Early Career Workshop

We are cherishing a long standing, structured and high-quality PhD programme. Its core are the biannual Ph.D. workshops we organize since 2013:

• The spring workshop is traditionally held at the end of March in the 12th century Cistercian monastery in Volkenroda/Thuringia, a beautiful conference venue of the Protestant Church.
• The second workshop in the fall of each year has varying venues so far, including the Dornburg Castles near Jena, the Protestant Academy of Thuringia in Neudietendorf or Jena itself.

The workshops bring together our habilitation and Ph.D. students in order to review and discuss the recent progress of their projects. During these weekends, the participants present their exposés or chapters in a conference-like, secluded environment. All papers are deposited in a paper archive and read beforehand, presented and then discussed by a selected discussant and the general audience, finally reviewed in one-to-one meetings with the supervisor. Additionally, there are other inputs on work-life balance, voice training, interview techniques etc.

In case our alumni join us and give presentations about the last phase of their PhD, work experience, current academic work or other. Networking among current and former participants is very much valued.

We are grateful that the Ernst Abbe FoundationExternal link provides much of our funding.

Interested students and PhDs are very welcome to join us. If you are interested, please contact our assistant, Dr. Carolina Rehrmann , in Jena.

Find the program of the last workshop herepdf, 453 kb · de .

Voices of Ph.D. candidates:

"As always, the workshop was very productive. As an external Ph.D. candidate, the rhythm of the ECW with two meetings per year provides an ideal format that helps me to continuously work on my project and get feedback from different conceptual and empirical perspectives. It was once again enriching to exchange thoughts about the research process as well as life beyond academia with both early and advanced doctoral students. " - Sebastian Hoppe, Ph.D. candidate

"It was the first time for me to participate in the workshop at the convent of Volkenroda. As an early-stage Ph.D. candidate, I had the chance to present my draft research expose and get high-quality feedback, comments, and The quality discussions and comments from Dr. Carolina Rehrmann, Professor Rafael Biermann added my fellow colleagues who are in much more advanced stages, helped me see things I missed and learn from others' experiences while feeling supported and encouraged "Timely discussions, the workshop was well organized. The lovely spring weather and the unique atmosphere of the convent of Volkenroda, added a pleasant and relaxing feeling which is highly valued and needed, especially after two years of a global COVID pandemic and its effect." - Jamal Atamneh, Ph.D. candidate