All participants in the doctoral program participate in an individually tailored training and professional development program. This program consists of a required introductory module and elective courses, which doctoral researchers can select in consultation with their supervisors. A total of 8-12 QP can be earned in this area.

Introductory Module

The introductory module comprises an introductory event and further workshops. The two-day introductory event covers topics such as:

• the expectations of supervisors and doctoral researchers
• the exposé
• health promotion and mental health.

Additionally, the introductory event provides an opportunity for participants to get to know each other and gather general information about life as a doctoral researcher.

Further workshops, which form the second component of the introductory module, cover topics including:

• good research practice
• the publication process
• science communication
• systematic literature review
• time and self-management.

Elective Courses

In the elective section of the training and professional development program, doctoral researchers can choose courses according to their individual needs. They can select from internal offerings at the University of Bremen (e.g. BYRD, YUFE, Data Science Center) and external offerings (e.g., summer schools).