The foundations of academic work are already laid during your studies – but it becomes clear at the beginning of your doctorate that a doctoral project is much more than an examination or final thesis during your studies and therefore requires much more extensive academic skills. Various workshops and other opportunities are available to help you with time and project management, academic writing and presentations, searching for and managing research literature, adhering to good research practice and much more.

Advanced doctoral candidates and postdocs face completely new challenges. In particular, if you want to continue working in academia, you will need to establish and deepen networks, publish and position yourself in the international scholarly community, and perhaps acquire and manage your first research funds. The topic of leadership may now also become relevant for you. JGU also offers many opportunities for further qualification in these areas.

Research projects in the humanities and social sciences often offer a great deal of freedom in the selection and design of your own research methods and the theoretical background on which you base your work. However, this freedom can also quickly become a challenge. We enable you to expand your methodological and research strategy skills, to exchange ideas with doctoral students, postdocs and experienced researchers from other humanities and social science subjects, but also to get to know interfaces with STEM subjects and to network across disciplines.

Here you will find events on cross-cutting topics in the humanities and social sciences that are of interest to early career researchers from various disciplines.

A doctorate in the humanities or social sciences opens up many opportunities for you – both within and outside academia. Even during your doctoral qualification, it makes sense to think about how to proceed after your thesis. Together with other providers at JGU, we offer you the opportunity to get to know different career paths and their requirements, to come into contact with potential employers, to reflect on your own strengths and expectations and to acquire key career-relevant qualifications. You will also find offers on the transfer of academic knowledge to business and society, on academic communication and on the topic of starting a business.

Academic discourse communities as well as academic professional fields are becoming increasingly internationalised – albeit under very different circumstances depending on the subject. Regardless of whether you have studied in Germany and would like to go abroad during your doctorate or whether you have come to Mainz or Germersheim from abroad to do your doctorate or to complete a research stay, we are here to support you with information, advice and workshops in cooperation with our partners.

Young researchers are expected to meet a wide range of sometimes contradictory expectations. Success in everyday life depends not only on academic qualifications, but also on social and communication skills – and not least on managing your own resources well. In addition to our individual advisory services, you will find courses here that will provide you with the necessary skills and enable you to exchange experiences with other early career researchers.

Many positions for doctoral candidates at the university (e.g. academic staff, Wissenschaftliche:r Mitarbeiter:in in German) are associated with teaching duties. However, it is also a good idea for all other doctoral candidates to gain teaching experience during their doctoral studies (e.g. with a teaching contract, Lehrbeauftragte:r in German), as teaching experience and qualifications are extremely useful not only for a later academic career, but also for many other professional fields open to doctoral graduates.

At the University Didactics Project (including writing and examination workshop) and the Southwest University Evaluation Network (in German) you will find offers that are open to all JGU teaching staff. Tools and information for lecturers on teaching good research practice during their studies can also be found at the Academic Integrity Project.