MTEC Doctoral Retreat 2019

The three-day event in Kappel am Albis, Switzerland, combined informal get-togethers with eleven interactive sessions in which state-of-the-art research methods, publishing strategies and peer-to-peer coaching were discussed.

Participating members of the D-MTEC faculty included Professors Stefano Brusoni (Chair of Technology and Innovation Management), Stefan Feuerriegel (Chair of Management Information Systems), Robert Finger (Chair of Agricultural Economics and Policy), Gudela Grote (Chair of Work and Organisational Psychology), Torbjörn Netland (Chair of Production and Operations Management), Petra Schmid (Chair of Organisational Behaviour), and Florian von Wangenheim (Chair of Technology Marketing and Head of the Doctoral Committee). They were joined by several other faculty members and D-MTEC’s educational developer, Dr. Erik Jentges.

This year’s programme also included a session led by doctoral candidate Bernhard Kratzwald about the MTEC Research Collaboration Award and the activities and social events of the Association of Scientific Staff at D-MTEC (ScSt@MTEC). The main duties of the ETH Association of Scientific Staff (AVETH) were described by doctoral candidate Linda Wehner (D-MATL).

As a novelty, this year’s programme also featured a session about career planning. “When you start a new career, you typically aren’t already thinking about what your next step will be. At some point, however, the question arises. ETH provides useful information and services to help you take the next step in your career – in whatever direction that might be,” said Eva Gottschewski from ETH Human Resources, who laid special emphasis on the ETH “My Future” platform.

The topic of work-life balance was addressed in the session “In & Outside (Life & Work)”. It was led by Dr Denniz Dönmez, a former D-MTEC doctoral candidate who is currently working as an Improve Manager & Coach at external page Swisscom Health AG, and Dr Ecaterina Puricel, Innovation Manager at external page Behr Bircher Cellpack (BBC).

The participants benefitted from interdisciplinary exchange and insights into current and future trends in management and economic research. In addition, the retreat was a great opportunity to network with faculty members and other doctoral candidates.

We thank all participants and speakers, as well as the photographer and the organiser of this successful seminar and look forward to continuing the series with the seventh edition next year. More details will be announced in due time.