Promotion of Junior Researchers

The promotion of young researchers is a core concern of the SFB, which is taken into account through various innovative formats and a series of specific measures. In addition to these specific measures of the SFB, the young researchers benefit from the already existing structures of the Universities of Jena and Erfurt as well as the Max Weber Kolleg.

Formats for promoting young researchers at the SFB include:

Junior Research Teams: Three Junior Research Teams are integrated into the SFB. This structure-building measure combines a high degree of independence of the JRT with a high degree of thematic integration into the SFB and serves to strengthen the role of junior researchers. At the same time, the assumption of project management tasks serves to qualify the junior researchers.

Junior Research Property: A fund is set up for the group of young researchers (doctoral students and postdocs), whose use is decided autonomously. In this way, the academic independence and structural autonomy of the younger researchers is promoted. At the same time, the young researchers have the opportunity to gain valuable experience in terms of strategic planning and organisational implementation.

Junior Research Funds (Predoc-Förderung): In order to facilitate the transition from the study to the doctoral phase financially, start-up funding for the development of an exposé is offered to promising Master's graduates from the institutions participating in the SFB. The Junior Research Funds are intended to contribute to opening up doctoral perspectives with a connection to property beyond the subprojects and junior research teams.

Involvement and supervision of young researchers: The basis for supervision is an SFB colloquium, which focuses on the presentation of doctoral and postdoctoral projects and takes place every fortnight. Young researchers have the opportunity to hold a course on the topic of their project. Other formats are joint reading seminars offered at both locations, study groups on special topics or methods, and research workshops for doctoral students and postdocs working empirically.

Mentoring: The integration of the doctoral researchers into the project work is designed in such a way that they are given sufficient space to write their own qualification papers. To support this, each doctoral student will have a mentor in addition to the first supervisor, who will come from another sub-project and will serve as a contact person independent of the project. Postdoctoral researchers in the SFB are integrated into the supervision concept in two ways: Where it makes sense and is desired in terms of topics and personnel, they can act as mentors for the doctoral researchers. At the same time, the postdocs select a mentor from among the subproject leaders, who accompanies the habilitation process in an advisory capacity and is available as a contact person for career planning issues.

The Mid-level Representatives: Roman Birke, Luzie Gerstenhöfer, Steffen Liebig and Maria Pfeiffer

Your direct contact to the Mid-level Representatives: