Continued Academic Training

The lecture series provides you with a perfect opportunity to easily obtain information on career-related topics, get to know contact persons at the university and ask questions. The lectures take place at irregular intervals on Wednesdays between noon and 1 p.m. via Zoom. Just tune in!

18 September: Career planning in academia

16 October: Funding opportunities for postdocs – an overview

6 November: The Walter Benjamin Program of the German Research Foundation (DFG) – insights from a grantee at the University of Mannheim (with Dr. Daniela Kuschel)

28 November (Thursday!): The “Elite Program” of the Baden-Württemberg Stiftung – insights from a fellow at the University of Mannheim (with junior professor Alex Spike Gibbs, Ph.D.)

11 December: Your first funding application – dos and don'ts (with professor Edgar Erdfelder)

Do you use visual presentations (images, slides, posters) in your research activities? In this training, you will learn to visualize your complex research ideas and findings so your messages stand out and are more easily understood by researchers and people outside of academia.

We will not focus on aesthetics but on how knowledge about human visual perception can help you create effective academic images, slides, and posters.

You will design a graphical abstract of your research, discuss it with peer researchers in a group exercise, and get realizable advice and feedback on your own images and slides. It is a comprehensive, structured and memorable workshop – easy to follow, useful, and fun.

Contents
The training is offered as blended learning combining a self-study module and an online workshop. Participation requires investing time and effort, but you can expect a high return.

Self-study via an online platform: 5–6 hours (material will be shared one month prior to the online workshop)
– Communicating with academic vs non-academic audiences
– Visual perception and what humans find intuitive
– Layout: facilitating comprehension with structured layouts
– Eye-flow: effortlessly guide the audience through your presentation
– Colors: how to amplify, not 'fancify'
– Typography to enhance legibility, structure, and aesthetics
– Slides that amplify messages and do not distract the audience’s attention when you are presenting
– Posters: strategy and processes for creating posters that attract and explain
– Homework: you submit your images and slides for feedback.

Online workshop Partial completion of the self-study module is mandatory
– Recap and Q&;A: an effective review of the topics from the self-study module and optional 1-on-1 consulting with the instructor to address your individual challenges.
– Feedback on submitted material: you will receive actionable suggestions on how to improve your research images and slides.
– Graphical abstract drawing exercise: you will draw a sketch of your research
– Peer-review exercise: we will build groups in which the participants learns how to give and receive informed feedback to/from peers.

Date and time
19 September 2024, 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p..m.

Format
Online via Zoom

Target group
Early career researchers from the ENGAGE.EU partner universities

Language of instruction
English

Instructor
Dr. Jernej Zupanc, founder of Seyens Ltd.
My mission is to equip and empower researchers to effectively communicate using visual aids and make an impact with their research. I study eclectically, always looking for approaches from different fields that can be easily applied to research presentation. I distill the principles and practices into easily understandable and enjoyable learning experiences. Time is our most valuable resource and I aim for the training to be a worthwhile investment for participants. I hold a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Ljubljana, am a Fulbright alumnus, worked as grant evaluator for the EC and consulted on over EUR 20 million in successful EU grant applications. Since 2016, training researchers has become my sole professional passion.

Maximum number of participants
18 people

Registration
Please register until 14 August2024 by writing to postdocsmail-uni-mannheim.de from your university e-mail address. Please note that we can only consider registrations sent from your university e-mail account to ensure affiliation with an ENGAGE.EU partner university. If there are more registrations than available places, the participants will be drawn by lot and informed by 15 August. Please find information on the processing of your personal data in our information on data protection.

This ENGAGE.EU workshop is funded by the DAAD, the German Academic Exchange Service.

Entrepreneurial thinking does not start with a business plan. We aim for a more playful approach by asking you: How much startup is in research? In this workshop, you will experiment with two design thinking techniques: Ideation and prototyping. Discover these user-centric methods to yield ideas and develop them further.

