Frequently Asked Questions

Chaperone is a social impact company with the mission of democratizing access to high-quality career development in science. Chaperone has a vast pool of over 50 international highly experienced career consultants and trainers, acting as a one-stop shop where scientific organizations can find personalized group training activities, institutional consultancy, scientific talent recruitment, and development. Chaperone created the first online marketplace where scientists can browse and book online 1-to-1 sessions. We are proud that our services have already empowered over 5000 scientists from more than 40 countries and that we are trusted by prestigious institutions such as EMBL, Karolinska Institutet, European Commission Joint Research Centres, Gulbenkian Foundation, and many more.

We offer tailored career support and training for scientists (academic and non-academic researchers)and students through:

• Group training, with different formats available: webinars,, workshops, and courses (online or in-person).
• Individual 1:1 online career support sessions with over 40 vetted consultants.
• Customized solutions to fit the needs of your institution, department, or funded project.
• Other needs related to scientific talent such as recruiting or consultancy. 
• We can act as an extension of your career services, ensuring your researchers receive world-class support.

Unlike general career services providers, Chaperone specializes exclusively in scientific career development. We have a deep experience and network in science that together with our unique knowledge hub of international consultants and trainers, who understand the unique challenges of academic, industry, and research careers. We also serve institutions with consultancy, recruitment, and training, making us a one-stop solution for scientific career development. We are very agile and efficient in the design and delivery of our services, with an innovative mindset always aiming to maximize the impact of services in your scientific community. 

We work with over 40 international consultants (Career counsellors, Career advisors, and Career Coaches) with experience in science, academia, industry, publishing, science communication, grant writing, entrepreneurship and more. They bring real-world expertise to help researchers at all career stages. They have been carefully curated by us, and you can do a free intro call with us where we will advise you on which might be the ideal consultants for you. All our consultants have a very high rating in their sessions (above 4 on a 1-5 rating). 

We deliver training on a wide variety of topics, on both soft and hard skills. Our very wide pool of international consultants and trainers allow us to be confident that we will have the ideal trainer for your topic of need. Here is the list of the topics we cover:   

• Career Management Skills: why we need them and how to get them
• CV and Cover Letter Writing: from narrative to non-academic formats
• Interview Preparation for Academic and Industry Careers
• Unlocking the Power of Your Transferable Skills
• Networking & LinkedIn Strategies for Scientists
• Manuscript Writing & Publishing: A Researcher’s Guide
• Ph.D. Thesis Roadmap: From First Draft to Final Submission
• Effective Supervision of Doctoral Students
• Leading with Impact: Essential Leadership Skills for Researchers
• Mentoring Strategies: Supporting Growth in Scientific Careers
• Conflict management and effective communication in the lab
• Presenting Science with Confidence: Techniques for Effective and
• Impactful Talks
• Applying for funding: essential tools for researchers
• Project Management for Scientists: Planning, Execution & Impact
• Responsible Research and Innovation
• Managing Research Consortia
• Intellectual Property (IP) and scientific research for scientists
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Grant Writing
• Mental Health Strategies for Scientists: Balancing Research & Well-being
• Beyond Academia: Career Transitions for Researchers
• Entrepreneurship for Scientists: Turning Research into Innovation
• Empowering Women in Science
• Financial Literacy for Researchers

These group trainings will be customized to your audience (PhD candidates, postdocs, early-career researchers, etc.). Please check our career topics booklet LINK for more information.

Yes. We are experienced partners in grant-funded initiatives (e.g., Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, Erasmus+, Doctoral Networks, COST actions, Horizon Europe). We adapt our services to meet the specific needs and reporting requirements of your project. 

Yes, absolutely. In addition to being a partner that increases the diversity of the consortiums in terms of the type of legal entities, being a startup /SME, Chaperone mission and scope is aligned with different priorities of the European Commission, namely:

• Career development is an essential part of the European Charter for Researchers, signed by more than 1500 Research Institutions from more than 38 countries.
• The Digital Transition. Chaperone created the first online marketplace for career development with international scope, and has been at the forefront of the digitalization of a service that was highly dependent on in-person services.
• The ERA (European Research Area) agenda, namely the objective to foster an open labour market for researchers, aiming to ensure the removal of obstacles to the mobility of researchers, training, and attractive careers in research.
• The principles of the European approach to micro-credentials, of quality and education training for all, and the effective culture of lifelong learning is key to ensuring that everyone has the knowledge, skills and competences they need to thrive in their personal and professional lives.
• The Green Deal. Chaperone online training and career development services are decarbonization of a sector that was previously heavily dependent on international flights of career consultants and trainers.

Yes. They can purchase packs of online sessions that we will convert into vouchers for the beneficiaries to use.. Participants will book directly via our platform and choose from our pool of experts. Intro calls are included to guarantee ideal match making with the consultant. We can provide usage and satisfaction rate reports and overall support throughout the process.

Yes. We offer both formats.

From our experience, both formats are equally impactful. We systematically collect feedback and measure the impact of our training, and the data shows no significant difference in participant satisfaction or learning outcomes between in-person and online formats. Our team is highly experienced in delivering engaging and capacity-building sessions online, using dynamic formats that ensure interaction, reflection, and practical learning – no matter where participants are. We adapt each session to the audience and context to make sure the format supports the goals of your training.

Yes. We advise universities, research centers, and funders on how to design, implement, and evaluate talent development strategies. This includes long-term planning for PhD programs, postdoctoral support, leadership pipelines, and diversity initiatives. Contact us at hello@chaperone.online and we will schedule a call to discuss it.

We have worked with over 50 institutions across Europe and beyond, including Universities, Research Centers, Funding Agencies, Professional Associations, Doctoral schools, Scientific Companies and innovation hubs.

Upon request, we provide detailed participation reports and can share anonymized feedback from attendees. For Workshops and Courses we always do an Impact Assessment Report after with detailed information about your audience and satisfaction. For Webinars we don’t do this Impact Assessment unless requested by our clients, in which case, we do an adapted version of a Satisfaction Form. For packs of individual sessions, you’ll receive insights into session usage (number of sessions booked, reviews, etc.) so you can easily report outcomes.

Our consultants work primarily in English, but we can offer sessions in other languages upon request, depending on trainers’ availability.

Simply contact us to discuss your needs. We’ll propose a tailored solution and provide a quote or framework contract based on your requirements.

In an international survey conducted by us, 2 out of 3 scientists mentioned they would like to have access to career development consultants. The lack of these services and career instability have been mentioned in different international studies as the main causes for the high prevalence for mental health problems among academics (~40% suffer from depression, ~70% suffer from prolonged high levels of anxiety) and this impacts their productivity and employability.  Scientists who experienced our services mentioned they felt more empowered regarding their career management and revealed very positive changes in their well-being, productivity and we´ve also already helped them make job transitions more effectively. Our vision in a short-medium term is to expand this more regional, small-scale impact, to more significant organizational changes. We expect scientific institutions to make higher commitments towards supporting their staff knowing that this will improve their well-being and employability but also their productivity, therefore improving institutional outcomes, work culture and reputation. In the long-term we expect that people who benefited from our services become better supervisors and mentors, creating a better science culture and increasing international collaboration. We also expect changes to be implemented in policies related to science education and training, namely the quality of institutional services of career development is included in major evaluation for funding of these institutions. As scientists become productive and are less exposed to underemployment, we will see an impact on scientific progress and economic growth, that contributes to healthy societies with more capacity to respond to many world challenges that rely on science-based solutions.