Registration: Please register here (in case you are not registered yet) and send an email to career@gauss.uni-goettingen.de including a short statement on your motivation to attend the workshop.
Workshop contents:
This workshop intends to facilitate synergistic effects and implement basic project management culture to increase the efficient use of resources and improve teamwork. The trainer will pick up existing problems and work on solutions together with the participants in a mixture of „ex-cathedra“ teaching, jointed and group phases.
We’re happy to announce our next GAUSS Career Impulse Session, this time with our alumnus Dr. Max Farnworth, Emmy Noether Group Leader at University of Mainz.
Max Farnworth is an alumnus of the GGNB programme “Genes in Development, Disease and Evolution” and completed his PhD at the Göttingen Center for Molecular Biosciences in 2019, where he examined the cellular and genetic mechanisms of brain evolution using insects as a model system. Following a postdoc in Bristol from 2020-2026, working on the evolution of tropical butterflies, he recently established his own group at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. His lab will examine how a complex biological system, such as the brain, can evolve and by which mechanisms it does so.
After student funding by the German Academic Scholarship Foundation during his Masters in Göttingen, a Walter-Benjamin Scholarship of the German Research Foundation (DFG) during his postdoc in Bristol, he was selected as a Pathway to Independence Fellow by the Company of Biologists in 2025. In 2026, he received ~1.8 Million € funding through the Emmy Noether group leader programme by the DFG to establish his own group. His career has taken him from a deep commitment to his chosen field to exciting research experiences in the UK and across Germany, with a constant reflection of the biggest question of all…: “Why am I doing this?”.
About the sessions:
Our Career Impulse Sessions offer a platform for interactive and informal exchange about career-related topics for PhD students and postdocs in the Life and Natural Sciences. By inviting PhD holders with different career paths, we would like to illustrate the broad range of potential careers for PhD students and postdocs and give inspiration for career choices.
We are happy to announce our next GAUSS Career Service workshop “What’s next? Career Development In- or Outside Academia” by Dr. Alexander Britz.
Are you currently working as Postdoc or finalizing your PhD? Do you plan to transition to your next position in or outside of academia, but feel unprepared for the job hunt? In this highly interactive workshop, you will get a comprehensive set of career development strategies which will help you master this process. You will learn to decide what your next career step should be and how to be effective in the application process including compiling a convincing application.
Dates: Monday and Tuesday, 23-24 November 2026 Duration: 1,5 days; Monday: 9-17h, Tuesday: 9-13h Location: in-person on North campus Trainer: Dr. Alexander Britz
We are happy to announce our next GAUSS Career Service workshop “How to get into the non-academic job market” by Dr Philippa Cook.
For postdoctoral researchers with an international background, it can be a real challenge to get into Germany’s non-academic job market following an academic position. The entry routes into jobs are not always transparent, candidates are often not well-informed about what to expect in the application process and not everyone can offer German language skills. Where and how you can look for a job outside classic academia depends on your qualifications and skills set, on your individual life situation as well as on knowing about possible entry paths and strategies, the (unwritten) rules of the game and other parameters. This workshop offers assistance with this – tailored specifically for the needs of international scholars – and will encourage participants not just to prepare for this transition in a focused way but to create an action plan which they can start to implement.
Dates: Thursday and Friday, 21-21 January 2027, 9-16h Duration: 2 full days, 9-16h Location: in person on North campus Trainer: Dr Philippa Cook
Registration: Please register here (in case you are not registered yet) and send an email to career@gauss.uni-goettingen.de including a short statement on your motivation to attend the workshop.
Workshop description
Post-doctoral positions are usually not that hard to get but finding the right one that can firmly establish a professional career is really challenging. At the same time, scientists towards the end of their PhD don’t have a lot of time to spend on the search for the right post-doctoral position. Therefore, this workshop provides a compact overview of relevant aspects and the opportunity to explore one’s own preferences. Specifically, participants learn to define their own criteria for a successful post-doctoral position, develop their targeted search and application strategy, assess the relative benefit of post-doctoral grants and prepare to harness the full potential of their post-doc interview.
We are happy to announce our next GAUSS Career Service online workshop on the topic “How to plan and write a competitive research proposal” by Dr. Thomas Koch.
This workshop is is designed primarily for late-stage doctoral researchers, early-stage postdoctoral researchers and researchers at other career stages who are relatively new to independently developing research grant proposals. It is particularly suitable for participants preparing their first fellowship application or independent research-grant proposal. Participants should bring a research idea, emerging project concept or defined area for which external funding may be relevant. A fully developed project or draft proposal is not required.
Date: Tuesday, 9 March 2027 plus 4h pre-teaching prior to the workshop
Registration: Please register here (in case you are not yet registered) and send an email to career@gauss.uni-goettingen.de including a short statement on your motivation to attend the workshop.
Workshop description:
A competitive research grant proposal requires more than a strong research idea. Applicants need to identify a suitable funding opportunity, understand how proposals are evaluated, develop a coherent and feasible project and communicate a convincing case for support. This programme develops the transferable foundations needed to connect funding fit, project design, evaluation logic and proposal development.
This compact, yet highly interactive workshop employs theoretical input, plenary discussions, individual and small group work, experience sharing and expert advice. Participants are expected to complete some assignments for the pre-teaching activities, which will be provided one to two weeks before the workshop.
We are happy to announce our next GAUSS Career Service online workshop “Third-party funding and proposal writing” by Dr. Neela Enke.
This workshop is intended for Postdocs and late-stage PhDs planning to apply for a research grant in the near future and would like to inform themselves about different funding schemes and what is essential to write a competitive grant application.
Registration: Please register here (in case you are not registered yet) and send an email to career@gauss.uni-goettingen.de including a short statement on your motivation to attend the workshop.
Workshop description
First of all, the workshop provides the applicants with an overview of the most important (national and European) funding agencies and schemes in relation to the participants career stages. Participants will also have the chance to look into interesting funding schemes in more detail.
