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Paper short abstract

We share results from interviews and surveys of the LSST Rubin Observatory community (astrophysicists/computer scientists/social scientists) focused on structured mentoring and multi-disciplinarity of postdocs. We assess mentoring effectiveness and the sense of belonging of these diverse workers.

Paper long abstract

This multi-method study of the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Rubin Observatory community highlights mentoring and mentoring relationships. LSST is the 10-year ‘movie’ of the night sky that will begin later in 2026 at Rubin Observatory. Of interest is the new LSST-Discovery Alliance Catalyst Postdoctoral Fellowship – created to build a cohort of early-career researchers prepared to use the data when released in 2026. The Fellow applicants had to present a community project alongside their scientific proposals, which resulted in attracting a cohort of postdocs embodying diversity along many axes.

We use 35 qualitative interviews and structured surveys (44 in round 1, round 2 underway) to assess the effectiveness of what we consider two of the main strengths of the fellowship program – structured mentoring and multi-disciplinarity. Each postdoc built a committee of five mentors, with a supervisor at the same institution. The other mentors are interdisciplinary and distributed worldwide. Postdocs mainly come from astrophysics/astronomy and the social sciences.

We share our analyses of the responses about having a mentoring committee, sense of belonging, and professional identity overlap. Our analyses should enable us to identify patterns grouped by (the intersection of) socio-demographic features. This mixed-methods exploration provides insights into the effectiveness and challenges of the LSST-DA Catalyst Fellowship for advancing inclusivity and diversity. The intersection of these frameworks helps to understand that knowledge is situated and to intentionally allow communities that elevate marginalized perspectives to create more equitable and effective practice.