News from the Doctoral Office // GSP course mandatory

Please note that since 01.01.2025, participation in a course on good scientific practice amounting to one credit point or two days is mandatory for all newly admitted doctoral candidates. Proof of this must be submitted to the doctoral office by the time the dissertation is submitted at the latest.

For doctoral candidates who were admitted to the Department of Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy before 01.01.2025, this regulation will apply from 01.04.2026. This means that proof of course participation must be provided for dissertation submissions from 01.04.2026.

If you have any questions, please contact us.

A selection of courses on good scientific practice can be found on the websites of the Dahlem Research School and the Berlin University Alliance, among others. We also provide regular information about courses on this topic in our newsletters and on our website.

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Bitte beachten Sie, dass seit 01.01.2025 für alle neu zugelassenen Promovierenden die Teilnahme an einem Kurs zur guten wissenschaftlichen Praxis im Umfang von einem Leistungspunkt bzw. zwei Tagen verpflichtend ist. Der Nachweis darüber muss spätestens zur Dissertationseinreichung beim Promotionsbüro eingereicht werden.

Für Promovierende, die vor dem 01.01.2025 zur Promotion am Fachbereich Biologie, Chemie, Pharmazie zugelassen wurden, gilt diese Regelung ab 01.04.2026. Das bedeutet, dass bei Dissertationseinreichungen ab dem 01.04.2026 der Nachweis über die Kursteilnahme erbracht werden muss.

Bei Fragen wenden Sie sich bitte an uns.

Eine Kursauswahl zur guten wissenschaftlichen Praxis finden Sie u.a. auf den Seiten der Dahlem Research School und der Berlin University Alliance. Außerdem informieren wir in unseren Newslettern und auf unserer Website regelmäßig über Kurse zu diesem Thema.

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Career Perspectives with a PhD in Natural & Life Sciences //  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.

Find all information here.

We look forward to meeting you there!

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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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Das Angebot einer psychologischen Erstberatung an den support.points gilt auch für Sie als Beschäftigte der FU Berlin.

Die support.points Mitarbeitenden beraten an 10 Standorten in Dahlem, Lankwitz und Düppel und online. Sie können die Beratung frei an jedem der Standorte aufsuchen und sind dabei an keinen Fachbereich gebunden. Es werden offene Sprechstunden und Gespräche mit Termin angeboten. Die Sprechzeiten finden Sie hier: Sprechzeiten • Mental Wellbeing • Freie Universität Berlin. Die Gespräche können auf Deutsch und Englisch, an einigen Standorten auch in weiteren Sprachen stattfinden.

Häufige Beratungsthemen sind z.B. Belastungsanzeichen wie Ängste, Schlafbeschwerden, Depressivität und Sorgen in beruflichen oder privaten Beziehungen oder auch zur Suche nach einem Therapieplatz. 

Die Beratungen sind vertraulich, die Mitarbeiter*innen unterliegen der Schweigepflicht. Auf Wunsch können Gespräche auch anonym geführt werden. Falls notwendig, verweisen wir auf weitere Beratungsstellen innerhalb und außerhalb der Universität.

Im Januar bieten die support.points im Rahmen der Mental Health Awareness Weeks vom 13.-24.1. eine Reihe von Veranstaltungen an. Hierunter sind auch die Veranstaltung „Achtsamkeit und Entspannung für Mitarbeitende“ am 14.1. und die Veranstaltung „Zeitmanagement für Mitarbeitende“ am 23.1., zu denen Sie ganz herzlich eingeladen sind.  

Auch bei den übrigen Veranstaltungen (z.B. zur Therapieplatzsuche) sind sie gerne willkommen. Bei diesen Veranstaltungen werden auch Studierende teilnehmen.

Alle Infos zu den Veranstaltungen gibt es hier.

Eine Anmeldung ist nicht nötig, kommen Sie einfach vorbei.

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Doctoral Council

The Doctoral Council of the FU Berlin will be newly elected this year, most likely on June 17 & 18.

