GAUSS Career Blog

Career Information and Announcements

2025/02/14
by Stefanie Klug
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Workshop “Interview Training for the non-academic job market”, 3-4 April 2025

We are happy to announce our next GAUSS Career Service workshop in 2025 “Interview Training for the non-academic job market” by Christelle Linsenmann.

This workshop is intended for Postdocs and late-stage PhD students in the process of applying for a job outside of academia.

Workshop description

In this workshop, participants learn to prepare for upcoming application procedures and especially the different phases and requirements of a job interview. After this workshop, participants can effectively describe their individual job-relevant skills and unique strengths, present themselves professionally in a job-interview and are able to master unforeseen or difficult situations confidently. The workshop focuses on the reflection of individual competencies, practical exercises on frequently asked questions and techniques in interviews and dealing with critical or unknown questions. Finally, participants will develop their own authentic self-presentation. Methodologically, the workshop focuses on a change of input phases, feedback rounds and guided exercises.

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2025/02/13
by Stefanie Klug
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GAUSS Career Impulse Session (11 April 2025, 11:30-13:00, in-person) with Dr. Carla Schmidt (Junior Professor at University of Mainz): “The story behind my CV”

We’re happy to announce our next GAUSS Career Impulse Session, this time with Dr. Carla Schmidt, Junior Professor at Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz.

  • Date: Friday, 11 April 2025
  • Time: 11:30-13:00 (appr.)
  • Location: in-person
  • Registration: Please write a short e-mail to career@gauss.uni-goettingen.de if you would like to attend.

About the speaker:

Carla is an Alumna of the GGNB programme “Biomolecules: Structure – Function – Dynamics”. She graduated in 2010 in the lab of Henning Urlaub at the MPI for Biophysical Chemistry. In her PhD project she studied large protein-RNA complexes. As a postdoctoral researcher, Carla moved to University of Oxford to work with Carol V. Robinson, a pioneer of native mass spectrometry. In Oxford, Carla got acquainted with the analysis of membrane proteins and their interactions with lipids. In 2016, she started her own lab as a junior professor in biochemistry at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. In 2022, Carla moved to Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz to become associate professor in biochemistry.

About the sessions:

Our Career Impulse Sessions offer a platform for interactive and informal exchange about career-related topics for PhD students and postdocs in the Life and Natural Sciences. By inviting PhD holders with different career paths, we would like to illustrate the broad range of potential careers for PhD students and postdocs and give inspiration for career choices.

2025/02/12
by Stefanie Klug
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Workshop “Mastering Academic Job Interviews: Securing Postdocs, Grants, and Leadership Roles”, 14-15 April 2025

We are happy to announce our next GAUSS Career Service workshop in 2025 “Mastering Academic Job Interviews: Securing Postdocs, Grants, and Leadership Roles” by Dr Alexander Britz.

This workshop is intended for Postdocs and late-stage PhD students preparing for the next big step in their academic career.

  • Dates: Monday, 14 April 2025 at 9-17h and Tuesday, 15 April 2025, 9-12:30h
  • Location: in-person on North Campus
  • Trainer: Dr Alexander Britz
  • Registration: Please register here (in case you are not registered yet) and send an email to career@gauss.uni-goettingen.de including a short statement on your motivation to attend the workshop.

Workshop description

Whether you’re applying for postdoctoral positions (domestic or abroad), preparing for selection interviews for competitive grants, or aiming for junior group leadership or professorship roles, this workshop is designed to help you excel. In this interactive workshop, participants will develop and practice key skills to leave a strong, professional impression in academic interviews. Effective preparation strategies, presentation techniques, and ways to navigate the unique expectations of academic hiring processes are covered and the specific challenges of academic job applications will be addressed.

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2025/02/10
by Stefanie Klug
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Online workshop “Career Planning”, May 2025

We are happy to announce our upcoming GAUSS Career Service online workshop “Career Planning” by Dr. Iris Köhler.

This workshop is intended for Postdocs and late-stage PhDs in the Natural and Life Sciences.

  • Dates: 15, 19, 22 and 26 May 2025; 9:00-11:00h
  • Location: online
  • Trainer: Dr. Iris Köhler
  • Workshop Category: Knowing the Job Market
  • Registration: Please register here (in case you are not registered yet) and send an email to career@gauss.uni-goettingen.de including a short statement on your motivation to attend the workshop.