Ideation
You have been working on your research for a while, but haven't figured out how to translate it into a concrete business idea? Or maybe you have many ideas and cannot decide which one to follow? Based on the design thinking approach, you will try out different ideation techniques. You will learn what makes a good idea and how to formulate it for testing.

Learning objectives:

• Understand a problem as a basis for innovative ideation
• Get to know different brainstorming methods and test them
• Generate, evaluate and select ideas

Prototyping
How much startup is in your research and what does the product of this startup look like if you realize it with the help of paper, stapler, and dry noodles? You will become familiar with design thinking methods and practice rapid prototyping, together with other young and creative researchers. This way, you will playfully discover the entrepreneurial potential of your doctoral or postdoctoral research project.

Learning objectives:

• Learn about the problem-solution fit and critical function of an idea
• Get to know different types of prototypes
• Train your creativity and spontaneity

Date and time
14 October from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (incl. lunch break)

Format
Online via Zoom

Target group
Early career researchers from the ENGAGE.EU partner universities

Language of instruction
English

Instructor
Young Entrepreneurs in Science
We want to open up new career perspectives for highly qualified, early-career researchers and channel their expert knowledge into entrepreneurial endeavors. Through learning methods such as design thinking, Young Entrepreneurs in Science encourages participants to discover and share their inherent competencies and potential. The involvement of startup founders and intrapreneurs of innovation-oriented companies gives participants realistic and stimulating insights into the chances and challenges of entrepreneurial activity.

Maximum number of participants
25 people

Registration
Please register until 30 September2024 by writing to postdocsmail-uni-mannheim.de with your university e-mail address. Please note that we can only consider registrations sent from your university e-mail account to ensure affiliation with an ENGAGE.EU partner university. If there are more registrations than available places, the participants will be drawn by lot and informed by 1 October. Please find information on the processing of your personal data in our information on data protection.

This ENGAGE.EU workshop is funded by the DAAD, the German Academic Exchange Service.

In dieser viertägigen Veranstaltung (2 x 2 Tage) stehen die Grundlagen des didaktischen Handelns in der universitären Lehre im Mittelpunkt. Die Teilnehmenden beschäftigen sich mit der Frage, wie eine Lehrveranstaltung unter Berücksichtigung lernpsychologischer Erkenntnisse sowie institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen teilnehmer- und handlungsorientiert gestaltet werden kann. Im engeren Sinne geht es um die Planung, Durchführung und Evaluation einer kompetenzorientierten Lehre sowie um das Design von kompetenzorientierten Prüfungssettings. Darüber hinaus werden die Teilnehmenden angeregt, sich mit ihren eigenen Lehr- und Lernerfahrungen auseinanderzusetzen und Ihre Rolle als Hochschullehrer*in zu reflektieren.

Der Kurs eignet sich als Einstieg in das „Baden-Württemberg Zertifikat für Hochschuldidaktik“.

Termine
12./13. September 2024 und 17./18. Oktober 2024, jeweils ganztägig in Präsenz an der Universität Mannheim. 

Zielgruppe
Für alle Neulinge in der Lehre und solche, die sich ein fundiertes didaktisches Wissen aneignen wollen.

Sprache
Deutsch

Kosten
Die Kursgebühr pro Seminartag beträgt 25 Euro.

Eine zentrale Rück­erstattung der Kursgebühren für HDZ-Workshops ist an der Universität Mannheim aufgehoben. Lehr­stühle haben jedoch auf freiwilliger Basis die Möglichkeit, ihren Lehr­enden die 25 Euro Gebühr pro Kurstag zurückzuerstatten. Um diese Rück­erstattung ordnungs­gemäß abzuwickeln verwenden sie bitte das aktuelle Formular zur Rück­erstattung der Universität Mannheim, welches Sie zusammen mit der Rechnung und dem Zahlungs­nachweis bei der Universitäts­verwaltung einreichen müssen.

Trainer
Dr. Michael Fischer

Anmeldung
Bitte melden Sie sich für die Workshops über die Homepage des HDZ Baden-Württemberg an. Fragen zum Kurs und zum Baden-Württemberg Zertifikat für Hochschuldidaktik beantwortet Ihnen gerne Anne Scheuing vom ZLL.

