– Effective Mentoring                                        – Understanding the Innovation Pipeline

– STEM Careers in Industry                            – Peer Mentoring

– Pitching to Industry                                        – The Value of Networking

See some our past IMNIS events here.

REDI Connect and IMNIS International mentees also attend a series of meet-the-expert roundtables and professional development specific to their core discipline areas as part of the REDI initiative.

IMNIS is the flagship industry engagement initiative of the Australian Academy of Technology & Engineering.

* Career disruptions taken into account