Career development

Individual mentoring, specific skills training and advisory services – find out what WissZeitVG means and about the wide variety of opportunities to develop your career career during the postdoc phase. If you are a researcher in Göttingen, make sure you are signed-up to receive the GC Postdoc Network newsletter to get updates.

WISSZEITVG: ACADEMIC FIXED-TERM CONTRACTS IN GERMAN LAW

What is the German WissZeitVG (Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz) and why might it impact your career? We recommend you get advice about your personal situation early on in your career from multiple sources, including your own local HR team. 
In addition:

  • The German Scholars Organisation has developed a useful overview in their Facts&Tools
  • The PhD-student council of the Friedrich-Schiller Universität Jena (DR.FSU) has produced a useful guide (German only) on the implementation of the WissZVG at their university which you might find helpful, in conjunction with getting personal advice. It can be found on this page at “Das Wichtigste zum Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz findet ihr hier”.
  • For background, please see the Max Planck’s Joint Statement of the German Postdoctoral Networks from July 2023 on the draft bill for the WissZeitVG Max Planck

Mentoring

Advance your skills, gain knowledge and develop your career plan with the help of a mentor:

Advice

Get information, advice and support on relevant topics:

  • Ombuds Office – an independent institution of the University which supports the prevention of research misconduct and offers confidential counselling to all University researchers at any career stage. If you are not based at the University, you can find your local ombudsbody via Germany’s list of Ombudspersons or contact the University Ombuds Office for advice.
  • Personalrat: in Germany, universities each have a Personalrat made up of staff to ensure employees’ rights as well as support and advise staff. Companies (such as MPIs or DPZ) also have teams to support staff called Betriebsrat. The central task of the Personalrat is to represent the social and personal interests of employees with regard to the University within the scope of their employment relationship and their workplace. The concerns and interests of employees are represented at a collective level with regard to the University. The Personalrat has several co-determination, participation and consultation rights. Employees can ask for confidential advice and get support with work-related topics and problems. Contacts can be found here.
  • Advisory service (equal opportunities) : eg studying or working with a family, career management, crisis or conflict intervention
  • Research data management and archiving
  • Innovation and business contacts
  • Start-up consultation
  • Hochschulteam der Agentur für Arbeit Göttingen
  • GoinGlobal find out about living and working abroad
  • Orientation and Offers for Postdocs: Get the support you need for your job application
  • If you plan to leave academia, this website will also provide you with a wealth of relevant information
  • Start Guides offer help to international postdocs who want to stay in Germany and need practical support getting in contact with companies in the region.
  • This government website Path to Professorship gives a useful overview about academic career paths in Germany
  • Die Zeit has collected advice (in German) about academic careers in Germany here which comes recommended by HR, in particular the pages giving tips (about applications, salary in different fields, as well as working abroad and women in science). Ratgeber-Übersicht - academics, and the academic career path from PhD to professor Akademische Laufbahn: Von der Promotion bis zur Professur – academics.
  • The German Scholars Organization has pulled together four pieces of advice useful for those working in academia to help you build your career strategy and explained why this could help you. You’ll find the article here in their Facts and Tools section of their website.
  • The German Scholars Organization has put the best bits from their conference 2023 “To be honest – career real talk for researchers” online here. You can watch their opening session “Inconvenient truths in academia and how to deal with them”, as well as summaries of individual sessions on “Path to Group Leader/Professor when the German System is a Mystery to you”, “Careers after Academia”, “Dealing with German Bureaucracy”, “Visibility & Networking” and more.
  • The MAWI Network against Abuse of Power in Science was founded to raise awareness about abuses of power in academia and to provide independent advice to individuals who are experiencing problems of this kind. In addition, the network offers assistance to ombudspersons dealing with cases of power abuse, as well as to academic institutions seeking to take preventive measures. One of the founder members of the MAWI Network, Professor Jana Lasser, gave a talk at Göttingen and the talk is available here and her slides here.
  • The German government publishes advice for postdocs and other researchers about careers, funding and jobs in their Research in Germany pages.

Training

Get ready for your next career step:

Support offered by graduate schools

In Göttingen, PhD researchers are registered with the University of Göttingen and supported by a graduate school. There are four graduate schools and one center as below. The GGNB Center is nested within GAUSS. GAUSS offers a service to support postdocs in the life and natural sciences as well as PhD students.

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