Protokolle, Praktikumsberichte, längere Haus-/Seminararbeiten, z.T. verbunden mit einem Exposé, bis hin zur Anfertigung von Bachelor- und Masterarbeiten: Die Anforderungen an Studierende, wissenschaftliche Texte zu schreiben, sind – was Quantität und Qualität angeht – in den Fächern sehr unterschiedlich. Die Erfahrungen vieler (häufig frustrierter) Lehrender und auch Studien zur Entwicklung wissenschaftlicher Denk- und Schreibfähigkeiten zeigen: Die Prämisse, Studierende seien grundsätzlich und bereits ab dem Studienbeginn in der Lage, „wissenschaftliche Arbeiten“ zu schreiben, trifft in vielen Fällen nicht zu.
Aus dieser Situation ergeben sich, vor allem bei Abschlussarbeiten, ein hoher Betreuungsbedarf und eine Verantwortung von Lehrenden für eine lerngerechte Betreuung. Es stellen sich engagierten
Lehrenden zwei Fragen:

• Wie kann und will ich meine Studierenden bei ihrem Schreibprozess unterstützen?
• Wie kann dabei ein „alltagstauglicher“ Weg aussehen, um z.B. den eigenen Aufwand für eine gute Betreuung nicht beliebig zu steigern?

Die Teilnehmenden werden im Workshop ihr Betreuungskonzept (weiter-)entwickeln und – als praktisches Produkt – einen individuellen Betreuungsleitfaden erarbeiten. Ziel ist es, Transparenz herzustellen – z.B. im Hinblick auf inhaltliche und formale Anforderungen – und für Entlastung zu sorgen. Im Workshop geht es um

• eine Optimierung von Organisation und Verlauf der Betreuung,
• die Beurteilungskriterien,
• Art und Ausmaß der Betreuung, also um das Betreuungsverhältnis (z.B. in Bezug auf den Umgang mit Entwürfen, um Rückmeldungen oder um die Frage von Verantwortlichkeiten und Rollen).

Dabei arbeiten wir immer mit dem Blick auf die fachspezifischen Gegebenheiten und Unterschiede und auf die Alltagstauglichkeit der Ideen. Die Teilnehmenden sind nach dem Workshop in der Lage,

• ihre konkreten Anforderungen an wissenschaftliche Arbeiten (und damit auch ihre Beurteilungskriterien) zu formulieren und zu kommunizieren,
• wesentliche Bausteine für einen Betreuungsleitfaden zu entwickeln,
• Techniken und Materialien einzusetzen, mit denen sie Studierende bei der Erstellung wissenschaftlicher Arbeiten unterstützen können,
• hilfreiches Feedback so zu geben, dass selbstverantwortliches Lernen gefördert wird.

Der Kurs ist für das „Baden-Württemberg Zertifikat für Hochschul­didaktik“ anrechenbar.

Termine
10./11. Oktober, jeweils 9:00–15:30 Uhr in Präsenz an der Universität Mannheim
11. November, 9:00–10:00 Uhr Abschluss digital

Ziel­gruppe
alle Lehrende der Universität Mannheim

Sprache
Deutsch

Kosten
Die Kursgebühr pro Seminartag beträgt 25 Euro.

Eine zentrale Rück­erstattung der Kursgebühren für HDZ-Workshops ist an der Universität Mannheim aufgehoben. Lehr­stühle haben jedoch auf freiwilliger Basis die Möglichkeit, ihren Lehr­enden die 25 Euro Gebühr pro Kurstag zurückzuerstatten. Um diese Rück­erstattung ordnungs­gemäß abzuwickeln verwenden sie bitte das aktuelle Formular zur Rück­erstattung der Universität Mannheim, welches Sie zusammen mit der Rechnung und dem Zahlungs­nachweis bei der Universitäts­verwaltung einreichen müssen.

