Transferable Skills

Last update: May 16, 2012

Coping with Differences: Intercultural Training for Foreign Researchers

Simone Gutbrod M.A., ICD-Experts
21 May 2012, 11:00 - 18:00 h, 22 May 09:00 - 17:00 h
Leibnizstraße 1, room 105a

Every culture has its characteristics in terms of communication and interaction. So has Germany. Coming from abroad, you sometimes might encounter situations you perceive as strange and which leave you uncertain how to react. These can be personal as well as professional.

This two day workshop is designed for foreign PhD candidates who would like to know more about the specifics of working in German academia and about German mentality.

It is focussing on the characteristics of German academic culture at institutes and universities: the interaction with supervisors and collegues, the culture of open debate, time planning or dealing with assignments. Specifics of German culture are discussed by looking at common cultural misunderstandings in work life.

The course will help you to feel more comfortable at work and in every day life in Germany. We will share experiences and have fun in an interesting workshop.

Methods:
Theoretical input will be predominated by variable interactive experiences. We will use simulations, case examples, teamwork and active exchange of experiences.

Lecturer:
Simone Gutbrod M.A. (ICD-Experts; www.icd-experts.net) is a certified, cross-cultural trainer who has studied intercultural communication and lived abroad in Indonesia and Australia. She regularly gives seminars at universities and qualifies scientists for cross-cultural challenges.

ISOS PhDs have priority in our courses.

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Digitale Bildbearbeitung mit Photoshop

Lars Michelsen, Geomedien/Geographisches Institut der CAU
2. Juni 2012, 10-16 Uhr, 16. Juni 2012, 10-13 Uhr
ISOS Seminarraum: Leibnizstr. 1 Raum 205

Wie kann man Bilder so aufbereiten, dass sie für Publikationen in Zeitschriften oder auf Postern usw. geeignet sind? In diesem Kurs werden Grundlagen der digitalen Bildbearbeitung vermittelt. Eigene Bilder können mitgebracht werden!

Inhalt:

l Rastergrafiken: die wichtigsten Dateiformate, deren Eigenschaften und Verwendung
l Programmaufbau und Oberfläche von Photoshop
l die wichtigsten Werkzeuge der Werkzeugpalette (Freistellen, Auswählen, Pinsel, Text, Stempel, etc.)
l Farb- und Bildkorrektur
l Möglichkeiten der Bildmanipulation
l Arbeiten mit Ebenen (Ebenen-Arten, Einstellungsmöglichkeiten, Erstellen von, Ebenenstile)
l Bildkomposition
l Effekte und Filter
l mediengerechtes Speichern und Dateiformate
l Bildrechte

ISOS Doktoranden haben Vorrang!

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Stepping stones and stumbling blocks - How your advisors define a successful PhD candidate

Prof. Katrin Rehdanz and Prof. Arne Körtzinger
6 June 2012 15:00-17:00 h
ISOS seminar room, Leibnizstr.1, R 206

What is my role as a PhD candidate? What is expected of me with regard to my work, the quality of my research and the responsibility I take on? Do I really have to be the first to arrive at and the last to leave the lab to be a good PhD candidate?

Eventually, your success as a doctoral candidate is determined by how the scientific community evaluates you and your work. Your advisor’s role as a representative of the scientific community is to prepare you for that evaluation that sets in with your first scientific presentation or publication. Do you know how your advisor sees his / her role? Are the standards applied always openly communicated?

Overall, expectations towards PhD candidates are more or less the same across research areas and working groups – whether or not they are explicitly verbalised by your advisors. Knowing these standards may enable you to avoid stumbling blocks and focus on stepping stones of your career.

In this course two experienced scientists and supervisors will provide first hand information and will answer your questions. Take the chance to obtain information and inspiration that may help you to define your role and become a successful early stage researcher.

Registered ISOS PhDs have priority in our courses.

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Forget your Writer's Block!
The Psychological Aspects of Writing.

Barbara Stieghan
13 June 2012, 13:00 - 18.00 h
GEOMAR Westshore Building, Seminar Room

| Writer’s anxiety and writer’s block in scientific writing
| Get into the writing flow.
| Models and methods of creative writing.

Registered ISOS PhDs have priority in our courses.

Application

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Getting started with the doctorate: Setting the compass

Dr. Simon Golin, GOLIN Wissenschaftsmanagement, Hamburg
19 June 2012, 9:30 - 17:30 h and
20 June 2012, 9:30 - 16:30 h
Seminar Room 105a, Leibnizstr. 1

A doctorate is a complex and long lasting project. If it is not usefully structured from the beginning it is easy to lose sight of the bigger picture and often also motivation in a maze of possibilities.

Developing a full understanding of your goals – for the doctorate as well as for the labour market entry which follows – is a prerequisite for an efficient working process. This will allow a strategic and reflexive approach starting with the selection of a suitable topic through to the realistic conceptualisation of the different phases of work.

In the workshop a small group of participants will each set personal objectives and then convert these into an individual outline for their doctoral thesis. The doctoral candidates will identify the central phases of their doctoral project as well as possible stumbling blocks and areas where further skills development is needed. Additionally, the framework requirements of doctoral research and the relationship with the supervisor will be discussed.

The following topics are at the core of this workshop:

The basics of doctoral research: Developing constructive objectives
Setting the course: The tailor-made doctoral topic
Doctoral research as a process: Setting priorities, defining milestones
Keeping the bigger picture in mind: Self assessment and evaluating objectives
My skills profile: What additional qualifications do I need – now and later?
My own project in context: Aligning objectives with the supervisor
The doctorate: My next steps

Registered ISOS PhDs have priority in our courses.

