Career Perspectives with a PhD in Natural & Life Sciences // Jan 8, 5 – 6 pm

Looking for career options after your doctorate? And not sure what is “out there”? With the series "Career Perspectives with a PhD in Natural and Life Sciences", we would like to offer an opportunity for interactive and informal exchange about career-related topics.

On Thursday we welcome Dr. Stephan Hohloch, a chemist who is professor of Coordination Chemistry, Universität Innsbruck, Austria.

All information and the meeting link can be found on this website.

In February, we welcome Dr. Luiza Bengtsson, a biochemist who works as science communicator and is head of Museum & Society at the Botanical Garden Berlin.

*************************

Open online consultation hours from the Graduate Center // Tuesdays from 11 - 12

The graduate center coordinator Simone offers a regular open online consultation hour.

The consultation is always strictly confidential!

 You have questions about:

• the mentoring programs at our department,
• the awarded titles Dr. rer. nat. or Ph.D.,
• the planning of your further career, training and education offers,
• the admission obligation on good scientific practice
• or any other topics related to our services?

Join me online via Webex (please wait in the lobby - I will let you in as soon as the consultation room is free). Always on Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 12 noon.

The advisory service is also open to master's students who seek advice in starting a doctorate. Please feel free to pass on this information.

*************************

Scientific workflows: Tools and tips / Online lecture series by Dr. Selina Baldauf // Jan 15, 4-5pm

In this lecture series we will explore a diverse range of topics, including R code quality and efficiency, reproducible document creation, version control with Git, literature management, and academic notetaking. You'll learn practical tips and tricks that can help you optimize your research workflow and increase your productivity.

We will meet online on the 3^rd Thursday of every month during the lecture period for one hour and you are welcome to join.

The next session will be “Introduction to version control with Git and GitHub”. Find further information and the meeting link here.

*************************

Networking Day of the Department of Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy // Jan 22, 4:15pm 

Join the department's Networking Day and meet colleagues from other disciplines and working groups as well as students!

We start at 4.15 p.m. with the following short presentations:

• Prof. Dr. Julio Hechavarria, newly appointed for Brain and Behavior:
  “Neural Codes for Behavior”
• Prof. Dr. Tomer Czaczkes, newly appointed for Applied Zoology / Animal Ecology:
  “Behaviour and cognition in ants and other insects”
• brief reports on the projects submitted to the AI in Teaching Ideas Competition (https://www.bcp.fu-berlin.de/studium-lehre/ideenwettbewerb-ki-in-der-lehre/index.html).

At a subsequent poster session, you can share your research and exchange your ideas in detail over pretzels and drinks. Students looking for a topic for their master or doctoral thesis may find it here.

Register your poster:

For the organization of the poster session we need the registration of your poster via this online form until Friday, 16 January 2026, at the latest.

Please use the template linked on the form page to prepare the poster and bring it ready to hang to the Networking Day.

Time & Location

Jan 22, 2026 | 04:15 PM

Lecture Hall B.001 and Foyer, Arnimallee 22, 14195 Berlin

*************************

Info event series: Doctoral studies at the BCP department // Jan 23, 11 am – 12 pm

The Graduate Center is organizing an information series for doctoral candidates at the BCP department. Once a month, the focus will be on a specific topic related to doctoral studies at the department, with a short input and the opportunity to ask questions.

The next info event in our series takes place in January 2026 and deals with the topic “Thesis Publication & Awarding”

When does the thesis publication take place? Which formats of publication at the University Library are possible? Is the publication required for the award of the certificate? When can the title be used? When and where do I get the certificate? How can I become a member of the Ernst-Reuter-Gesellschaft and what are the advantages of it?

Join the online meeting, gather some information and ask your questions!

Further information and the Webex link will be posted soon here: https://www.bcp.fu-berlin.de/en/graduiertenzentrum/promovierende/veranstaltungen/info-events/index.html

Here you will also find the presentations of past information events as well as helpful links on the respective topic.

*************************

Online Workshop “Introduction to data analysis with R” // Mar 9 – 10 + 16 – 17

Course offer by the Graduate Center: This workshop offers an introduction to data analysis with R.

The workshop's main goal is to equip you with essential R skills for analyzing your own research data, covering data processing and visualization.

Who is the course for? Doctoral researchers registered at the BCP department, Postdoctoral researchers at the BCP department

When?  9., 10., 16. & 17. March 2026; 9 am – 4 pm

Where? Webex Online Course (Please note that a video camera and a microphone are necessary for this course.)

Registration: Will follow in the next newsletter in February. For now, save the date!

*************************

Dahlem Research School (DRS) Workshops & Open Door Talks

Next event from the Exchange Forum on Doctoral Education

The online session “Meet the Doctoral Council” will take place February 11, 2026, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. It will be hosted by the Doctoral Council, which will introduce itself and present its work. The session will be held in English.

No prior registration is required to participate: https://fu-berlin.webex.com/fu-berlin/j.php?MTID=m2d038e7f1f0a2306848e7b68ad566d89.

DRS Award for Excellent Supervision 2025:
Prof. Dr. Daniel Schubert, dean of our department is one of the two price winners for excellent supervision. Congratulation!
https://www.fu-berlin.de/en/sites/drs/doctorate/supervision-and-guidance/excellent_supervision/index.html

Getting organized: modern knowledge management for researchers |Jan 21 & 22

Date: 21. & 22.01.2026; 9am – 1pm

Venue: online

Objectives & Content:

By the end of the workshop, all participants will have a functioning knowledge management system and will be able to adapt and expand it according to their subject-specific needs.

No technical background knowledge is assumed. However, participants should be able / have the rights to install new software on their system.

• Knowledge management: Fundamental methods
• Tools for efficiently saving different media content
• Zotero: Basic functions, plugins, advanced settings and workflows
• Obsidian: Basic functions, plugins, advanced settings and workflows

https://www.drs.fu-berlin.de/en/node/126130

*************************

BUA workshops

Career Day for Doctoral Researchers | Jan 29

Registration: Click here! To register, you will need an account in the booking software of Humboldt Graduate School (OpenCampus).

Venue: Humboldt Graduate School, Luisenstr. 56, 10117 Berlin-Mitte 

Livestream: Large parts of the event (marked with a * above) will be streamed. The link will be published here. The stream will be accessible without registration.

Find the program and more information here.