Postdoc Appreciation Week 2023
Join us for the second Postdoc Appreciation Week (PAW) Germany from 18-22 September 2023! Universities, research institutions, organizations, and networks across Germany celebrate and showcase the significant contributions of postdocs to research, innovation, teaching, and academic life by hosting special events during Postdoc Appreciation Week. The Graduate Centre at the University of Augsburg joins this important initiative to support postdocs, contribute to the visibility of their accomplishments, and strengthen national and international networks. PAW originates in the United States, where the National Postdoc Association has sponsored National Postdoc Appreciation Week since 2009. In 2022, the Munich Postdoc Network teamed up with the Research and Innovation Services of Leibniz University of Hannover (LUH) to establish Postdoc Appreciation Week in Germany. The inaugural Germany-wide PAW offered about 70 events. This year, institutions and networks all over Germany offer 126 events! The Graduate Centre at the University of Augsburg participates in PAW 2023 with the webcast Planning and optimizing your academic career by Dr. Dieta Kuchenbrandt, consultant & lecturer for scientists at schainundkuchenbrandt. Webcast: Planning and optimizing your academic career The postdoc phase is crucial for furthering one’s academic career and is split between dependent employment and academic independence. Scientists are confronted with numerous professional challenges: Developing a research profile, publishing independently, developing a teaching portfolio, planning to stay abroad, participating in scientific communication, and building one's own network of colleagues and cooperation partners... When are which tasks particularly important? What has the highest priority? How important is the habilitation? What time frame is appropriate? The webcast (length: 2.5 hours) informs you about all the important requirements (also beyond publications and third-party funding) and milestones for an academic career and gives you concrete tips and advice both on the weighing of these requirements and on strategic considerations during the postdoc phase on the way to a professorship. You can access the webcast throughout the week of 18-22 September 2023. It is NOT an all-day, all-week event you have to attend. Once you have registered, you will get a password which you can use to watch the video on Vimeo and access the accompanying documents via Dropbox during PAW 2023. To register for the event, please send an e-mail with your name and affiliation to uniagradz@praesidium.uni-augsburg.de Check out the exciting PAW 2023 programme and find out more about the initiative on the official PAW Germany website: 
The FAI Graduate Center invites doctoral students and postdocs to participate in the workshop “Assessment Center Training for PhD Students”.
The workshop, which is part of the FAI network for promoting young scientists, will take place on December 8th, 9 am to 5 pm (including breaks), and is free. The course will be given in English and will be held in-person at the University.
To create a match in today’s job market, employers use a variety of different procedures. One very advanced recruiting instrument is the assessment center, a venue designed to give the candidate the chance to learn more about the job and the employer the opportunity to assess the applicants’ behavior in relevant situations.
Workshop description:
In this workshop, we focus on conveying the strengths throughout an assessment center. You will learn how assessment centers work and you will yourself go through a number of different exercises and simulations. This will prepare you to handle the real assessment center in an authentic and self-confident manner.
Workshop topics:
· Introduction to the assessment center
· Structure of an assessment center and ways to assess
· Simulation of different assignments:
o Presentation
o Decision making/prioritizing/entrepreneurial thinking
o Teamwork/leadership
o Roleplays
· Information on further assignments like:
o Logic and reasoning tests
o Psychological tests
o Creativity assignments
The Workshop will be conducted by Wolfgang Leybold (https://www.leybold.de/).
There are only a few places left for this course. If you are interested in the seminar, please send an email to: graduiertenzentrum-fai@geo.uni-augsburg.de. Please include your name and institute.