Staying grounded during your doctorate (3 appointments)

11 March 2026 – 25 March 2026

9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Alexandra Gerny

Researching and writing a PhD has it all: it can be rewarding, exciting, difficult, and lonely. A fitting set of skills and insights on how you deal best with yourself when the going gets rough will help you with such a long project. And the going will get rough, that is almost guaranteed: you might get stuck or lost, are frustrated about your supervisor, doubt your abilities, work way too much or procrastinate more than is good for you.

What you need is resilience: the ability to bounce back when life is getting difficult. People differ in that: some seem to be able to handle almost everything, while others are less stable. The good news is however that you can learn to be more resilient. This workshop teaches you the skills to do just that.

You will learn

• What the 5 pillars of resilience are

• What pressure, stress and anxiety do with mind and body, and how you can minimize the negative effects.

• How to handle feelings such as anger, loneliness, shame or uncertainty.

• How to discover and use your strengths and resources.

• How to find and use opportunities during your PhD, even when it’s difficult.

After the workshop you will

• Have a better understanding of yourself.

• Know a large number of practical, hands-on and useful tools.

• Have your personal recipe box, so you know exactly what you can do when things are getting strenuous or difficult.

The facts

• 3 sessions of 3 hours. The first session on 11 March at 9.30 will take place in Mannheim. The sessions on 18 and 25 March at 9.30 will be online.
• Small group with 3–10 participants.
• In English

Who is Alexandra Gerny? Alexandra Gerny is an experienced coach in Amsterdam/The Netherlands. Her professional background is in psychology and systems- psychodynamics. She accompanies professionals in science, art, culture, law and medicine so that they can fulfil their professional role in a powerful and balanced way. At the University of Basel/Switzerland she once wrote half a PhD until she realised that her skills as a coach and lecturer are better (and more satisfying) than her academic skills. She is President of the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations (ISPSO).

The workshop is free of charge, but registration is binding.

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