Training for Scientists – by Scientists

A successful scientific career requires many skills that go beyond the topics that are taught in a scientific curriculum.

We offer workshops on topics related to science management, to the presentation of scientific results and to the promotion of female careers in science. Our trainings are tailored specifically to the needs of researchers at different career stages, with a focus on the fields of natural sciences, engineering and life sciences. Additionally we offer interdisciplinary trainings on diversity, career planning, communication, critical reasoning and statistics. All our trainings are conducted by trainers who have personal experience working as scientists in academic and industrial settings, for some topics working in close cooperation with trainers from the fields of communication analysis and work psychology.

Workshops on »Presenting Science«

Grant Writing for Scientists (also available as webinar)

Target audience

Experienced PhD students, Postdocs or Group leaders

Objectives

Participants will:

  • get introduced to general writing techniques
  • learn strategies for writing successful grant applications
  • write part of a grant application
  • be introduced to the funding opportunities and special conditions of various funding bodies (i.e. BMBF, DFG, EU)
  • learn evaluation procedures and evaluate the texts produced in the group

Workshop duration

2 days, 09:00 - 17:00

Group size

16 participants

Writing Scientific Publications

Target audience

Experienced PhD students, Postdocs or Group leaders

Objectives

Participants will:

  • learn the principles of publication layout
  • analyse a good publication and compare it to own texts
  • learn to present results and design figures
  • get introduced to general writing techniques
  • work on good writing style in English
  • learn to review texts and give feedback to others

Workshop duration

2 days, 09:00 - 17:00

Group size

12 participants

Poster Design and Presentation (also available as webinar)

Target audience

PhD Students

Objectives

Participants will:

  • learn the principles of design for posters
  • learn to adapt their presentations to the target audience
  • design a poster using own material
  • learn to present the poster to interested scientists orally

Workshop duration

1 day, 09:00 - 17:00

Group size

10 participants

Oral Presentation Skills

Target audience

PhD Students and Postdocs

Objectives

Participants will:

  • be introduced to presentation basics
  • learn the principles of design for oral presentations
  • learn to adapt presentations to the target audience
  • learn to use and analyze body language, elocution and intonation
  • receive video feedback on their presentations

Workshop duration

2 days, 09:00 - 17:00

Group size

10 participants

Workshops on »Managing Science«

Mastering your PhD - managing your projects (also available as webinar)

Target audience

Early stage PhD students

Objectives

Participants will learn skills for working independently on a scientific project by:

  • defining aims and objectives smartly
  • structuring their work using classical project management tools
  • organizing themselves by applying time management methods
  • dealing with stress and frustration and improving self motivation

Workshop duration

2 days

Group size

12 participants

Project Management for Scientists (also available as webinar)

Target audience

Experienced PhD students, Postdocs or Group leaders

Objectives

Participants will improve their skills as project manager by:

  • defining goals effectively
  • using project management tools to plan and execute scientific projects successfully
  • improve self organization by applying appropriate time management tools
  • learn techniques for effective communication, delegation, team motivation and conflict management

Workshop duration

2 days

Group size

12 participants

Solving Conflicts in the Lab

Target audience

Experienced PhD students, Postdocs or Group leaders

Objectives

Participants will improve their conflict solving capabilities by:

  • understanding the stages of conflict escalation
  • reflecting their own style of dealing with conflicts
  • acquiring practical tools for conflict resolution
  • developing Win-Win solutions

Workshop duration

2 days

Group size

12 participants

Workshops on »Communication and Diversity in Science«

Communicating Effectively in Diverse Scientific Teams

Target audience

Experienced PhD students, Postdocs or Group leaders

Objectives

Participants will:

  • expand their communicative competences by integrating diversity-awareness in their daily communication in scientific work
  • learn about intercultural communication, gender & communication and non-discriminating ways of communicating
  • analyse and solve critical incidents and their own experiences
  • practice diversity-aware communication in interactive exercises

Workshop duration

2 days, 09:00 - 17:00

Group size

12 participants

Peer Mentoring (also available as webinar)

Target audience

PhD students and Postdocs

Objectives

Participants will:

  • become aware of the use and goals of peer mentoring
  • learn how to constructively support a mentee in her/ his scientific career (e.g. doctoral thesis/ habilitation) and individual development
  • become aware of their role as a mentor and about the potentials and limitations of their support
  • learn how to give constructive and appreciative feedback
    a) in scientific contexts (e.g. regarding structure, language and comprehensiveness of texts),
    b) in socio-emotional contexts (e.g. work-life balance and other personal matters)
  • learn the basics of nonviolent communication

