GRADUATE

ACADEMY

Your research achievements become visible through publications and presentations at national and international conferences.

Publications are the most important for your own academic profile. In addition to the professional aspect, the quality, number and type of publication as well as the type of authorship are of the greatest importance. After publication, the number of citations of a publication as well as the reputation of a journal or a publisher also play a role (h-Index) when it comes to evaluating an academic profile.

Compared to publications, lectures can be used to show unpublished research results. In addition, lectures give the audience the opportunity to get a personal impression of you and to engage in conversation with you. (Invited) lectures are ideal for making new research contacts or deepening existing contacts. Two to three lectures per year are considered a good guideline.

Postdoctoral researcher often support their supervisors in the preparation of third-party funding applications. For the own academic profile it is more important to have successfully submitted independent proposals or at least as a named co-applicant. The funding rate at the DFG is 35%. For successful proposals, you should be able to present your research ideas appropriately and have planned the project well. The Graduate Academy regularly offers workshops on third-party funding in German and English.

The OVGU's Research Funding Advisory Service/EU University Network supports you in questions regarding research funding and the application for third-party funding, the search for suitable funding sources for your research, helps you with the classification of the project idea, with the application and, in the area of EU research projects, also with the contract negotiations and project management as well as with the search for partners.

During the course of the year, information events on the DFG's funding portfolio are held for researchers in the advanced career phase, alternately in German and English. At the DFG, the Emmy Noether Program or the Heisenberg Program are suitable for the advanced postdoc phase.

Further funding opportunities can be found under Calls & Jobs.

The research profile represents your professional qualification which you will later use to apply for a professorship. As a rule, the research profile is a common topic from one, at most two, main research areas and not a loose list of projects. Your doctoral work represents the first research focus. In the postdoc phase, your second research focus emerges through your publication activities or, if applicable, through a habilitation. During the profiling process, position yourself as interdisciplinary as possible without the profile becoming too vague or broad. On the way to your academic profile be innovative. This does not have to be immediate; possibly your topic may not become innovative for 5-10 years.

If you are still looking for a second research focus, take a look at university locations of your personal choice or in Germany in general and get an idea of which professors hold a professorship in your field and especially for how long.

Mobility has always been part of the ideal of academia. On the way to a professorship, people will ask who accompanied you on your academic path and what names are associated with you. Therefore, do not spend your studies, doctorate and the entire postdoc or habilitation phase in the same place; your chances of a professorship later on will be significantly reduced. By changing location once or twice after your doctorate, you show your independence. But a stay abroad is no longer a must. International contacts are much more important. Use conferences to build up contacts at national and international level. Two new contacts per conference is a good benchmark. In addition to attending conferences, invite your colleagues to your colloquia. Invitations usually lead to return invitations.

Beside research, teaching is the main task of responsibility at German universities.

On your way to a professorship, you should start gaining teaching experience in the postdoc phase at the latest. It is part of your academic qualification. It's not the quantity that matters, but the variety. You should cover one or two courses of different formats (seminars, exercises or even lectures) per year, even if it requires more preparation work.

If you do not have a teaching obligation, you should try to find a teaching position (possibly unpaid) on your own initiative.

At the OVGU, the project "fokus:LEHRE" of the Faculty of Human Sciences offers workshops on preparing and conducting courses, on testing and on digital formats for teachers.

Teaching experience also includes supervising student theses. Here you should take on 2-3 student theses per year.

In addition to reviewing the theses of students and doctoral candidates, your academic profile is also required for reviewing journals and, depending on the subject area, for publishing and book reviews. As a reviewer, you demonstrate your expertise in specific research topics.

You can also document your commitment within the scientific community by (co-)organising workshops or conferences.

German universities are organised in academic self-administration. All important decisions are made by committees (senate, faculty council, institute council or office for equal opportunities issues). For the status group of doctoral graduates, committee work is not yet a major focus, but their participation in committees is expected. Therefore, you should take the opportunity to represent your doctoral status group at least once in an appointment committee (Berufungskommission). This will be helpful for your own later application for a professorship.

Leadership experience is of great importance in the social sciences, engineering and natural sciences; it is less relevant in the humanities. Persons who are junior research group leaders and have, for example, acquired an Emmy Noether group or an ERC Starting Grant, automatically bring a lot of leadership experience with them. Postocs who do not lead their own group should acquire leadership experience by leading their own projects and (co)supervising PhD students.

What would the corona pandemic have been like without scientists? Politicians also like to be advised by active scientists. How do you bring your research into society? All major newspapers in Germany have their science section (print or digital). Do you use social media? All university-wide activities and conceptual considerations on the topics of media, communication and marketing are concentrated in the central operating unit Media, Communication, Marketing (MKM). The Graduate Academy regularly offers workshops on science communication in its qualification program.

Awards in the form of prizes or scholarships are usually not mandatory, but are appreciated. In addition to the prize for the best poster or the best presentation at conferences, prizes are often offered by professional societies or foundations for the best dissertation. However, these prizes do not come to you, you have to apply for them. Therefore, the following tip: Get an overview of what prizes are offered in your field and where, and apply.

If you decide to follow an academic career, plan it strategically. Make a decision on which formal path you want or need to follow (habilitation or habilitation-equivalent achievements). If a habilitation is common in your discipline, then start planning for it. In the humanities, law and medicine, habilitation is a must. In other disciplines, habilitation-equivalent achievements such as junior professorship or junior research group leadership are sufficient. Sometimes the appointment committee also decides whether achievements are equivalent. All habilitations and appointments, sorted by month and subject area, can be found on Research and Teaching (German only).