Worldwide academia, industry, commerce and politics benefit from the diversity of their communities and the brain gain that accompanies this. Yet, there seem to be obstacles or difficulties especially for international researchers to pursue a career in another country. This seminar aims to shed light on the special challenges international researchers are facing within the German science community while pursuing their career here and the challenges German researchers are facing when going abroad for an international career.

Mostly, professional strengths and expertise are put in the focus when planning your career, seeking the right job or the appropriate and desired position. That is a good approach, but it is often just not enough. Only a fraction of vacancies/positions are advertised, while quite a number of positions are created for instance by one’s own initiative, third party funded projects or the skill to be “accidentally” in the right spot at just the right time, for example if an informal (small) talk at a conference suddenly turns into a promising idea for a co-operative project...

Therefore, not only the goal-oriented research activities, but also the skill to form, maintain and use effective strategic networks in communities is among the key competences for successful careers in academia, industry, commerce and politics. For international researchers pursuing a career in Germany these network activities often reveal structural weak spots which will be identified within this seminar, while activation exercises will offer strategies to decrease those weak spots.

Within this interval training and coaching you will have the opportunity to analyze your network activities systematically, to optimize it purposefully for your career path and to gain routine to authentically put your strengths into practice.