Beyond the Doctorate - What's Next? How to Find and Reach Your Goals

A Doctorate plus^BIGS workshop offered by the Bonn Graduate Center

Writing a doctoral thesis is a time of many challenges and a decisive step in your professional career. As you approach the final stage of your doctorate – or, ideally, even some time before this – you need to start looking ahead and beyond the thesis alone. „What’s next?!“ This question may seem like an inefficient distraction from your thesis, yet not addressing it proactively might mean that it lingers in the back of your head, still taking energy away from your research.

In-person Workshop

Tuesday, September 17, 2024
10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Wednesday and Monday, September 18 and 23, 2024
Individual in-person or online coaching session by arrangement

Please register your interest in this workshop by stating your BIGS affiliation in the form linked below by March 10, 2024.

Trainer

Prof. Dr. Martin Zierold

Language

English

Location

Alte Sternwarte
Poppelsdorfer Allee 47*

^{*The premises have limited accessibility. Please contact
us if you need assistance.}

Target Group

Doctoral students from the Bonn International Graduate Schools (BIGS)

Track(s)

Research, Research Management, Business and Organizations

Certificate

9 units are applicable within the Doctorate plus certificate

Eine Wissenschaftlerin und ein Wissenschaftler arbeiten hinter einer Glasfassade und mischen Chemikalien mit Großgeräten.

Description

After a doctorate, early career researchers have many options: You can stay on the academic path, starting as a postdoc and headed for a professorship some time in the future. Or, you might want to look for a change – moving into the business and industry world, start your own entrepreneurial project, work for an NGO or non-profit-organisation etc. Different people may give you all sorts of advice, and it can be hard to find out what you actually want for yourself.

The workshop consists of three parts:

You will get access to an online video providing basic information about career options after the doctorate inside and outside academia and a task for your personal reflection as a preparation to the workshop.
You will participate in a group workshop, where you can continue reflecting on your own competencies and goals.
This workshop day will be complemented by a 60 minute one-on-one coaching format on one of the following two days (either in-person or online), where you can focus in more depth on your individual questions and concerns and get a further boost on your path beyond the doctorate.

Content

What are your personal competencies?
What is it that you are good at and that you love to do?
Which job options do these skills open up for you?
What do you want from a job?
When are you feeling most productive in a working environment?
What other goals do you have in life and how can you combine your professional and personal vision?
How can you design the final stages of your doctorate, so that you can manage finishing your thesis and preparing the transition into the next stages in the best possible way?