Key Qualification

Target group: Postdocs (R2/R3)
Date: Wednesday, 08 May 2024, 13:30 - 14:30 | Online
Speaker: Dr. Carina Brunner

Language: German

Content:

Appointment procedures are very specialised selection processes whose peculiarities are sometimes difficult to assess from the outside. This „Coffee Talk“ with Dr Carina Brunner, Head of the Faculty Appointments Office at Viadrina, will discuss the unwritten laws that exist and how typical mistakes can be avoided.

Registration

Target group: Doctoral and Postdoctoral Researchers (R1-R3), Faculty of Social and Cultural Studies
Dates: Wednesday, May 15, Thursday, May 16, Friday, May 17 | 9 am - 12 noon | Online
Trainer: Mark Edwards

Language: English

Course description:

This course examines how to develop powerful focus in your writing – an infallible guide to developing the best structure, and effectively communicating your ideas to your target audience. We look at how to systematically improve the impact, clarity and accuracy of your chosen words. You will receive a toolbox of methods including a range of easily-applied ‘quick tips’ that will improve how seriously your ideas are taken. You will receive a clear process to follow when approaching an important piece of writing. How to start, develop and express your ideas plus a checklist of conceptual and practical filters to apply to your work to edit and improve your earlier drafts - shaping your writing from ‘good enough’ to ‘exactly fitted to its purpose’.

 In this tip-filled seminar, we will examine:

• Appropriate levels of formality
• Tips for writing productivity
• Nailing the problem of structure
• Achieving a good ‘flow’ of ideas and expression
• Achieving impact by careful word choice
• Describing problems, solutions and outcomes
• Clarity, brevity and style of English
• Presenting data and data commentary
• Understanding the most common mistakes
• Hated words to avoid in your text
• All of these writing skills are examined in the context of a variety of writing and editing tasks. The online presentation includes individual exercises with feedback, group discussion and small group work, as well as inspiring input from an established native-speaking communications expert.

Registration

Target Group: Postdocs (R2)
Date: Monday, May 27, 2024 | 2 pm - 4 pm | Online
Trainer: Dr Susanne Hollmann

Language: English

Content:

This introductory course provides Early Career Researchers with a practical way to apply for third-party funding and how to write a proposal. Participants will be given important information about what to consider when applying for external funding. The most common pitfalls are highlighted. This module is transferable to all funding programmes. Participants also receive an introduction to the perspective of funders and reviewers and learn how to use these different perspectives to optimise their own application concepts

Registration

Primary target group: Postdocs (R2/R3) and staff
Date: Monday, 10 June 2024 | 13:30 - 16:30 | Online
Course leader: Katarzyna Biernacka

Language: German

Course description: 

Digital research data and its management are among the most challenging topics that scientists have to deal with during their research process. Their organization, publication, archiving and reuse are becoming increasingly important in science in the digital age.

This short workshop focuses on the data management plan, which defines the handling of research data in scientific projects. It is increasingly becoming a necessary component of funding applications to third-party funding bodies such as the EU or the DFG. The workshop will provide you with an overview of the most important aspects of the data management plan and offer the opportunity for questions and discussion.

Individual advice on specific requests cannot be provided in this format - but if you are interested, you are welcome to let us know your requirements afterwards.

Registration

Primary target group: Postdocs (R2/R3)
Date: Thursday, 27 June 2024| 13:00 - 14:00 | Online
Course leader: Prof. Dr. Kerstin Brückweh

Language: German

Course description:

Advantages and disadvantages of a professorship at a university of applied sciences (FH/HAW) – for whom is an application on the labour market promising and for whom does it promise fulfilment? A historian reports.

Application

Time and self-management during the PhD
Primary target group:

PhD students (R1)
Date: Tuesday, 09 July 2024 | 09:00 - 17:00 | Presence (AM K12)
Course leader: Patricia Meyer

Language: German

Course description:

Many doctoral candidates (and not only them) find it difficult to organize their day in such a way that they get to the important things.

In spite of all the time and deadline pressures, unexpected events, disruptions and distractions throw the work schedule out of kilter. It is also not uncommon for the PhD to be financed by one's own employment (inside or outside the university and with or without reference to the topic of the PhD). Partners and possibly your own children require attention. Doing justice to everything sometimes seems impossible. In addition, although a PhD is immensely important, it is not always urgent and therefore often has no concrete, externally controlled end date.

This workshop will teach you the most effective methods and tools for time and self-management during your PhD, which will help you to distinguish the important from the unimportant, to organise your work more effectively and to better align your overarching goals with your personal motivation, your development goals and the limited resource of attention. There is also a focus on planning the PhD in different phases and on healthy energy management in order to cope well with this challenging time in terms of health.

Registration

Target Group: Advanced PhD Candidates (R1)
Date: Wednesday, October 30, 2024 | 9 am - 5 pm | Presence (HG 104)
Trainer: Dr Simon Golin (Golin Science Management)

Language: English

Content:

After mountains of subject specific literature, numerous formulated and then discarded hypotheses, perhaps also after experiments, the doctoral thesis is finally complete. But the end of the road has not yet been reached: now follows the oral examination.

