A while ago I stumbled upon a job advertisement for a position that is dedicated to support PhDs and PostDocs at a large German university. It was one of these moments when you think that maybe you are in the wrong field, because a cascade of ideas came tumbling down. As my capturing infrastructure was in place, I jotted down the ideas I had to improve the support and qualification of PhDs and PostDocs.
As this job was not for me, perhaps someone else can use them (German translation as PDF):
| service |
|
| place of communication |
- Organization of presentations with discussions about experiences in science (similar to “Last Lecture”/”Journeys” of the Carnegie Mellon University
- Blog for experience reports (e.g., conducting experiments, methods, etc.)
- 1-page-reports as introduction to topics (similar to the “Blitze” at wissensdialoge.de, tagged according to topic/task and discipline
- Wiki to collect tips/helps, perhaps by using patterns
- Hosting “social events” to support informal knowledge exchange between disciplines
- profile pages with short introduction of the PhD/PostDoc (similar to phinished.org) to foster community building at the university
|
| PostDoc-Phase |
- using experiences from lab visits, exchange programs, backgrounds at different university, e.g., via experience reports (presentations and blog postings)
- developing specific courses/support according to PostDoc survey
|
| development of standards to create optimal conditions for research and qualification |
- principle: collect the tasks and necessary conditions on a higher level while respecting the autonomy of the advisers and keeping the individual strengths of the different disciplines
- writing articles/doing presentations to stimulate a scientific discourse and disseminate best practice
|
| course model about the basics of science |
- science as social process (interests, agenda, peer review, role of the community), perspectives of different disciplines, scientific thinking, critical/skeptical thinking, getting to know different techniques, ethical standards
- generic content with assistance to transfer the content to one’s own (sub-)discipline
- blended learning/web services/reviews/follow-up
|
| conceptual development |
- surveys regarding the needs and requirements of current and past PhD students and PostDocs
- literature research/web research regarding similar/related services
- experience reports from lab visits/guest professors
|
| evaluation |
- measuring on different levels (usage, learning, behavior, work results, career paths)
|