ATMOchange Activities
ATMOchange PhD Days
Since the beginning of the new funding phase (PoF IV, 2021-2027), the so-called ATMOchange PhD Days take place once a year. These PhD days are a continuation of the ATMO PhD Days (PoF III, 2015-2020) and promote a exchange between doctoral researchers from the Helmholtz centers involved in Topic 1 "The Atmosphere in Global Change" of the program "Changing Earth - Sustaining our Future".
- In 2021 the event was held as a virtual meeting due to the corona pandemic. The focus of the event was on the methodological orientation of the PhD theses and allowed the doctoral researchers to present and discuss the methods they use in their PhD work. The event was complemented by a workshop on stress management.
- The ATMOchange PhD days 2022 took place again in presence. The venue was the KIT's Campus Alpin at the IMK-IFU. The doctoral researchers presented their research topics and worked in small groups to identify the intersections of their research and how these contribute to the "Changing Earth - Sustaining our Future" program. There was also a panel discussion on possible post-doctoral career paths within and outside of research.
- In 2023, the ATMOchange PhD days took place at FZ Jülich.
- In 2024, the ATMOchange PhD days will take place at Karlsruhe.
MHFA courses
The so-called Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is a global program developed along the successful lines of physical first aid, but aimed at mental health first aid. The course wants to enable lay people to recognize and address mental health crisis or problems in people in their environment, e.g. colleagues, in good time, to encourage them to seek professional help and activate further resources.
- We successfully organized a first MHFA course (online) for early-career researchers of all IMK institutes in early 2023 (see flyer).
- A second MHFA course (online) for senior staff took place in November/December 2023 (see flyer).
Course ‘Competency Profile’
The ‘Competency Profile’ course is targeted towards 12 PhD students and postdocs of all IMK institutes. This online course aims to analyze competencies in detail and to identify strengths, in order to use this competency profile in future job applications. The course also includes information about the job market.
The course is held by trainer and coach Dr. Iris Köhler (www.TheScientistCoach.de); it includes 3 webinars (2h each) and individual coaching sessions in a time frame of 5 weeks in November and December 2023.
Webinars “Application training”
From the end of February to mid-April 2024, four webinars were offered on the topic of “Application training for early career researchers”. They were designed to help participants prepare successful applications, present themselves well, identify the right positions and find the right job, and avoid mistakes: Gaps in the CV, excessive requirements, dealing with missing degrees.
The four 2h-webinars were heldby coach Dr. Susanne Dönitz from Karriere.Haus.
ATMOchange Career Days
Starting in 2025, two-day ATMOchange Career Days for IMK doctoral researchers and postdocs will be held annually. They will inform on potential non-academic careers and employers, on application and career entry, on current issues and decision-making processes. In 2025 the Career Days will be hosted by IMK-IFU in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the years following they will be held alternately in Karlsruhe and in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
