RTG Weekend

Challenges in Academic Life: Promoting a Positive, Sustainable and Diverse Atmosphere

18th – 20th of July, 2025
Horneburg in North Rhine Westphalia
Organization: PhDs, Julia Wolf & Louis Loock

Soft Skill Workshop

Mental Work – Mental Health: Achieving Goals with Satisfaction

17th of October, 2024
2-6 pm
Venue: Ruhr University Bochum, GAFO 04/619
Organization: Julia Wolf & Louis Loock

Invited Expert: Dr. Sarah Kersten

Objectives

Our internal PhDs will be introduced to the WOOP method, a proven strategy for successful goal attainment (developed by Gabriele Oettingen). They will learn how to systematically formulate their personal and academic goals more clearly, better manage potential challenges, and enhance their motivation. The workshop aims to equip PhD students with concrete tools to sustainably increase their satisfaction and effectiveness in pursuing their goals.

Content

Follow-up Meeting (online)

To ensure lasting learning success, a two-hour follow-up meeting was offered 4 weeks after the workshop. Participants reflected on their experiences with the WOOP method, shared successes and challenges, and discussed possible adjustments. Additionally, several methods to avoid procrastination were presented.This meeting aimed to solidify the implementation of learned strategies, encourage mutual exchange, and provide additional support in goal pursuit.

Equality Workshop: Dealing with Structural Injustice at the University

6th of June, 2024
Venue: Osnabrück University , Bohnenkamp-Haus, 64/E14 Seminar Room
Organization: Julia Wolf & Louis Loock

Invited Host and Speaker: Dr. Anna Welpinghus

Structural injustice addresses unjust acts or circumstances that arise not directly from the behavior and biases of individuals, but that are rather a consequence of the overarching organizational structures surrounding the affected individuals that suffer from them. Especially in the academic context of universities or private research institutes, it can rather tacitly and swiftly come to situations in which certain groups of researchers and employees are treated unequally and may even be emotionally and psychologically harmed in the working conditions inflicted by the steep hierarchy and the power relations usually present in this ambitious and partly competitive working climate. This workshop aims to unravel some of these underlying structures and their impact, to foster a stronger awareness for them and to show possible strategies and codes of conduct in order to successfully overcome any injustices in academia.

Soft Skill Workshop: Plan, Perform, Publish

19th of April, 2024
Venue: Online via Zoom
Organization: Julia Wolf & Louis Loock

Zoom Link: https://ruhr-uni-bochum.zoom-x.de/j/66897783517?pwd=dmtBR1hHTmhZbjV5QjM0bE5KR2ptdz09
Zoom ID: 668 9778 3517
Zoom Code: 058910

Writing a PhD is the highest educational step towards becoming an independent researcher and this requires understanding and contributing to the academic publishing process: planning the project and the publication result, performing the empirical and theoretical work, and then publishing the paper in a peer-reviewed journal. Admittedly, the actual practice of all these steps is much more complex, and so this workshop aims to provide helpful information and encouraging tips about the entire process – from idea to execution to publication. Focus will especially be placed on how to develop a fruitful strategy for publications, be they empirical or theoretical. Additionally, there is also plenty of space for more detailed questions, for example: How do I find and decide for a fitting journal? What are the most important dos and don’ts of the review process? How important are open science, open access and open data today? Participants are encouraged to pose such individual questions in the respective Q&A blocks of this workshop, especially in light of their dissertation project within the RTG.

RTG Women’s Networking Event

15th of December, 2023
Venue: Institute of Cognitive Science (University Osnabrück, Wachsbleiche 27)
Organization: Nikola Kompa & Julia Wolf

With this informal meeting we would like to provide an open space to discuss issues surrounding the topic of women in academia. Women face several obstacles and particular difficulties during their academic career, and it is exactly these that we would like to address and work towards counteracting. Possible topics will be how best to support eachother as women in academia, and what kind of equal opportunities events would be good to have in the upcoming time in the RTG. There will also be plenty of time for chatting, exchanging experiences and just generally getting to know each other.

Overcoming gender stereotypes in (personal) career planning/ Reflect your own personality and develop your job-related (career) perspectives

Career Orientation Workshop, 29. – 30. November 2023
Venue: RUB, GAFO 04/619
Organization: Albert Newen, Nikola Kompa & Julia Wolf

While working on your scientific contents, aspects such as advancing in your field, developing expertise and improving performance play a major role for the science-related task at hand. However, in that process arise some other crucial question for key decisions in your personal and professional life which deserve your attention: Which job-related settings do you need to fully unfold your potential, be engaged, and successfully develop your career? Does gender stereotyping present a serious obstacle to the achievement of real gender equality in my field? Do gender stereotypes limit or negatively impact educational and professional experiences of men and women as well as their life opportunities in general? How to sensitize yourself and your work environment to the gender stereotyping issues? What are your core strengths and your personal goals? What kind of tasks, job related roles and requirements fit you? These kinds of questions can only be answered by a serious reflection on your work environment, personality, and a valid self-assessment on your personal strengths. To provide you with that is the key focus of this training. It is designed to offer you methods that access your self-reflection, provide the opportunity to get constructive feedback and thus reveal important insights for you.

Wednesday, 29th of November

Thursday, 30th of November