GSO Newsletter

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News & Advice for Researchers in Academia & Beyond

Here is your summary:

Open Call: Leadership Academy 8
To Be Honest Conference Recap
Interview: Meet your inner Monsters with Dr. Ulrike Schneeberg
Community Meet-Up Berlin: March 21, 2024
10 Years of Wilhelmy Travel Expenses Program
New GSO Board
New GSO Team Member
TopPicks: Career Opportunities

Dear GSO Network,

The incentives for researchers in academia are pretty straightforward: publications, third-party funding, and some service (teaching, committees etc.). The ability to lead oneself and others is often treated as a nice-to-have.

However, considering the much needed change in the academic system as well as the need for experts in all areas of society, leadership specifically for researchers slowly gains momentum.

We have been promoting the benefit of learning how to lead better, especially for researchers. Our Leadership Academy just opened the call for applications for its 8th cohort.

88% of our alumni said that they have been able to apply their experiences and tools to their work.
And more than 84% are still in touch with other former fellows, sharing advice and tipps, exchange ideas, and even work together.

If you want to know more about the Academy and leadership in research, check out the podcast with GSO’s director Anne and Leadership Academy trainer Katrin (in German) here.

PS.: As we gain more non-German speaking subscribers, we will address all of you mainly in English. Some content will remain in German (we will mark those articles accordingly)

You can now apply for one of 25 fellowships for the 8th Leadership Academy, aimed at German-speaking postdoctoral researchers across all disciplines. You have to currently do research outside of Germany or have been in Germany for no longer than one year.

Supported by the Klaus Tschira Foundation and in partnership with TU9 – German Universities of Technology, we seek to enhance the leadership skills within the research community.

💡The Academy’s curriculum, set in Berlin and Heidelberg, emphasizes skill and leadership development. Participants will experience self-reflection, interactive group workshops, case studies, and benefit from individual mentoring and extensive networking opportunities across various sectors.

For detailed information and to apply, click here.

📅 Application Deadline: April 23, 2024

📣 Please pass it on!

Good to know: You do NOT have to be a German citizen. You should be able to understand German, spoken fluency is not a must. We are working on offering a program in English as well - stay tuned!

Our virtual conference *To be honest - Career Real Talk for Researchers brought together peers and experts from the research community who shared their knowledge and gave great advice.

You missed it?

Rewatch the opening session Inconvenient truths in academia and how to deal with them and read the summaries of the individual sessions on:

Path to Group Leader/Professor when the German System is a Mystery to you
Heartbreak or Dance of Joy? Careers after Academia
How To Successfully Deal With German Bureaucracy
Visibility & Networking
The Researcher Juggling Act: Navigating Academic Performance and Life Challenges
Digital Tools & AI in Research – Exchange & Experiences

Find the conference recap here.

Do you know your inner monsters? Our expert Dr. Ulrike Schneeberg shares her ideas on how to use your fears to create a fulfilling career inside or out of academia.

She also offers a tool that will help you analyze job ads in a very systematic way so that you can then create the best possible match between your current skills and experience and the requirements of your future job field.

If you want even more, you can check out her 6-months coaching journey for researchers.

To the article.

The GSO connects researchers in academia, business, and other sectors. As part of our community, we invite you to an informal meet-up on March 21 in Berlin- if

you are a fellow or alumni of one of our programs (KT Boost, Leadership Academy),
you provided mentorship to other researchers through GSO,
or could leverage our career services to take the next step,
you volunteer in GSO's committees or
once were part of the GSO/GAIN "Stammtisch" in Berlin.

Besides the opportunity to meet new and familiar faces, we would also like to pick your brains on how to develop GSO further.

Please register here.

Since 2014, we have been funding travel expenses for scientists in STEM subjects who apply for a professorship or (junior) research group position in Germany from abroad.

If you are invited and the university can’t reimburse you, please make them aware that this program exists. The university can apply for up to 2.000 Euro without much effort.

All information here.

💡Also don’t miss the article with tips when returning to Germany as a researcher by three of the grantees (in German).

As an independent and nonprofit organization (“Verein”), the GSO not only consists of a full-time team, but also thrives on the commitment of its voluntary board. Last November, our members elected a new board, which advises the GSO on strategy, builds and maintains networks, and keeps an eye on personnel and finances.

With a new board come new perspectives - stay tuned for some updates!

You can find our new board members here.

We put together career advice posts from our board members on LinkedIn (follow us here) and started with the new chair Dr. Stephanie Dittmer, who is Executive Board member at ifo Institute -Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich:

“Good career advice: Take the time to understand the environment in which you want to advance your career.

Bad career advice: Never ask if you can get something you want. Your boss will figure it out on their own if I just work hard enough…”

Kübra Kananathan joined GSO in February as Project- and Community Manager.

Kübra holds a Master’s degree in Literature & Media and studied Oriental Studies, Politics and European Ethnology in her Bachelor’s degree. Previously, she worked as an art department coordinator and production assistant on film projects and developed content strategies and networking concepts for women in business as an editorial strategist.

You can connect with her on LinkedIn here.

We bid farewell to her predecessor Saskia Hellemeier who in her new job will help to digitize German bureaucracy.

Are you interested in a career in business, the nonprofit sector, or in academia? We present selected jobs for researchers in Germany - new ones every month - here.

Are you hiring or do you know a #TopPick that we should include?
Let us know via info@gsonet.org!