ACADEMIC FUTURES
Training Programmes and Workshops
Inhouse-formats for graduate schools, fellowship-programmes, research offices
and staff development.
Three Complementary Focus Areas
Research Leadership, Funding and Careers
The training programmes and workshops are designed for researchers at different career stages — from advanced doctoral researchers and postdocs to group leaders and newly appointed professors.
Two core workshops per field form the substantive basis. Depending on the target group, programme context and institutional needs, they can be expanded, combined and embedded in broader training settings.
Typically, these one- to two-day training programmes include not only the workshop itself, but also preparatory work and optional follow-up individual consultation to support transfer into practice. They can be delivered in person, online or in hybrid formats.
Building Your Own Research Group and Supervising Doctoral Researchers
Research Leadership
Workshop A1
Building and Managing Your Research Group
Target Audience
Newly appointed professors, early-stage group leaders and researchers who are preparing for or just taking on a leadership role.
Key Topics
•Transitioning into academic leadership
•Building and structuring a research group
•Clarifying roles, delegation and decision-making
•Communication, collaboration and team culture
•Priorities, work organisation and further development of the group
Workshop A2
Supervising Doctoral Researchers
Target Audience
Newly appointed professors, early-stage group leaders and researchers with responsibility for doctoral supervision.
Key Topics
•Roles and expectations in doctoral supervision
•Communication and feedback in the supervision process
•Responsiblility, boundaries and supervisory style
•Co-supervision and alignment with other parties involved
•Difficult situtations and typical areas of tension
Further Formats on Leadership and Supervision
Beyond the two core workshops, this area includes further formats that deepen academic leadership and doctoral supervision in a targeted way. These include preparatory formats for researchers moving towards their first supervisory or leadership roles, as well as additional units on communication, co-supervision and demanding supervisory situations.
Depending on the context, different formats can be developed on this basis: joint formats with doctoral researchers, shorter additional modules or compatible units for structured doctoral programmes, postdoc development and faculty-related leadership contexts.
Funding strategy and Proposal Development
Research Funding
Workshop B1
How to Plan and Write a Competitive Research Grant Proposal
Target Audience
Postdocs and doctoral researchers in the final phase of their doctorate who are preparing a competitive third-party funding proposal.
Key Topics
•Developing and viable proposal idea
•Project design and internal logic of the project
•Fit between idea, call and funding context
•Argument structure and persuasive writing
•Reviewer perspective and typical weaknesses
Workshop B2
How to Plan and Write a Competitive Proposal for an ERC Starting or Consolidator Grant
Target Audience
Researchers who are considering or preparing an ERC Starting Grant or Consolidator Grant.
Key Topics
•Logic and structure of ERC proposals
•Positioning the research idea
•Relationship between ambitions, risk and feasibility
•Applicant profile and academic independence
•Strategic preparation of the ERC process
Further Formats on Proposal Practice and Implementation
In Research Funding, further formats are available in addition to the two core workshops. They deepen proposal development and support the transition into implementation.
Especially in the ERC context, individual proposal consultation, interview training and mock panels connect directly to the workshop and create a closer form of proposal-related support.
In addition, Agile Project Management in Research is available as a compatible one-day format for contexts in which funded projects need to be structured, coordinated and implemented effectively.
Career development and positioning in academia
Research Careers
Workshop C1
How to Advance Your Research Career and Get Funding
Target Audience
Advanced doctoral researchers, postdocs and other early-career researchers who want to develop their academic career more strategically.
Key Topics
•Academic profile and positioning
•Career goals and strategic next steps
•The relationship between career development and funding readiness
•Visibility, opportunities and suitable funding options
•Individual priorities and fields of decision-making
Workshop C2
Exploring Your Career Options in the German Research and Innovation System
Target Audience
International and German doctoral researchers, postdocs and other researchers who want to gain a clearer understanding of their career options in the German research and innovation system.
Key Topics
•Basic structure of the German research and innovation system
• pathways within academia
•Options in adjacent fields beyond academia
•Transitions, orientation points and decision phases
•Requirements and opportunities in the German context
Signature Workshop and Further Formats on Career Development
How to Advance Your Research Career and Get Funding stands out in this area as a signature workshop. The workshop integrates career strategy, research strategy and funding strategy and is particularly suitable for use in graduate institutions, fellowship programmes, retreats and international contexts.
Additional short formats are also possible in this area, for example on career development in academia and on navigating the German research and innovation system.
Course Descriptions and Offers
Request a Course Description. Discuss the Right Format.
If you already know which topic is relevant for your programme, we will be happy to send you a suitable course description.
If the appropriate format, scope or embedding for your context is still open, we can clarify this together in the next step.