Transferable Skills

Complementary to the acquisition of professional skills, early career researchers will train transferable skills, which are essential in science and other professions. Doctoral researchers will register with the Interdisciplinary Graduate and Research Academy Düsseldorf” (iGRAD) or the Medical Research School Düsseldorf (medRSD). The central aim of iGRAD and medRSD is advancing the quality and diversity of doctoral education. Therefore, doctoral researchers complete a mandatory course in “Good Research Practice” as well as a basic curriculum of at least four workshops covering three core areas. 

The training course "Good Research Practice" introduces the basic rules of writing scientific protocols, data collection and storage, and documentation of experiments and familiarizes with publication guidelines, as well as problems of plagiarism and fraud in science. The further transferable skills core areas are:

• Project- and Self-management/Organisation e.g. ‘Getting started with the doctoral project’, ‘Introduction to project management’, time management, information management, teamwork, ‘Introduction to leadership principles’, organization of scientific meeting, etc.

• Presentation/Rhetoric/Communication: e.g. ‘Presenting science’, ‘Intercultural communication’, debating and rhetoric, scientific writing, negotiation, ‘preparing for potential conflict’, moderation techniques. 

• Professional Teaching and Learning/Didactics: e.g. ‘get into teaching’. A distinguishing characteristic of this workshop is that the Service-Center for Good Teaching and Learning (SeLL) at the HHU recognizes it as part of its certificate program - professional teaching skills for the university.

The Junior Scientist and International Reseracher Center Juno promotes the development of early career reserachers starting with the postdoc phase and also provides support for all incoming researchers from abroad.