After completion of the thesis, personally defending it presents a new challenge for the doctoral candidate. For many, oral examinations are associated with nerves and worries about blackouts. However, they quickly lose their horror if systematic preparation is started in good time. If the process is known, one has found one’s own presentation style and can also deal with
difficult situations in discussions, one can go into the examination more relaxed and is then able to present one’s competencies in an optimal light.

In this workshop, participants have the opportunity to strategically engage with the upcoming oral examination. They develop individual strategies for preparing themselves and learn techniques so they can direct the discussion even at critical points. The following topics are envisaged:

• What is obligatory and what is freestyle? The expectations of an oral examination
• All to plan? Self and time management in the preparatory phase
• The optimal presentation: How do I present myself and my work?
• The show must go on! Dealing with nerves and difficult situations in discussions
• The oral examination: My next steps

Register

Target Audience: Doctoral Candidates (R1)
Date: Thursday, November 14, and Friday, November 15, 2024 | 9 am - 5 pm | Presence (AM 202)
Trainer: Francesca Carlin

Language: English

Content:

Audiences can sit for hours watching a play unfold. Why? Simply put, we humans love stories. Every time we speak in front of an audience, in essence, we are telling a story. However, especially at academic conferences, creating a captivating presentation feels
like a challenge. So, how do we make our stories heard?

This workshop focuses on techniques that help participants find and hone their message, create a compelling narrative, and effectively convey the story of their research and of themselves as individuals as well as manage criticism during feedback sessions. The skills that this workshop develops are essential for all academics wanting to captivate audiences with presentations and to put their best selves forward during discussion rounds.

• Creating the story: Creation of an effective narrative, dramatic arc of a storyline, honing a message
• Non-verbal communication: Body language, facial expressions, gestures
• Voice and Speech (Verbal Delivery): Pace, enunciation and pronunciation, use of pauses and silence
• Stage Fright: Triggers, transforming the inner critic, techniques to overcome stage fright
• Presenting: The storyteller and presence, effective techniques and tips for dealing with discussion rounds, practice and assessment

Registration

Primary target group: PhD students and postdocs (R1/R2)
Date: Friday, 29 November 2024 | 08:30 - 16:00 | Online
Course director: Patrick Hilt

Language: German

Course description:

In this interactive workshop, you will be introduced to the functions of the reference management program Citavi for academic work. You will have the opportunity to apply what you have learnt in exercises and discuss any questions directly with the trainer.

A video-conferencing capable computer and the installation of Citavi before the start of the course are required for participation.

The Viadrina has a campus licence for Citavi - all information and the link to download the programme can be found here.

Contents: 

• Citavi at a glance: Functions and programme interface
• Creating projects, adding titles and full texts
• Structuring knowledge, recording citations
• Writing and citing with the Word add-in
• Customisation of citation styles
• Work organisation / workflow

Application

Primary target group: Doctoral students of the Faculty of Law (R1)
Date: Monday, 20 January 2025 | 10:00 - 15:00 | Presence
Course director: PD Dr Hannes Beyerbach

Language: German

Course description:

In this workshop, you will deal intensively with questions of quality and quality assurance in Rechtswissenschaft (Law) research, especially during the PhD. The following focal points are at the center of attention:

• Processing external knowledge in the dissertation: citation, paraphrasing, scientific reliability in the adoption of intellectual achievements
• Are there uniform standards of Rechtswissenschaft (Law) research? What is good Law research?
• What characterizes a good dissertation, what performance is expected to pass?
• The academic plagiarism: What is no longer permitted, what is „only“ bad research?
• Examples of the reception of Rechtswissenschaft (Law) publications

Registration

Primary target group: Doctoral candidates & Postdocs (R1/R2)
Date: Friday, 7 February 2025 | 09:00-17:00 | Online
Course director: Dr. Oliver Grewe

Language: German

Course description:

The professional field of „science management“ has changed considerably in recent years and has become increasingly professionalised. Extensive knowledge is required in science management. In addition to the organisational, economic, and personnel management of the institution, project management skills as well as broad knowledge of the science and higher education system and an understanding of the characteristics of various disciplines are important skills that make a good science manager.

This introductory workshop on science management will cover the following topics:

• Introduction to the professional field of science management
• Overview of fields of activity and profiles
• Decision criteria for choosing a career
• Necessary competences
• Strategic career planning
• Perspectives and challenges of the professional field

Registration

Primary target group: Postdocs (R2/R3)
Date: Monday, 3 February 2025, | 13:30 - 15:30 | Online
Course leader: Dr Neela Enke

Language: German

Course description:

Self-management and the associated time management is a key factor for a successful scientific career. In the postdoc phase, tasks and fields of activity become increasingly complex. This gives rise to questions such as: Which tasks are important? And in relation to what? Where do I have to be involved? When do I have to say no? How can I deal with the feeling that there is always still something to do and at the same time keep an eye on my well-being?

Participants are encouraged to reflect on inner images of their professional self and the topic of professionalism. They will be shown how their professional self is connected to aspects of time and energy management. The workshop offers the opportunity to discuss and try out different strategies based on exemplary situations and individual experiences of the participants.

Registration