Trainer
Martin Mürmann

Anmeldung
Bitte melden Sie sich für die Workshops über die Homepage des HDZ Baden-Württemberg an. Fragen zum Kurs und zum Baden-Württemberg Zertifikat für Hochschul­didaktik beantwortet Ihnen gerne Anne Scheuing vom ZLL.

Lehrevaluationen sind an den Fakultäten fest verankerte Prozesse und werden in der Regel durch standardisierte Fragebögen realisiert. Darüber hinaus ist es für alle Beteiligten sinnvoll, regelmäßig Rückmeldung zu ausgesuchten Aspekten einer Lehrveranstaltung zu erhalten oder zu geben. Dies gilt in einem besonderen Maße für Maßnahmen der formativen Lehrevaluation, die im Prozess und nicht nur am Ende einer Veranstaltung stattfinden.
Thema dieses Workshops ist es, die an Universitäten durchgeführte Evaluationspraxis auf Grundlage der Evaluationsforschung kritisch zu hinterfragen und um alternative Formen der Lehrevaluation zu ergänzen. Neben den in diesem Kontext bekannten Methoden aus der Präsenzlehre wie „Parkspaziergang“ oder „Fünf-Finger-Methode“ werden auch Varianten der Online-Evaluation vorgestellt und diskutiert.
Ziel des Workshops ist es, einen „Methoden-Werkzeugkasten“ an die Hand zu bekommen, um mit Hilfe der Studierenden Lehrsituationen und Lehrprozesse zu reflektieren und gegebenenfalls zukunftsorientiert zu hinterfragen. Gerade formative Lehrevaluationen geben Lehrenden die Chance, die positiven Aspekte ihrer Lehre zu sichern und zugleich ihre Lehrveranstaltung und Lehrpraxis kontinuierlich weiterzuentwickeln.

Der Kurs ist für das „Baden-Württemberg Zertifikat für Hochschul­didaktik“ anrechenbar.

Termin
15. November 2024, 9:00–17:00 Uhr, online

Ziel­gruppe
alle Lehr­ende der Universität Mannheim

Sprache
Deutsch

Kosten
Die Kursgebühr pro Seminartag beträgt 25 Euro.

Eine zentrale Rück­erstattung der Kursgebühren für HDZ-Workshops ist an der Universität Mannheim aufgehoben. Lehr­stühle haben jedoch auf freiwilliger Basis die Möglichkeit, ihren Lehr­enden die 25 Euro Gebühr pro Kurstag zurückzuerstatten. Um diese Rück­erstattung ordnungs­gemäß abzuwickeln verwenden sie bitte das aktuelle Formular zur Rück­erstattung der Universität Mannheim, welches Sie zusammen mit der Rechnung und dem Zahlungs­nachweis bei der Universitäts­verwaltung einreichen müssen.

Trainer
Dr. Michael Fischer

Anmeldung
Bitte melden Sie sich für die Workshops über die Homepage des HDZ Baden-Württemberg an. Fragen zum Kurs und zum Baden-Württemberg Zertifikat für Hochschul­didaktik beantwortet Ihnen gerne Anne Scheuing vom ZLL.

Seminar: Improve your skills in writing academic papers and funding applications
This course aims at training and improving the skills of postdocs in writing articles for scientific journals and funding applications to national and international funding organizations. In the first meeting, the instructor will provide the participants with general advice for writing papers and applications, including topics such as handling revisions and reviews. Each participant is expected to submit at least one paper or funding application based on their recent research to be discussed and revised during the course. All participants are expected to read every submitted paper. The paper or funding application will then be discussed in the course two weeks later, based on the topics and problems raised by the author. Recommendations for improvements will be given by both the instructor and the fellow participants. Hence, the course resembles a colloquium, except that the colloquium talk is replaced by a paper read by the participants in advance (much like in a brown-bag meeting).

Instructor
Professor Edgar Erdfelder, chair of Cognitive Psychology and Individual Differences

Seminar: Research Skills
Discover the world of academic research with the University Library’s seminar series “Research Skills”. Get helpful advice on efficient research data management, data analyses, FAIR data publication, open science, and data protection. These courses are open to to external participants.