Workshop description

The majority of PhD holders does not stay in academia, but pursues careers in a variety of fields. Many young scientists struggle with finding out which career path they would like to pursue. They are not sure which career options exist, and they often have never taken the time to reflect on what kind of work they would actually like to do, and what their values, interests and goals are. The following topics will be covered in the course:

  1. Discovering career and life goals: What kind of work do you like to do? What are your dreams and ideas for the future?
  2. Exploring career options: Where do people with a PhD outside academia work?
  3. Analyzing skills and competencies: What are you good at? What do you enjoy doing? Which “hidden” competencies do you have that you are maybe not aware of?
  4. Make a plan: What are the next steps?

After this course, participants

  • have a better understanding of their life and career goals.
  • have analyzed their skills and competencies.
  • are aware of career options within and outside academia.
  • have designed their individual career development plan.

2025/02/08
by Stefanie Klug
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GAUSS Career Impulse Session (17 October 2025, 11:30-13:00, in-person) with Dr Saskia Gressel (Patent Attorney at HOFFMANN EITLE (Biotech)): “From pipettes to patents: how I became a Patent Attorney in a European Intellectual Property boutique firm”

We’re happy to announce our next GAUSS Career Impulse Session, this time with alumna Dr Saskia Gressel, German and European Patent Attorney at HOFFMANN EITLE (Biotec), Munich, and Representative before the Unified Patent Court (UPC).

  • Date: Friday, 17 October 2025
  • Time: 11:30-13:00 (appr.)
  • Location: in person
  • Registration: Please write a short e-mail to career@gauss.uni-goettingen.de if you would like to attend.

About the speaker:

What does a patent attorney do, and what makes this career path so unique? With appr. 14,400 European Patent Attorneys and 4,200 German Patent Attorneys, our work plays a critical role in bridging the gap between cutting-edge innovation and legal protection. In this talk, I will share insights into the daily life of a patent attorney in private practice, particularly in the field of biotechnology.

I will take you through my own career journey – from studying Chemistry and Biochemistry at LMU Munich to research projects with Prof. Jennifer Doudna at UC Berkeley, completing my PhD at the Max Planck Institute in Göttingen with Prof. Patrick Cramer, and transitioning into intellectual property (IP) law. I will discuss what it’s like to work in an IP boutique firm, the challenges and rewards of handling biotech IP cases, and how my scientific background informs my legal practice.

If you’re curious about careers at the intersection of science, law, and innovation, this talk is for you!

About the sessions:

Our Career Impulse Sessions offer a platform for interactive and informal exchange about career-related topics for PhD students and postdocs in the Life and Natural Sciences. By inviting PhD holders with different career paths, we would like to illustrate the broad range of potential careers for PhD students and postdocs and give inspiration for career choices.

2024/09/17
by Stefanie Klug
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Workshop “How to get into the non-academic job market”, 17-18 February 2025

We are happy to announce our next GAUSS Career Service workshop “How to get into the non-academic job market” by Dr Philippa Cook.

For postdoctoral researchers with an international background, it can be a real challenge to get into Germany’s non-academic job market following an academic position. The entry routes into jobs are not always transparent, candidates are often not well-informed about what to expect in the application process and not everyone can offer German language skills. Where and how you can look for a job outside classic academia depends on your qualifications and skills set, on your individual life situation as well as on knowing about possible entry paths and strategies, the (unwritten) rules of the game and other parameters. This workshop offers assistance with this – tailored specifically for the needs of international scholars – and will encourage participants not just to prepare for this transition in a focused way but to create an action plan which they can start to implement.

Dates: Monday and Tuesday, 17-18 Feb 2025 (9-16h)
Duration: 2 full days, 9-16h
Location: in person on North campus
Trainer: Dr Philippa Cook

Registration: Please register here and send an email to career@gauss.uni-goettingen.de including a short statement on your motivation to attend the workshop.

Workshop description:

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2024/09/08
by Stefanie Klug
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Online workshop “Third-party funding and proposal writing”, 5 March 2025

We are happy to announce our next GAUSS Career Service online workshop “Third-party funding and proposal writing” by Dr. Neela Enke.

This workshop is intended for Postdocs and late-stage PhDs planning to apply for a research grant in the near future and would like to inform themselves about different funding schemes and what is essential to write a competitive grant application.

  • Date: Wednesday, 5 March 2025, 9:00-17:00h
  • Location: online via Zoom
  • Trainer: Dr. Neela Enke
  • Registration: Please register here (in case you are not registered yet) and send an email to career@gauss.uni-goettingen.de including a short statement on your motivation to attend the workshop.

Workshop description

First of all, the workshop provides the applicants with an overview of the most important (national and European) funding agencies and schemes in relation to the participants career stages. Participants will also have the chance to look into interesting funding schemes in more detail.

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