Workshop duration

2 days, 09:00 - 17:00

Group size

12 participants

Workshops on »Female Careers in Academia«

We Ask, We Talk, We Matter: Communication Skills for Women in the Sciences and Humanities

Target audience

Female 2nd year PhD Students, Postdocs and Group Leaders

Objectives

Participants will:

  • learn effective ways of authentic and successful oral communication as a female scientist and academic
  • find out about communication between authenticity and self-marketing, competition and cooperation
  • find out about their own communicative habits and practices
  • understand key concepts and practices of non-verbal and verbal communication, intercultural and gendered communication
  • learn to identify different styles of communication
  • develop an awareness for communication as a key factor for social relationships and career development in academia

Workshop duration

2 days, 09:00 - 17:00

Group size

14 participants, women only

Modern female Leadership in the Sciences and Humanities

Target audience

Female 2nd year PhD Students, Postdocs and Group Leaders

Objectives

Participants will:

  • understand key concepts and practices of classic forms and modern, flexible styles of leadership in complex scientific settings
  • learn about new forms of international leadership, including agile management
  • get to know how to take advantage of female strengths and forms of socialisation in leading colleagues and teams
  • learn how to deal with resistance and conflicts
  • discover their own leadership preferences and authentic ways of taking on leading roles
  • practice leadership scenarios in role-plays and interactive exercise

Workshop duration

2 days, 09:00 - 17:00

Group size

14 participants, women only

From Woman to Woman – Peer Mentoring for female researchers

Target audience

Female 2nd year PhD Students, Postdocs and Group Leaders

Objectives

Participants will:

  • be qualified for psychosocial and constructive peer mentoring of the scientific, career-oriented writing and research process
  • understand the role as a mentor, how to give feedback and support, and the limits of mentoring
  • understand the role as mentee, knowing how to accept support and constructive criticism as well as how to draw boundaries
  • get to know key concepts and practices of self-care, individualised work-family balance and time management
  • appreciate the gift of scientific partnership as mentor and mentee

Workshop duration

2 days, 09:00 - 17:00

Group size

14 participants, women only

Workshops on »Scientific Data Analysis«

Foundations of Statistical Analysis with R

Target audience

PhD Students and Postdocs

Objectives

Participants will:

  • understand the intuition behind statistical hypothesis testing
  • deepen their knowledge about the applicability of tests

Workshop duration

2 × 0,5 days, i.e. 09:00 - 13:00

Group size

15 participants

Linear Statistical Models with R

Target audience

PhD Students and Postdocs

Objectives

Participants will:

  • understand the intuition behind linear regression, ANOVA and GLMs
  • deepen their knowledge about how to build linear predictive models to analyse scientific data

Workshop duration

2 × 0,5 days, i.e. 09:00 - 13:00

Group size

15 participants

Additional Skills

Intellectual Property in Science

Target audience

Experienced PhD students, Postdocs or Group leaders

Objectives

Participants will be sensitized to the challenges of IP protection by:

  • learning the legal background and the necessary definitions
  • being introduced to different strategies for IP protection and exploitation
  • learning how to search patent databases
  • applying their newly gained knowledge in a case study

Workshop duration

1 day

Group size

15 participants

Critical Reasoning and Logic

Target audience

PhD students, Postdocs, Group leaders

Objectives

Participants will:

  • get to know the fundamental concepts of logic
    (validity, soundness, standard form, fallacies etc.)
  • learn to quickly identify the strengths and weaknesses of arguments
  • learn how to break arguments down into their logical structure
  • learn how to give well-structured and convincing arguments (written and orally)
  • practice analytical-thinking skills

Workshop duration

2 days

Group size

15 participants

Starting your Career in Private Enterprises (also available as webinar)

Target audience

Students, PhD students and Postgraduates

Objectives

Participants will:

  • develop vision, aims and strategies for their individual career path
  • identify their individual strengths and personality traits and find out which jobs are suitable for them
  • learn to interpret job ads correctly
  • optimise their application letter, covering mail and CV with enclosures for national and international use
  • present themselves in a job database
  • learn how to pass a job interview successfully
  • hear about the methods and possible procedures in assessment centres

Workshop duration

2 days

Group size

8 participants

Customized training offers

The modules described above are examples for the topics covered by our trainers. We are happy to adapt contents individually to the needs and interests of your specific target audience. So let us assist you in determining your specific training needs.