Extra-curricular activities

What is next after your doctorate or postdoc phase? In the post-doctoral phase, there is often the challenge of making more fundamental career decisions, developing and implementing an individual strategy for your own career. In fact, as an academic, you have excellent opportunities to pursue a career path that suits you.

JGU's Human Resources Development would like to support you in developing and realising your own career strategy with an individual coaching offer. If you decide to take advantage of this offer, you will have the opportunity to focus and work on your individual counselling needs in up to 5 coaching sessions with an external career coach.

Further information and registration

Dr. Carrie B. Dohe, English Training and Consulting

This workshop shows participants how to best convey the content and value of their research and teaching in a host of formats particular to the academic job application process, including the dissertation abstract, the CV/resume and cover letter, grant and postdoctoral applications, teaching and research statements, interviews, and job talks. Our practice will focus on the CV/resume, cover letter and interview.

Further information and registration

Ellen Rana; Communications trainer

Presenting in your own language is difficult enough, but in today’s global environment more and more
post‐graduates are required to attend international events and/or present their research in English. This two-day seminar will look at what makes an effective presentation, focusing on language skills, non‐verbal communication and intercultural issues.

Further information and registration

Dr. Karolien Notebaert, Science and Leadership Academy, Frankfurt am Main

The online seminar aims to equip participants with cutting-edge neuroscientific insights to enhance their effectiveness. By leveraging the principles of neuroplasticity, attendees will strengthen their cognitive flexibility and adaptability, understand the redefined concepts of performance and potential in the digital age, and refine their understanding of human decision-making processes and motivations rooted in the brain.

Further information and registration

Kristin Draheim, M.A., Mag. Draheim Dialog, Briesen (Mark)

• maintain good mental health and resilience
• cope with loneliness, anxiety, stress, culture shock
• develop strategies for periods of uncertainty

Mental health refers to well-being on the cognitive, behavioral, and emotional level.
It is about how we think, feel, and behave and can affect our daily life, relationships,
and even our physical health.
Looking after mental health can preserve a person’s ability to enjoy life and perform
up to their full potential. This involves reaching a balance between life activities, re-
sponsibilities, and efforts to achieve psychological resilience.
This online workshop helps you get together, understand, and deal with various chal-
lenges which you might encounter during your research stays in Germany. We will
focus on developing strategies of how to maintain good mental health and resilience
during a period of uncertainty as well as the struggles of loneliness, anxiety, and
stress.

Further information and registration

Dr. Sabine Alebrand

Working in projects is quite common for physicists. Therefore, it is very helpful to have a basic understanding of the purpose and challenges of projects and how to organise them - both as a team member and as a project leader.
In this introductory workshop, we will first clarify what a project actually is. We will then look at how projects are organised, both in terms of time phases and personnel roles. We will take a look at methods for planning and structuring a project, e.g. in terms of objectives and time. Finally, we will also briefly look at the importance of the ‘human factor’ for project success and the challenges a project manager must face.
This initial insight into the skills required of a project manager and the tasks of project management will hopefully also give you a starting point to assess whether project management could be an interesting career option for you.

To register, please write an email to mpa@uni-mainz.de before February 6th, 2025

Dr. Alexander Britz | Trainer for Communication

This engaging workshop offers a hands-on approach to enhancing your communication skills with peers and superiors while providing strategies to prevent and manage potential conflicts.
We begin by increasing our level of empathy through analyzing the different layers of communication and separating the distinct sides of a message. Understanding conflicts, which often originate from miscommunication, can be achieved through changing perspectives. Using example scenarios, we sensitize ourselves to possible sources of conflicts. You will learn strategies to prevent conflicts and further how to minimize their negative outcome if they occur. Effective communication can be considered a key leadership skill, and we interactively train communication in both top-down as well as bottom-up leadership scenarios. Here, special emphasis is also put on giving and receiving feedback. As part of conflict resolution strategies, you will learn how to use empathy effectively and we will further practice negotiation techniques, such as the Harvard principles. Additionally, you will learn how mediators and ombuds persons can help with conflicts that spiral out of control. Finally, we apply our newly acquired skills to resolve conflicts through example study cases.

Further information and registration

Ellen Rana; Communications trainer

“Academics around the world share the same aims so working together should not be a problem...”
“If we speak the same language, we can work with each other...”
“We live in a global village...”
Phrases we hear every day and have learnt to accept. However, why then does working internationally cause so many problems? Why is it so difficult to work with my German/Mexican/Chinese colleagues?

Further information and registration

Dr. Matthias Zach, kabeak.de, Jena & Göttingen

This online workshop helps you reflect and improve upon your time and self-man-
agement. It puts particular emphasis on the challenges and opportunities involved in
commuting between your home and your workplace.
As career and other pressures and responsibilities mount, the ability to move be-
tween, and to thrive in different places and spaces is a key skill for experienced re-
searchers and scientists. This workshop focuses on relevant challenges and proposes
practical solutions.
Concentrating on your concrete situation and concerns, we will speak about the fol-
lowing points in particular:
• How to identify the challenges and opportunities which are most important
for you
• Strategies and methods of working effectively and efficiently, especially as a
commuter
• How to communicate your relevant interests and goals
• How to use your commuting time efficiently: useful tasks, routines and tools
• How to find a rhythm that works for you

Further information and registration