Schedule
22 January: Introduction to research data management
14 February: Accessing historical documents made easy: A crash course on the eScriptorium transcription platform
15 February: ChatGPT for FAIR research data
20 February: Workshop on data management plans
27 February: Publishing data FAIRly (MADATA & Co.)
29 February: Analyzing data
5 March: Managing and presenting digital objects with MAObjects
7 March: Data protection essentials
12 March: OCR – Automated text recognition for research
14 March: Data processing (STATA)
19 March: The basics of creating digital editions
21 March: Data processing (R)
26 March: GitHub for research (data)
9 April: Introduction to Open Science
23 April: Replication crisis
30 April: Docker for reproducible research
14 May: Pre-registration and registered reports

Information event: Career planning in academia
It can be challenging to deal with your own career goals and plans and to reflect on them again and again. At the information event, we will provide you with suggestions and assistance. At the information event, we will provide you with suggestions and assistance:

Contents

• Career goal professorship
• What qualification paths are there?
• How are the different qualification paths – habilitation, junior professorship (with or without tenure track) or junior research group manager – structured?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of each qualification path?
• What else should I know when planning a career in academia?
• Which career strategies are helpful?
• Alternative career opportunities apart from a professorship

Instructor
Katharina Helmig from the German Association of University Professors and Lecturers (DHV)

Workshop: Spread your research – digital visibility in academia
Would you like to make your research visible online, but do not know which social media channel is the right one? Are you motivated to network online within and outside your academic community, but are unsure what steps are necessary to do so? Blog, podcast, video, X, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn or ResearchGate – there are various formats and platforms, but which of them do you really need? In the workshop, you will learn how to develop an individual visibility strategy and take the first steps to successfully implement it.

Contents

• What does digital research communication mean?
• What different channels and formats are there?
• How do I develop my personal communication strategy?
• Who are my target groups and how do I address them?
• How do I identify and use communication occasions?
• How do I communicate my research clearly?
• Best practice examples of digitally successful researchers

Instructor
Susanne Geu is a freelance author and coach for research communication from Berlin.

Workshop: Application training for appointment procedures
This application training for appointment procedures for academics provides you wit assistance and practical tips for optimizing your application documents and self-presentation before the appointment committee. Participants receive comprehensive information on the process and legal framework of the appointment procedure. You will receive tips on the design of your application documents as well as feedback on your presentation (application lecture or academic presentation). The interview with the appointment committee will be practiced in a role play.

Instructor
Dr. Ulrike Preißler from the German Association of University Professors and Lecturers (DHV)

Workshop held by the Teaching and Learning Center: Speaking in video productions

A workshop for those who want to speak their own texts or texts written by others in video productions in the recording studio and who want to acquire more basic know-how about this topic. In the recording studio, an individual’s personality is reduced to voice and speech – so details that are not noticed at all in presence become important. Working in the recording studio is not intuitive at all at first. On this day, you will gain an insight into studio work, learn the basics of speaking for the microphone and receive individual feedback and tips on your voice and speaking style.

Contents

• Warm-up for the voice
• Articulation training
• Professional speaking posture
• The basics of accentuating factual texts
• Basics of standard German pronunciation
• How to behave in a recording studio
• Practical training in the recording studio

Instructor
Maxi Zöllner

Workshop held by the Teaching and Learning Center: Mental Health First Aid course

At least once in their life, more than 40 percent of the German population suffer from a mental disorder that needs to be treated. Although many of those affected are in our immediate environment, this topic still triggers uncertainty, prejudice and fear, which is why prevention and destigmatization in this field are important.
Here, the Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) program comes into play. The Mental Health First Aid program for mental wellbeing was developed based on the successful program for first aid for injuries. In 12 hours, laypersons can learn how to provide first aid for mental health problems.

Contents

• In addition to theoretical knowledge, participants will learn about first-aid measures for those who develop mental health issues or who are in an acute mental health crisis and practice their knowledge in hands-on exercises.
• The skills imparted in the courses are designed to enable first aiders to recognize, address, and support students in mental health crises or deteriorating mental health.
• The participants who have completed the course have the option to take a virtual exam to be accredited as certified MHFA first aider.

