Articles and experience reports for researchers
General conditions of the German higher education system
The general conditions of the German higher education system are such that about four postdocs with habilitation facing one elected faculty member (Consortium for National Report on Junior scholars, 2017, Summary on page 17). This means that you must be realistic about your career chances and also use the postdoc phase to prepare possible career pathways that lead to industry, governmental organizations, associations, service providers or directly into your own spin-off. Consider early on which path suits you and how it can be implemented.
All of these career paths which get further orientation here at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf are supported by the Junior Scientist and International Researcher Center (JUNO) with a broad transferable skills training programme and networking events.
Postdocs
- Research your career options well before graduation
- The autopilot postdoc
- What is a postdoc?
- The postdoc search timeline
- Recognition: Build a reputation
Research funding
- Early-career funding: Big introductions
- It takes time and a team to win grants
- How to bounce back from grant rejection
- It’s not you, it’s me: Learning from a grant rejection
Peer review
- How not to respond to reviewers: Eight simple tips
- Peer review: Close inspection
- Webcast: How to do a great peer review
Working outside of academia
- What do researchers do next when leaving academia?
- Industrial postdocs: a bridge between two worlds
- Informational interviews
- Interview skills and tips for jobseekers: A roundup
- 5 career lessons smart people tend to forget
- Top ten tips to kick-start your career in 2018
Work Life Balance
- Work-life balance: Lab life with kids
- Six ways to juggle science and childcare from home
- Science-ing from home
Research group leaders and junior professors
- Management. When Jobs go wrong
Having to dismiss lab members is not easy, but there are ways to make the process less painful for all involved. - Management 101 for scientists - three rules for managing a successful team
- Interview skills and tips for jobseekers: A roundup
- How to deal with grant rejection
- How to Ace the Virtual Interview
- At the Helm: Leading Your Laboratory (English Edition), Kathy Barker, 2010, Cold Spring Harbor Lab. Press
- What makes us tick: lab leaders describe their research philosophies