During EPF cohort, participants have an opportunity to be work with core developers and researchers. The mentorship is different from a traditional mentor - mentee roles, mentors in EPF act more like your colleagues who provide feedback and will not guide your path.
Here you can find tips on working with mentors.
In general, program participants are expected to take personal responsibility for their work. Working as a core developer requires you to be able to do self-directed work, and this program is no different. You should speak up and ask when you have questions, but you should also take responsibility for asking well informed questions.
Don't expect any mentor to onboard you to a project or provide initial guidence. It's up to fellows to do their own research about the proposed project and understand Ethereum protocol at least to the level of knowledge achievable in the Study Group curriculum.
[!IMPORTANT] When choosing a project, do your research about it and start drafting the project proposal. Do not approach a mentor in a way "Hello, I am from EPF and want to work on your project, what should I do?" before putting any work towards the project. Make sure you understand the project before reaching out to a mentor, and only if you have decided to dedicate yourself to the project.
Mentors from the list below are open to help you during the program when you need feedback or encounter issues you cannot tackle yourself. Their main responsibility is to propose project ideas and then provide feedback to your solution, on your PRs. Keep in mind that each mentor has different capacity since they work on the protocol full time. Treat them with respect and don't expect anything else than described here.
Mentors are primarily available in R&D Discord channel and some will occasionally attend EPF office hours or standup calls. Before reaching out to a mentor for the first time, please check with cohort organizers who can provide you with a connection to the mentor. It's important to reach out with a specific and relevant issue rather than questions which can be answered by searching or reading epf.wiki.
Each mentor is covering a project, certain area of the protocol and representing their development team. If you choose a project they proposed or your project is within their area, suggest setting up a project group for easier communication. Otherwise, ask for the advice in the public Discord channel.
Make sure to do your own research before you ask a question, e.g. making sure something like this hasn't been discussed previously in the channel, answered at stackexchange or elsewhere. If the question targets a specific mentor, feel free to tag them. Your question should be technical and topical. Avoid general and unnecessary messages.
[!CAUTION] Mentor's availability is very limited and their help should be focused on the actual work that you do. Reach out to them only if you need help with something only they are qualified to do.
There are a variety of core developers and researchers who are aware of EPF and willing to help fellows with their contributions. Most mentors will have proposed a project and will be available to mentor progress on that project. There are also other potential mentors in client teams that will be happy to work with new contributors.