m et agazine of the max planck phd n Publisher: Max Planck PhDnet (2008) Editorial board: Verena Conrad, MPI for Biological Cybermetics, Tübingen Corinna Handschuh, MPI for Evolutionary Anthroplology, Leipzig Julia Steinbach, MPI for Biogeochemistry, Jena Peter Buschkamp, MPI for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching Franziska Hartung, MPI for Experimental Biology, Göttingen Design: offspring Silvana Schott, MPI for Biogeochemistry, Jena Table of Contents Dear reader, you have the third issue of the Offspring So, here you see the first issue of this new Dear Reader 3 in your hands, the official magazine of Offspring and we hope you enjoy reading the Max Planck PhDnet. This magazine it! The main topic of this issue is “Success”, A look back ... 4 was started in 2005 to communicate the for instance you may read interviews with ... and forward 5 network‘s activities and to provide rele- MPI-scientists at different levels of their Introduction of the new Steering Group 6 vant information to PhD students at all career, giving their personal perception of institutes. Therefore, the first issues mainly scientific success, telling how they celeb- Success story 8 contained reports about previous meetings rate success and how they cope with fai- Questionnaire on Scientific Success 10 and announcements of future events. lure; you will learn how two foreign PhD What the ?&%@# is Bologna? 14 students succeeded in getting along in However, at the PhD representatives’ mee- Germany in their first months – and of ting in Leipzig, November 2006, a new Workgroups of the PhDnet 15 course about the successful work of the work group was formed as the editorial PhDnet Meeting 2007 16 PhDnet during the last year. office of the Offspring. The members Invitation to the next PhDnet Meeting 19 of this work group decided upon the But to keep this magazine interesting Event Workgroup 20 reformation of the magazine to increase its for you, we also need your feedback! Let Announcement PhD workshop 2008 22 attractiveness and relevance. The Offspring us know what you liked about this issue Web Workgroup 23 should be a platform for PhD students that and what you are missing. We also would Seminars Workgroup 24 reflects their interests and can therefore like to invite you to actively contribute to Alumni Workgroup 26 be distinguished from other Max Planck the Offspring by providing us with ideas, Become a MPS Alumnus! 27 publications. Besides information about information, relevant articles, pictures Vectorial - Networking Life Scientists 28 the work of the PhDnet, the Offspring – everything that you regard as valuable will now include things like relevant news information for PhD students of the Max- Getting along in Germany 31 from the General Administration, reports Planck Society. about individual institutes, careers and PhD Comic 34 profiles, progress reports and interviews as Your editorial office well as letters to the editor, features and Contacts 35 commentary. 3 A look ... and Rainer Stollhoff Melissa Duhaime ex-spokesperson of the PhDnet back ... current spokesperson of the PhDnet forward Success - Not only the main topic of this all PhD-students and the wiki is open for Is success a human property? Do non-hu- sent me off with simple advice amidst the issue of the Offspring, but also the starting participation. Make use of it! man creatures experience the feeling of pandemonium of growing responsibilities: point for the president of the Max-Planck- success? Perhaps, to them, success is equi- “The most important job is to keep the Society in the March 2007 issue of Max Decisions - As PhD-students we are often valent to survival. I tried researching what network alive.” Survival. Planck Research. Although the success I affected by decisions taken by others: our success means in the animal world and I can report as spokesperson of the PhDnet directors, the local university bodies, the stumbled upon a study describing “nesting With the support of a great incumbent is a more modest one, nonetheless the past MPS as a whole, and also politics in general. success” of woodland ducks struggling Steering Group, active PhD representa- year has been a successful year, as will be Among others these are decisions affecting to endure a rapidly disappearing habitat. tives from all institutes and the invaluable detailed in reports of PhDnets activities our status as PhD-students, our personal si- However, in the report it became quite ob- advice of last year’s group, survival is on the following pages. In my opinion, the tuation by the way and amount of funding, vious that nesting is simply a means of sur- undoubtedly assured. The challenge of most important achievement was to es- our goals by changes in the Promotionsord- vival; an innate behavior. For a woodland “success” will lie in our ability to accom- tablish the PhDnet wiki (see page 23) as a nung and our future as scientists