Instructor
Veronika Lessel (ZI Mannheim)

Workshop held by the Teaching and Learning Center: Designing and implementing talking head videos
Our one-day workshop is aimed at teachers who would like to use talking head videos in teaching. This workshop provides you with a comprehensive introduction to the conception, creation, and editing of talking head videos.
The course begins with a theoretical part in which you will learn how to develop convincing video ideas and write effective scripts. We share tips and tricks on how to attract the attention of your target group. This is followed by a practical part in which you will work in groups to create a script for a short video and record it in the video studio of the University of Mannheim. In the last part, you will learn how to edit your recorded videos and how to insert text and graphics effectively with Adobe Premiere.
The aim of this workshop is to equip you with the necessary skills and knowledge to create talking head videos for teaching purposes.

Instructors
Annika Frank and Hannah Wagner (Teaching and Learning Center)

ENGAGE.EU workshop: Resilience and well-being in academia
Academia is an ultramarathon that we try to run as a sprint. This approach tends to leave us with little time or energy for life outside of work and very few resources to cope with challenges. But a healthier approach to research is essential if you want to build a sustainable career in academia (or anywhere else in this fast-paced, competitive world we live in).
This workshop provides you with tools to increase your resilience to stress, anxiety, and burnout, and to enhance your overall well-being. We will explore those self-critical inner voices that sabotage your motivation, explore how your mindset can help or hinder your day-to-day life and career prospects, incorporating the latest research findings on habit formation and well-being practices to enhance your attention, focus, creativity, and motivation and tune your productivity.

Objectives

• Identify the common challenges that we face in academia.
• Begin to explore how your mindset and mental models shape your experience and your mood.
• Begin to identify ineffective coping strategies (e.g., procrastination) and learn how to approach challenging or unpleasant tasks through a new lens.
• Learn how shifting your mindset can help you reframing thoughts, feelings, and outcomes using a range of psychological tools from CBT, ACT and mindfulness practices.
• Begin to understand the concept of self-compassion and how you can benefit from a kinder inner voice.

Instructor
Desiree Dickerson, PhD, Dickerson et al.

ENGAGE.EU workshop: International networking – Strategic networking skills for career collaborations & conferences
Like it or not, the world works on personal connections. You need to be able to build those connections easily. This workshop will provide you with the tools to effectively make new contacts to help you find collaboration partners, information, and jobs. This is not about selling yourself. It is about forming and benefiting from a reliable network. This workshop will provide you with simple networking techniques that are easy to apply and teach you open and honest methods to help you make the best use of opportunities like conferences, meetings, and careers fairs.

This workshop will teach you how to:

• Approach people and start conversations in a decent, non-pushy way.
• Make a good impression on potential collaboration partners or employers without the hard sell.
• Find a reliable institute/group that is right for you to collaborate with or work in.
• Access the hidden job market of unadvertised positions when job hunting, become the “preferred candidate” or even get a position that has been created for you specifically
• Gather the information needed to aid your search and any negotiations (including requirements, authorship, and salary).
• Give yourself the edge over others who use the more usual methods of contacting people.

The confidence to make progress
Knowing how to network alone is not enough. You need to have the confidence to actually do it. Because of this, the workshop will include a module on how to improve your self-confidence. Not manage your low self-confidence but actually change your feeling of self-confidence. You will find the approach eye opening.

Outcomes
By establishing a useful and productive network you will be able to remain up to date about new developments in research and academia, collaboration opportunities, and vacant positions. This will provide you with the best choice of opportunities because you will know about them first.

Instructor
Rob Thompson, RTTA. Rob is a TEDx and keynote speaker who speaks at conferences all over Europe. Before forming RTTA, Rob managed projects in both retail and banking/insurance in London. He has been working with researchers for over 15 years now – helping them build connections to establish collaborations, find new jobs, and advance their careers.