Past events 2019

A researcher’s guide to gaining self-confidence, effectively persuading & innovative problem solving. A PhD. is a huge undertaking and you need a wide range of skills and the ability to maintain your self motivation to achieve your goals. Participants will learn useful, easy-to-follow guidelines which will enable them to improve their self-confidence, come up with innovative solutions and effectively persuade people to buy into their ideas. This workshop will teach participants techniques to be more confident, more motivated and more productive. [more]

Guided work on own data. [more]

In this course you will establish and practice efficient reading routines for longer texts. In addition to handling both digital and analog texts quickly and effectively you will learn how to improve your memory of complex information. You will learn strategies to read and memorize information in a way that is optimally suited to how your brain operates and practice using these strategies both with course materials and some of your own reading material. [more]

At our annual selection symposium, all shortlisted applicants for the upcoming PhD projects are invited to present their most relevant research in 10 min talks and get to know the IMPRS. Besides the public presentations and a 30 min interview, there also is plenty of time for informal exchanges among applicants, students and faculty during social evening events and site visits to all three locations. [more]

Introduction to general programming, focusing on data processing using Python. This program prepares people to create their own software solutions. Allowing them to build code that processes data, generates graphics and creates statistical information. To conclude the course we will dedicate the last day to a workshop in which we will take a look at each participant’s code and discuss about different ways to make the code cleaner and easy to read. We will also help the participants with specific programming problems they have had while developing a code for their own data. [more]

Being a scientist means one must have many skills and talents – intimidatingly so sometimes. And writing papers is one of the most important ones. It’s the currency into which we turn our research and also the most important means for the community to judge us by. Luckily, like most aspects of science it’s a skill that we can improve and this course will help you with this. [more]

Migratory birds move over long distances. If equipped with tracking devices birds create digital tracks in space. Tracking data in general create a measure of connectivity between patches and habitats. As birds are vectors for diseases their tracking data can be used to establish risk management strategies. This One Health scenario is used as starting point to link animal health, environmental health and human health. Further examples are presented to show the generic principles of the One Health approach. Space technology is considered in different examples to contribute to One Health risk management strategies. Risk mitigations strategies are dependent on the connectivity measure and the spatial representation risks. Finally the conclusions are made, how IT innovation and exponential technologies have an impact on the evolution of risk management One Health by application of the Open Community Approach (OCA). [more]

Communicating your research at venues such as conferences is an important part of every scientist’s career, and a communicating it effectively can open doors to amazing opportunities and collaborations. However, these opportunities, to some extent, hinge on whether your talk or poster engages with people, communicates your message clearly, and is memorable. This 3-day joint workshop aims to give you the tools to make your posters attractive, encouraging more people to visit, and provide some rules of thumb to make your presentations more engaging and clearly understood. [more]

Our annual Grand Challenges Symposia focus each year on a specific area of interest in the wide range of topics from animal behavior, ecology, and evolution to physiology and neuro­biology, suggested by the PhD candidates of our IMPRS. The symposia consist of a series of talks by guest speakers, faculty and students of our program and represent the inaugural event for the latest student cohort. [more]

This 3-day workshops is obligatory for the new phD students and offers a first overview on how to get started. AIM - The development of scientific competence of researchers at Max Planck institutes is a major goal. Ph.D. students improve their communication with the supervisor and colleagues, develop professional skills in team working, networking, planning and project management and know how to use feedback in order to deliver a successful performance. This will enhance their overall effectiveness as they pursue their research studies and maximize success of their future careers. METHOD - Participants will experience interactive lectures, moderated discussions and perform activities to learn from first-hand experience. We will safely move them outside their “comfort zone” to the “learning zone” (Gerald Hüther) to enhance acquisition of novel skills. The experienced challenges are discussed in carefully moderated and focused review sessions, using peer-to-peer feedback as a powerful tool. [more]

As a researcher, one has the privilege to work freely and creatively, pursuing own interests and adding to the knowledge base of the scientific community - and the community in general. This freedom comes with responsibility: The responsibility for self-control, accuracy, honesty, efficiency and objectivity. The scientific community has introduced rules of Research Integrity, which aim to preserve the freedom of research and prevent scientific misconduct. [more]

Being a scientist means one must have many skills and talents – intimidatingly so sometimes. And writing papers is one of the most important ones. It’s the currency into which we turn our research and also the most important means for the community to judge us by. Luckily, like most aspects of science it’s a skill that we can improve and this course will help you with this. [more]

This activity-based workshop led by theatre professionals provides participants the opportunity to perfect their public-speaking skills, to improve non-verbal communication and the ability to listen and react generously. Participants are required to prepare a three to five minute overview of their work incorporating also the use of a slide, providing a basis for applying the practical aims of the workshop, which are to communicate the importance and relevance of the work and the core message in the talk. [more]

Successful grant proposal writing is a fundamental basis to fund a career in research. There are plenty of national and international funding programmes with different funding schemes. Each scheme has its individual context and thematic focus, eligibility and funding rules, submission and evaluation process, and evaluation criteria. Thus, the detailed features and aspects of a successful proposal in one funding scheme are naturally differing from those of a successful proposal in another funding scheme. However, the process of how to work out these details is a common denominator to the different funding schemes. It requires skills way beyond the ability to work out a research idea in detail.The overall proposal writing starts with the generation of a new research idea and the identification of an appropriate funding scheme. This requires knowledge on funding programmes and their scientific, political or societal background. Here, documents and professionals from contact points and funding authorities may be of much help.For an excellent grant proposal, it is necessary to match the research idea with the evaluators’ view on what is wanted by the funding scheme and what is considered fit for funding. This usually requires work on the details of the idea and the specific research context.After this has been concluded, the work on the actual project and proposal can be started. A concept has to be developed, ideas, workplan and the approach have to be visualised, the budget needs to be planned and the overall proposal has to be structured and formulated. If other project partners or institutions are involved, the submission of documents has to be coordinated.Therefore, the objective of this workshop is, that students obtain an overview on funding opportunities, understand the core aspects of winning grants and know how to adapt the proposal writing process to their funding scheme of choice.Depending on the duration of the training, exercises are focused on different process steps and required skills. [more]