Doctoral researchers will have access to a tailor-made, interdisciplinary qualification programme. The training programme will include both compulsory courses and elective courses from a range of different topics, which, based on their prior experience and career goals, doctoral researchers can choose from. A key goal of the training programme is to ensure that doctoral researchers are well-equipped for careers within or outside academia.

Doctoral researchers will be enrolled in one of the graduate programs offered by the Georg-August University School of Science (GAUSS), e.g., Behavior and Cognition, Systems Neuroscience, Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience. The requirements of the qualification programme, therefore, overlap with the requirements outlined in these doctoral programs.

The qualification programme is divided into five modules. Doctoral researchers choose from courses offered within these five modules to collect a total of 20 credits (C) throughout their PhD (1C = c. 30 hours workload). The five modules are:

Events that are part of this module serve to bring together students from different disciplines, facilitate cross-talk and ensure the development of a common theoretical language. Key events in this module include:

• Theory kick-off workshops: Each cohort of students will take part in two theory workshops, where they will have the opportunity to interact with eminent researchers presenting key theoretical frameworks of curiosity research in different disciplines.


• “Stage-1 talks”: These talks are modelled off registered reports and allow researchers to present their research project to the members of the RTG before beginning their empirical or modelling work


• Summer schools: Each cohort of students will have the opportunity to take part in two summer schools, where international experts will present them with an introduction to cutting-edge research or methods in curiosity research
  

2. Scientific Methods

The PRs, together with visiting researchers and Mercator fellows, will offer a range of methods courses that equip doctoral researchers with the tools they need to be able to answer their research questions. The majority of the scientific methods courses are electives; a minor subset of these courses are compulsory (e.g., all doctoral researchers must take part in a course on Open Science Practise and Good Scientific Practise).

3. Research-oriented Teaching

At the core of this module is the “we teach, we learn” principle. Doctoral researchers, together with the PRs and postdoctoral researchers, co-teach modules for RTG researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds. In addition, doctoral researchers are involved in undergraduate and graduate supervision, and a peer-to-peer coaching scheme in which researchers from different backgrounds pair up to coach one another through difficult phases in their projects.

4. Science communication

These courses train the doctoral researchers in scientific writing and presentation skills. A small subset of these courses are compulsory (e.g., the scientific writing course). Doctoral researchers can earn credits for this module by presenting their work at national and international conferences.

5. Management

This module encompasses a broad range of courses, e.g., courses that deal with the topics of leadership, conflict management, intercultural competence, work-life balance, career planning.

Short stays abroad (1C)

Researchers are encouraged to arrange short stays abroad with international research groups and non-academic partners outside Göttingen.

You can find out more about the qualification programme here