GAUSS Career Blog

Career Information and Announcements

2014/03/11
by Katrin Wodzicki
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The Göttingen Network on Organelle Biology

Today, I want to point to the Göttingen Network on Organelle Biology, just started and moderated by Dr. Celia Kassmann. She describes the idea of this kind of meetings in the following way:

“Meetings should be held on regular basis to bring together organelle researchers in Göttingen. The idea of the monthly 1-hour-meetings is to enhance in-town scientific interactions and collaborations among researchers who are specifically interested in mitochondrial, lysosomal, peroxisomal, or closely related biology (including organelle interactions). Group leaders and project leaders (i.e. advanced post-docs) are welcome to give a talk on the above mentioned topics!”

If you are interested to join the network and its meetings, do not hesitate to write an e-mail to Celia Kassmann (Kassmann@em.mpg.de). She will add you to the network’s mailing list. Please also consider spreading this information to colleagues potentially interested.

The second talk of this initiative is taking place next week:

Celia Kassmann on “Peroxisomes of the nervous system – Analyzing function and malfunction using mouse models”

Date: Wednesday, March 19th, 3.00 pm

Location: Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hermann-Rein-Str. 3, Seminar room, Department of Neurogenetics (4th floor)

As this network just started, its future development is depending on its success and the people involved. It might be your chance to get involved in a vivid experience exchange and become part of an expert network in Göttingen.

2014/03/06
by Katrin Wodzicki
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Career Impulse Session – Career at Sartorius from the perspective of R&D Scientist, 9 April 2014

We are happy to announce the Career Impulse Session with Dr. Denise van Rossum from the Sartorius Stedim Biotech GmbH.

Date: 9 April 2014, 15:00-17:00 o’clock

Room: GZMB, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 11, room 0.232

Duration: 1,5 hours + 0,5 hour for open networking

Content:

Dr. Denise von Rossum works in the R&D Diagnostic Membranes department of the Sartorius Stedim Biotech GmbH since 3 years. She is a scientist by training, holding a PhD in Pharmacology. She has worked at the UMG in the department of Neuropathology.

After introducing herself in more detail, she will give an overview on the various options scientists have within Sartorius. She is looking forward to your questions and a more individualized discussion, too, preferring a more interactive type of meetings.

If you would like to join the session, please write me (ggnb-career@gwdg.de). It will ease the organization. However, taking part in the session spontaneously is also possible.

2014/02/27
by Katrin Wodzicki
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NEXT WEEK: Tea Time Talk with Dr. Ira Milosevic and Dr. Till Marquardt

Tea Time Talk

Dr. Ira Milosevic and Dr. Till Marquardt

European Neuroscience Institute, Goettingen

Journey from MPIbpc to ENI


 Host: PhD/Postdoc Community at MPIbpc

Date: Monday, 3 March 2014, 16:30 o’clock

Place: Ludwig-Prandtl Hall in the Administration building of the Max Planck Campus

2014/02/25
by Katrin Wodzicki
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Information Session on EU funding for Postdocs, Göttingen, 14 March 2014

The EU Office of the University of Göttingen in cooperation with the KoWi (European Liaison Office of the German Research Organisations) organizes an information session on EU funding for postdocs, taking place in Göttingen.

It deals with

  • the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) and
  • the European Research Council (ERC) .

The announcement: Continue Reading →

2014/02/13
by Katrin Wodzicki
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Planning and Writing Grant Proposals

Getting funding for your research projects is and will always be a key success factor for your scientific work. However, the competition for the scare funding resources is tough. Investment in a convincing and well-organized grant proposal will increase your chances.

Jack Kraicer, former Director of Research Grants at the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP), wrote an article about guidelines on preparing grant applications from conception to submission. It is online available here: http://www.hfsp.org/funding/art-grantsmanship.

If you are currently planning or preparing a grant proposal, joining a peer coaching group might be a chance to get feedback on your ideas and your proposal as well as support you in sticking to your timeline. Find out more about peer coaching in the Career Impulse Session on Peer Coaching Groups – A Method to Achieve Your Career Goals (25 February, 15-17 o’clock).

Or raise your questions regarding funding and other strategic considerations during the Career Impulse Session on How to Succeed in an Academic Career (17 March, 14-16 o’clock).

2014/02/13
by Katrin Wodzicki
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(Scientific) Writing Skills: Some Book Recommendations

Writing is an essential part of scientists’ daily life. Writing comprehensible and well-structured papers is a key to publishing; Writing convincing and concise grant proposals is a key to funding. In addition, writing for the public becomes more and more important.

Diction and clarity of the written text is hard work; however, there are great books which could help you to reflect on your mode of expression. One wonderful book is Strunk, W., Jr. & White, E.B. (2000, 1979). The Element of Style (4th ed.). New York: Longman. I not just learned a lot when reading it a couple of years ago, I also enjoyed the reading itself a lot.

I just saw that it is online available here. Moreover, a PDF version is accessible.

As writing a lot makes a successful scientist, but finding time to write and organizing the writing is again hard work, I also found it helpful to reflect my organization of writing. A helpful book for this reflection was Silvia, P. J. (2007). How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing, American Psychological Association, Washington DC.

Finally, one recommendation from Christina Schütte’s grant writing workshop last week – of which a preview is accessible on google books – is Silyn-Roberts, H. (2000). Writing for Science and Engineering: Papers, Presentations and Reports. Oxford, England: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Some more general tips on scientific writing are provided by Michael A. Morrison, Professor at the University of Oklahoma.

Please feel free to add further recommendations in the comments’ section!