On 27 September 2024, the TUM Graduate School Management Office welcomed over 200 doctoral candidates to TUM’s very first Doctoral Day – a unique afternoon tailored to our doctoral candidates’ specific needs and interests as they navigate their academic journey at TUM. Our program featured a thought-provoking keynote, networking opportunities, enriching workshops, and an insightful panel discussion about unconventional career paths after the doctorate.

Inspiring keynote as a kick-off for the day 

The day started with a welcome by Katrin Offe, Ph.D., Managing Director of the TUM Graduate School and an online greeting from Graduate Dean Professor Hans-Joachim Bungartz. After the welcome, Professor Alena Buyx opened the program with her keynote on the topic “Science in the Spotlight: Embracing the Public Discourse.” Professor Buyx is a renowned Professor of Ethics in Medicine and Health Technologies and Director of the Institute for the History and Ethics of Medicine (IGEM) at the TUM. In her keynote speech, she emphasized the joint responsibility of the scientific community to engage in science communication because the research results bring added value to different target groups. She encourages young scientists to define their own style of science communication by exploring various methods, techniques, and channels. Engagement in science communication depends on one's skills and capabilities, and inexperienced doctoral candidates should use TUM’s resources to familiarize themselves with science management and develop techniques to also cope with negative feedback and criticism from the public. Furthermore, it can be more efficient to communicate with a combination of emotions and passion for science – tailored to the specific audience –, especially when research is complicated and hard to explain. 

Networking opportunities and educational workshops

The day continued with “Coffee and Connect”, providing an excellent opportunity for our participants to network with their peers and meet representatives from the different Graduate Centers. After the networking break, our participants could choose from one out of four different workshops depending on their individual interests and where they are in their doctoral journey: 

Our first workshop, led by coach Elisabeth Grenzebach, was a speed dive into science communication. By exploring the target groups, channels, content, and purpose of communication in group work, participants gained valuable insights and felt more empowered in their ability to effectively communicate science. 

Coach Nadine Schneider shared insights into the importance of work-life balance and resilience in stressful situations. The workshop provided an overview of how to handle stress and what helps in challenging phases during a doctorate. Examples of good stress management are breathing techniques and finding out what calms oneself down. 

In our third workshop addressing the first phase of a doctorate, Professor Felix Dietrich, a TUM Graduate School alumnus, shared his thoughts on “Dos and Don’ts” in the doctorate based on his personal doctoral experience at TUM. He emphasized the importance of taking full responsibility of one’s own doctoral research. Concerning supervision, Professor Dietrich recommends approaching senior doctoral candidates and postdocs in the research group for support in addition. One of the key take-away messages is his recommendation not to try to balance work vs. life but rather to balance things we enjoy (that could be research or work) with things we must do. 

The last workshop, “Towards the finishing line”, hosted by members of the TUM-GS management office, provided an overview of the necessary steps and formal requirements for submitting the dissertation, what deadlines to meet, and how to submit the thesis via the digital platform DocGS. Further, doctoral candidates could draw from successful strategies for their writing phase – choosing the right tools, using great techniques to ration their time, and helping overcome writer’s block. Regarding career planning, doctoral candidates should start planning their careers early on if they are staying in academia, but especially if they are thinking about leaving academia. 

Panel discussion about diverse career paths 

Our program concluded with a panel discussion by three experts who decided against a career in academia and opted for rather unconventional career paths after obtaining their doctorates. 

Dr. Martha Maria Frysztacki, co-founder and Head of Energy and Power System Modelling of “Open Energy Transition”, came directly from Brussels to participate in the panel. Her academic background is in mathematics, experimental physics, and energy informatics. She is the only panelist who knew right from the start that she wanted to do the job she is doing today. Her personal drive is her love for coding, open source, and environmental awareness. She works remotely in a non-profit organization that focuses on scaling open-source energy system modelling to meet industrial and governmental needs worldwide. When asked about the importance of having a doctorate for her job, she told the audience that although she tends to forget it herself, some people seem to take her more seriously and treat her as more of an expert in her field with the title.

Dr. Isabella von Sivers has an academic background in scientific computing, mathematics, and computer science and works as a freelance patent attorney. After her doctorate, she was looking for job offers and came across a job as a patent attorney. She knew that this was the right choice for her because of the various areas of responsibility. After completing her traineeship, she is currently working as a German and European patent attorney. She loves the flexibility of freelancing and deciding which client she wants to work with but also shares her challenges with the bureaucracy of self-employment. In her opinion, her doctorate helped her a lot in learning to figure things out by herself. 

Dr. Karin Wisskirchen is co-founder, Managing Director and Head of Research at the start-up SGC Cell Therapy Germany and has an academic background in biology and virology. Her company works internationally in Singapore, Germany, and China and focuses on the development of novel immunotherapies for patients with pathogenic infections and associated cancers. The company's starting signal was when she discussed her work during a conference in Singapore. She is now responsible for HR topics and hiring people in the field of research, which is a new field of work for her. Her biggest drive was to help patients, and during her doctorate, she learned perseverance.

All three panelists are satisfied with their current roles and the paths their doctorates have opened for them. They share similarities in their jobs, particularly in the flexibility of remote work, and they each draw upon various lessons from their academic journeys. This includes technical knowledge as well as valuable skills like perseverance, self-confidence, tackling challenging projects, and a sound network in their fields.