Application

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Academic Writing:

How to create good texts

Melanie Lynn Conrad Ph.D., Golin Wissenschaftsmanagement
16 - 17 July 2012, 9.00 - 17.00 h
Leibnizstraße 1, room 105a

For many young scientists writing is the most difficult part of research work. Poor structure, breakneck formulations and unclear argumentation lead to texts which are not too user friendly.
However, for the success of academics it is essential that the content is successfully conveyed to the relevant target groups – from the subject community to the wider public. The methods and instruments of scientific writing can be learnt. With a few select mechanisms for structuring and techniques for building arguments, it becomes possible to articulate even complex data clearly and comprehensibly. Coherently built up and convincingly formulated, even academic texts can be an exciting read!
In this workshop the process of academic writing is highlighted from the first idea through the structuring and formation of the text to its completion. The participants engage with the content related, formal and organisational aspects of writing and train their text competency with exercises.

The following topics are covered:

| Abstract, article, thesis: Text types and reasons for writing in academia
| From idea to text: Topic selection, structure, argumentation
| Rummaging, digging, serving it hot: Research strategies
| Writing as a process:Utilising creative bursts – avoiding blocks
| The eye reads too: Convention and form
| Academic writing: My next steps

Melanie Lynn Conrad PhD, Berlin, was born in Vancouver, Canada where she studied biology at the University of British Columbia. Presently working as a postdoctoral researcher studying tuberculosis, her field work in India and years spent abroad have honed her cross-cultural communication skills. She has over 10 years of experience in scientific writing and presentation – which covers everything from paper and grant writing to explaining her research to her grandmother.

Registered ISOS PhDs have priority in our courses.

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Grant Writing for Scientists:

How to write a successful proposal

Dr. C. Schütte, ProSciencia
10 September 2012, 9.00 - 17.00 h
Leibnizstraße 1, room 105a

Writing a proposal means promoting your science! With your proposal you need to convince the reviewers that your project is more relevant, more important and more promising than than those of your competitors and that hence the money should be going to you. This isn‘t easily done and there are several do‘s and don‘ts to consider.

The aim of this course is to familiarize participants with the strategies for successful grant applications to various funding bodies like BMBF or DFG. The corresponding funding principles will be exemplified in exercises for preparing work plans and writing of grant abstracts.

Registered ISOS PhDs have priority in our courses.

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How to Apply for an Academic Job

Dr. Gunther Tress, Munich
24 - 25 September 2012, 9.00 - 17.00 h
Leibnizstraße 1, room 105b

This course supports you in applying successfully for a post in research or higher education. lt takes you through the main steps of the application process, from the decision to embark on an academic career right through to the final stages of negotiating your contract. This Seminar will enable you to assess your skills in terms of the job you want and increase your awareness of the resources available for finding job openings and potential employers. You will learn how lo pitch your CV exactly so that they match the job openings which interest you, as well as gain invaluable advice on how to prepare for job interviews and how to respond to the kinds of questions you can expect from selection committees. We also cover the important matter of what to consider during campus visits, and how to make the best possible impression on your potential employer. You will also learn how to react when offered a position, how best to negotiate in order to get your career off to a good start, and how to build a sound relationship with your future employer.

Target group:
PhD students from the second year onwards of their doctoral studies. Post-docs and junior researchers, as well as research or teaching assistants who hold a PhD. This course is suitable for those about to start applying for jobs, as well as for those already in the process of actively searching for a post.

Content:

how the job seeking process works
how to identify your career goals
how to review and complement your skills
how to locate and de-code job advertisements
how to prepare an unsolicited application
how to draft application letters
how to develop a CV
how to prepare for job interviews
how to make the most of campus visits
how to respond to a job offer
how to negotiate your contract

Registered ISOS PhDs have priority in our courses.

Application

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Conversational German

01 January - 31 December 2012
Mondays 15 - 16:30 h at GEOMAR, Düsternbrooker Weg
Saturdays 10:15 - 11:45 h at the Lektorat Deutsch als Fremdsprache, Leibnizstraße 2, Room 011/012

This course is designed especially for doctoral candidates from abroad, and their partners, who would like to manage German on a day-to-day basis.

John Tiede, the tutor of the course, defines the course topics on your needs, so that the German grammar is part of the course although the title does not show this.

Each course day is designed by your questions on special topics and problems and therefore the course concept is developed freely. Through this and the almost weekly changing participants, the course topics vary in their focus. Although Pronunciation and language are the most important. As a necessary foundation grammar understanding is practiced by text work.

This is an All-in-One course, to which you are warmly invited!

Since you do not have to register for this course, you can come and see for yourself.

Therefore contact John Tiede via mail. He will inform you on the current levels of the three offered courses and will tell you when the next course will take place. After that you can decide for yourself, if the course matches your expectations and you would like to participate on a regular basis.

More Information → Conversational German

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Ansprechpartner

Angelika Hoffmann

Bereich:
ISOS, Project Assistant

Telefon:
+49 431-880-1559

Email:
ahoffmann@uv.uni-kiel.de
Kerstin Hoffmann

Bereich:
ISOS, Project Manager

Telefon:
+49 431-880-4837

Email:
khoffmann@uv.uni-kiel.de