What is the Doctoral Council, what does it do, what are its rights and duties? In this DRS Podcast episode, Maren Vogel, speaker of the Doctoral Council of FU Berlin, talks about all these questions. Maren gives a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like to be part of the council.

So check out this podcast and contact us at the Graduate Center if you are interested in being part of the doctoral council for the BCP department.

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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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Dahlem Research School (DRS) Workshops & Open Door Talks

Material crisis and loss of motivation during the doctorate?   
Date: January 16, 1 - 3 pm

Venue: in presence, DRS Hittorfstr. 16

Registration: https://www.drs.fu-berlin.de/en/node/102815

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Humboldt Graduate School (HGS) workshops

Improved Reading
Offen für alle Promovierenden der Berlin University Alliance

Trainer: Friedrich Hasse

Daten: 20. & 21.01.2025, 09:00–17:00

Format: in Präsenz in der Humboldt Graduate School, Luisenstr. 56, 10017 Berlin, R. 122

Sprache: Deutsch

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Planning the Completion of your Dissertation
Open to doctoral candidates of the Berlin University Alliance

Trainer: Mark Edwards

Dates: 29 & 30/01/2025, 09:00–12:00

Format: online

Language: English

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Journal Club Diversity and Responsible Research and Innovation  – DRIVERS // Feb 3

The Journal Club for Diversity and Responsible Research and Innovation (DRIVERS) meets online on the first Monday of every month at 11:00 a.m. to critically discuss selected literature on diversity and RRI, paying particular attention to how these topics intersect, and to the role of research assessment and its reform. 

Jointly led by colleagues from NeuroCure, the Einstein Center for Neurosciences (ECN), the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), and the BIH QUEST Center, DRIVERS brings multiple perspectives to the discussion.

We warmly invite you to join us and contribute your views! We strongly recommend that participants read the paper in advance. Those who regularly participate in the Journal Club can receive a certificate of participation. Please contact us for further information: https://neurocure.de/diversity-kopie/drivers-journal-club.html

The DRIVERS Journal Club will take a break in January and resume in February, 2025.

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Una Europa FAIR Data Hackathon // Apr 21 – 25 // Application Deadline Jan 26

FAIR data – Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable – streamlines data sharing. It enhances transparency, supports cross-disciplinary research, and minimises duplication. Although applicable to all research areas, FAIR data principles are especially impactful in healthcare, environmental science, and policymaking, enabling a unified, sustainable approach to data management on a European and global scale.

Apply to be part of this unique week at the Universiteit Leiden: deepen your FAIR data knowledge and skills, and connect with an international community by taking part in the 3-day hackathon and 2-day international SOLID data conference SOSY2025 in Leiden.

If you work within the focus areas of One Health, Data Science and AI, Cultural Heritage, Sustainability, Future Materials, and Europe and the World, have access to a quantitative or a qualitative dataset to be used during the hackathon and have a good command of English (level B2 or higher), this event could be for you.

Find more information and application details here.

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Save the date - una Europa Summer School on Sustainable Food Systems // June 2 – 6, 2025

Next year´s una Europa Summer School will be held in June in Helsinki.

Dates of the course - physical meeting in Finland: 02.06.25 - 06.06.25 effective training days

Timing of the virtual meetings: Both before and after the physical meeting (exact dates to be confirmed)

Course description: The Una Europa PhD summer school on sustainable food systems aims to engage doctoral researchers in an open and stimulating environment where some of the main challenges connected to the sustainability transition of the global and national food systems will be discussed and analyzed. The summer school will specifically focus on the protein transition, a trend that aims to rebalance protein intake between animal and alternative proteins. Protein transition is currently central in scientific and policy discussions on food system transformation. The topic will be approached using a systematic and transdisciplinary approach, based on challenge-based learning, participatory laboratories, case studies analysis and a field trip/visit.
Doctoral researchers will be given the opportunity to be active participants and they will be equipped with skills and competencies to identify the key challenges and the diverse solutions that the protein transition might entail.

Information on the application details will follow in one of the next newsletters. For now, please save the date.