Training for Life

Training beyond research is necessary to meet the challenges of a modern society and becoming more and more important in our technology-centered and science-based world. Nowadays, after completion of a PhD, scientists are expected to have a solid science related knowledge AND a bundle of complementary skills. Therefore, to improve the knowledge of our PhD students the evaluation of each students abilities is a key factor. Competencies must be known in order to train and develop individual skills further (see also Competence Profiling). Hence, PhD students at the Graduate School Materials Science in Mainz (MAINZ) will analyze their skills together with their thesis committee and a professional trainer to agree upon the training required. With the Competence Profiling as well as the mentMAINZ Mentoring Program, students will be able to assess their own skills, develop them further and choose Complementary Skills Workshops according to their individual needs. This way the structered training program of MAINZ will be used by each student in a highly flexible, individualistic and competent way and will meet the students challenges of preparing and writing a doctoral thesis to become a valued scientist or develop skills for leading positions in industry.

Complementary Skills

Complementary skills courses allow our PhD students to acquire fundamental key qualifications outside their research field. These courses are designed as part of the Training for Life concept. The program of the Centre of Quality Assurance and Development (ZQ) at the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz encompasses several courses, taught in English, which are offered on a regular basis. These courses include subjects such as “The Foundations of the Philosophy of Science”, “Co-operation, Conflictand Communication”, “Scientific Publishing”, “Intercultural Communication”, and “Project, Time,and Self-Management”.
Additional to the ZQ program, MAINZ offers customized and specialized complementary skills courses focusing mostly on aspects relevant for natural scientists and given by native speakers. From the students’ feedback, the most pressing training needs are identified and realized by customized courses. Thus our PhD students are strongly involved in adapting and modifying the training program. To offer top-level courses, we invite experts from the respective fields including industry professionals, patent attorneys, business consultants and professional coaches.

You'll find a list of all upcoming MAINZ Complementary Skills Courses as well as an Archive here.