in Ger- duck, to succeed is to survive and produce plish defined goals, many of which are still communication and information platform many, Europe and around the globe. About offspring. Given our generally safe lives, in the birth and development stage. The with more than 80 registered participants these decisions, we are rarely informed and for most humans success goes beyond such collective goals of the Steering Group are as editors and over 70,000 page views up our voice is so far rarely heard. At the Berlin measures. When survival is ensured, we are expressed in our introduction, which you to now. For the last year, the wiki was the meeting we renewed and strengthened our capable of the beautiful luxury of success. will find in this issue of Offspring (page platform on which the steering group ma- resolution to get involved into these decisi- 6). My personal goal as spokesperson is to naged to navigate the PhDnet and our ons: locally through PhD representation at I have always thought that success implies undertake tasks honoring the fundamen- ambitious agenda around the difficulties every institute, internally through PhDnet a certain degree of intent; success is at- tal “PhDnet-wide” goal of improving the inherent in a network spread throughout representation at meetings of MPS bodies tained upon the accomplishment of an in- condition of PhD candidates of the Max Germany. In the wiki, we gathered and ac- and publicly by the formulation of an open tended objective. This objective lies in the Planck Society. For, when there is room cumulated information about the situation letter, addressing our concerns to the proper heart of each individual brave enough to for complaint, even the best can be better. of PhD-students in the MPS. Information political authorities. embark upon personal challenges. In this We have all been granted the opportunity we used to move the MPS to start urgently way, success includes, but has the potential for more than survival; we aren’t woodland As my time as spokesperson is now over, I needed changes in the legal status of PhD- to go far beyond, mere survival. ducks! And herein lies our opportunity for wish the new spokesperson Melissa Du- students, to help local PhD representatives success through the coming year. Let’s haime and her new steering crew all the At the general meeting in Berlin, pre- structuring their work and to facilitate the continue best and a decisively successful year. vious spokesperson Rainer Stollhof transfer of knowledge to the next steering group. This information is accessible to to grow. 5 Introduction of the new Steering Group Dear Doctoral Students of the Max Planck Based on stimulating discussions at the their career, and to continue to improve tive at your institute about all problems, Society, General Meeting of the current concerns connections with the MPS Alumni net- constructive critiques, or new ideas of how and problems facing PhD students of the work. to improve your working environment. Our 6th PhDnet General Meeting is now Max Planck Society, the new Steering Sharing also your positive experiences will behind us, hosted in Berlin by the MPI for Committee has established three initial The third goal is to increase cooperation provide golden standards by which other Infection Biology. Thanks to the excellent goals. with other PhD associations, such as the institutes can learn how to successfully work and thorough preparation of all its Helmholtz Juniors (the PhD network of address similar issues. We expressly invite participants, the meeting was full of dis- The first is to continue to facilitate the Helmholtz Gemeinschaft). This will PhD representatives (and students!) from cussions, debates, and newly shaped initia- institute-wide communication, and to seek provide a greater appreciation for the ex- all institutes to approach us with new is- tives. Thank you all for raising the bar and out and bridge gaps in information flow. periences of like-minded students as we sues. setting the meeting standard so high! An incredible “communication infrastruc- campaign to protect the rights and ameli- ture” has been put in place by the past orate the social standing of PhD students Keep connected through the year, and stay At the General Meeting, four enthusias- group. To ensure that information reaches in Germany. in touch! tic PhD students were elected to the new all MPS students, we encourage PhDnet PhDnet Steering Group. Notably, this institute reps to continue publicizing the However, as the Steering Group, our pri- Sincerely yours, group makes up the most international mary goal is to make your work easier by PhDnet mission among newcomers. Stay Soeren Alsheimer (Section representative: Steering Group since the founding of the helping you solve problems. We provide up to date with PhDnet initiatives via the Biomed); Melissa Beth Duhaime (Spokes- PhDnet. Let us briefly introduce ourselves.