In addition to the PhD supervisor (Doktorvater/Doktormutter) and a scientific advisor (Betreuer), HITEC doctoral researchers can choose an internal mentor from another HITEC member institute on a voluntary basis who will serve as a second contact person and will broaden the interdisciplinary perspective.

They will be partners for the doctoral researchers and will meet them according to their individual needs. Each mentor-mentee team will define its own form of interaction: frequency of meetings, form of meetings, how to answer individual questions, etc. Internal mentors can give advice on career planning, encouragement in difficult situations and may be invited to a seminar talk to give objective feedback. They can also discuss research issues, but not as a scientific advisor (Betreuer), but as an 'educated layman', since they should be from a different HITEC institute than the doctoral researcher.

In addition, each HITEC doctoral student can choose an external mentor, who should be a leading scientist in his or her field of research abroad or an important representative of industry (in Germany or abroad) and who will enable high-level networking. The choice of an external mentor is also optional and should be discussed with the supervisors. Doctoral researchers should visit their external mentor once or twice during their doctoral studies. They will learn about their mentor's research work, discuss their own research and perhaps give a seminar talk. The external mentor can also act as a door-opener for further contacts. These visits are supported by HITEC. A sample letter for contacting a possible external mentor is available from the HITEC office.