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Career Perspectives with a PhD in Natural & Life Sciences //  Today: Jan 9, 5 – 6 pm

 

Looking for career options after your doctorate? And not sure what is “out there”? With the series "Career Perspectives with a PhD in Natural and Life Sciences", we would like to offer an opportunity for interactive and informal exchange about career-related topics. You will meet former PhD candidates who will share with you their experiences including ups and downs looking for a job. PhD holders from academia, industry, science communication, politics, public and health sectors, education and more will show you the broad range of potential careers after a doctorate and give you inspiration for future career choices. We will have plenty of time after each talk for questions, discussion and networking.

 

Dr. Eva Boritsch will be our guest. Eva completed her doctorate in at the Institut Pasteur, Paris. She now works as Head of QA Systems and Data Review at ViruSure GmbH, Vienna.

 

All information and the meeting link can be found on this website.

 

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Tag des Fachbereichs / Networking Day at the Department //  Jan 16, 2025

 

Remember to join the Networking Day at the Department of Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy on Thursday, January 16, 2025, starting at 4:15 pm in Arnimallee 22.

The Graduate Center will also be available for questions and discussions.

 

Find all information here.

We look forward to meeting you there!

 

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FU Offers

 

Fortbildung | Urheberrecht beim Publizieren & Forschen 16.01.2025 | 13:00 - 16:30

Fortbildung | Einführung in Open Educational Ressources - offene Bildungsressourcen nutzen und erstellen 21.01.2025 | 10:00 - 11:30

Workshop | Workshop für Lehrende und Beschäftigte: „Geschlechtlicher Vielfalt im Arbeitsalltag kompetent und wertschätzend begegnen“ 18.02.2025 | 10:00 - 17:00

 

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Online Workshop “Introduction to data analysis with R” // Mar 3 – 4 + 11 – 12

 

Course offer by the Graduate Center: This workshop offers an introduction to data analysis with R.

The workshop's main goal is to equip you with essential R skills for analyzing your own research data, covering data processing and visualization.

 

Who is the course for? Doctoral researchers registered at the BCP department, Postdoctoral researchers at the BCP department

When?                             3 March, 4 March, 11 March, 12 March, 9 am – 4 pm; plus optional day 17 March, 9am – 12pm

Where?                            Webex Online Course (Please note that a video camera and a microphone are necessary for this course.)

Registration:                   Will follow in the next newsletter in February. For now, save the date!

 

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Support Points and Mental Health Awareness Weeks // Jan 13 – 24

 

The FU Berlin support.point counselors offer short-term psychological counseling also for FU employees.

The support points offer counseling at 10 locations across our Dahlem, Lankwitz and Düppel campuses. You are free to access any of the locations. You can find the consultation hours here. Sessions can be held in English or German, and some of our counselors offer additional languages.

Topics for counseling can be e.g. signs of distress like anxiety, sleep difficulties, depressive mood, or worries in relation to work or private relationships. We also give advice on how to navigate the German (mental) health care system and how to look for therapy in Berlin.

Counseling services are strictly confidential and can be used anonymously. If necessary, we can give information on additional counseling options within and outside FU.

 

In January, our support.point psychologists offer a series of events during our Mental Health Awareness Weeks (January 13-24). This includes two German-language event for employees “Achtsamkeit und Entspannung für Mitarbeitende“ on January 14 and “Zeitmanagement für Mitarbeitende“ on January, 23, to which you are warmly invited if you feel comfortable following German-language conversation. No registration necessary.

Additionally, you are very welcome to join our English-language event on how to find therapy in Berlin on January 14. This event will be open to students as well.

For more information on the events, please check our website.

 

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ReproducibiliTeach Course // starting Feb 12

 

Start 2025 strong by enhancing your research’s transparency and reproducibility with our flipped classroom ReproducibiliTeach course. We’ll meet online for five weekly sessions, each 90 minutes, beginning February 12th at 16:00 CET.

Why ReproducibiliTeach?

1. Flipped Classroom Approach: Watch concise YouTube lectures before class.
2. Hands-On Lessons: Apply best practices in real time. Get feedback and insights from instructors and classmates.
3. Essential Topics:
   • Reporting guidelines & risk of bias measures
   • Research Resource Identifiers (RRIDs)
   • Study flow charts
   • Method reproducibility & protocol registration
   • Spreadsheet data management & Data repositories
   • Data visualization

Audience:
Ideal for biomedical researchers working with small sample sizes—preclinical, in vitro, or human studies.

Outcome:
You’ll leave the course with:

• Practical tools and guidelines for transparent reporting and reproducible science
• Improved data and figure presentation
• ECTS credit (0.8) upon successful completion

When & Where:

• Start Date: Feb 12th, 2025, 16:00 CET
• Location: Zoom (link provided after registration)

For more info and to register, visit our course page.

We look forward to see you in our class!

Best,
The ReproducibiliTeach Team

Tracey Weissgerber & René Bernard

 

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BUA Postdoc Academy

 

The BUA Postdoc Academy is a program of the Berlin University Alliance, a consortium of the four leading scientific institutions in Berlin: The Freie Universität Berlin, the Humboldt Universität, the Technische Universität and the Charité – Universitätsmedizin. 

The Postdoc Academy aims to provide targeted support for postdocs of the BUA institutions in their career development. The primary task is to assist postdocs in making informed and individually good career decisions. It creates an environment where postdocs can recognize their own strengths, acquire necessary competencies and build relevant knowledge and skills. A key aspect of this process is networking: the BUA Postdoc Academy promotes exchange and interdisciplinary networking between postdocs and other actors in the scientific community. To achieve these goals, the BUA Postdoc Academy has developed a comprehensive program portfolio that consists of eight key elements.

 

Offers

• Postdoc School
• Career Workshops
• Job Shadowing (next round: Feb.-June 2025, Apply by January 26, 2025)
• …

 

Find more information here: https://www.berlin-university-alliance.de/en/commitments/promoting-talent/postdoc-academy/index.html

 

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DFG Prospects: Online Info Talks on DFG Funding Opportunities for Research Careers

 

Germany’s largest independent research funding organization offers funding opportunities for all career stages between doctorate and professorship. Join the online talk and get to know the DFG and its funding portfolio for postdocs. DFG offers an overview of all funding instruments for the time after your doctorate.

 

Upcoming talks in the Prospects Series:

• 18/02/2025, 1:30 - 3:00 p.m. CET - Heisenberg Programme
• 26/03/2025, 9:30 - 11:00 a.m. CET - DFG Funding Opportunities for Postdocs
• 28/04/2025, 1:15 - 2:45 p.m. CET - Emmy Noether-Programm (in German)
• 26/05/2025, 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. CET - Walter Benjamin Programme
• 27/06/2025, 10:30 - 12:00 a.m. CET - DFG-Förderangebote für die wissenschaftliche Karriere (in German)

 

More info here.

 

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