MTEC Doctoral Retreat 2021: High up in the mountains
From 11 to 13 July, 21 incoming doctoral candidates took part in the eighth annual D-MTEC Doctoral Retreat, a three-day onboarding seminar at which they discussed teaching and research practices with members of the department. There was also a hike and plenty of coffee.
High above the Walensee, a lake about an hour from Zurich bordered by an impressive rock face, 21 junior researchers met for three days with MTEC department members in an onboarding event for the doctoral programme. In presentations, discussions and workshops, professors, senior researchers and members of the D-MTEC administration shared insights into research and teaching with the new doctoral candidates.
The schedule afforded participants ample opportunities to get to know each other better: trying to remember new names over coffee, having vivid discussions at dinner, and bonding as a community during a hike into the surrounding wilderness. “Given the broad spectrum of research at D-MTEC, it is important for us to foster a collaborative spirit among our doctoral candidates,” said Judith Holzheimer, Doctoral Coordinator at D-MTEC and, together with the Doctoral Committee, the organiser of the event.
Head of the Department and of the Doctoral Committee Professor Florian von Wangenheim welcomed the doctoral candidates and presented an introduction to the doctorate at D-MTEC. Professor Ursula Renold, who will become head of the Doctoral Committee on 1 August, followed up with a presentation discussing the relationship between research and policymaking.
The subsequent sessions on teaching methods, communication strategies and research practices were led by experts from D-MTEC’s faculty and scientific and support staff, as well as senior doctoral candidates and external specialists. Professor Robert Finger shared his experience of communicating and promoting research projects and publications. Professor Stefano Brusoni offered an introduction to ethics in research.
The programme also included a session about the activities and social events hosted by the Association of Scientific Staff at D-MTEC ( ScSt@MTEC), led by the ScSt co-president, doctoral candidate Daniel Kwasnitschka. Stefani Stefanova, also a doctoral candidate, gave a presentation on the feMTEC association – a network to promote and support women at D-MTEC that she co-founded earlier this year. Doctoral candidates Paula Thimet and Raphael Weibel led workshop sessions on advising Master’s students and on academic writing.
The topic of work-life balance was addressed in the session “In & Outside (Life & Work)”, led by two former D-MTEC doctoral candidates: Dr Cristina Kadar, who is currently working as Product Owner in Data Science & Machine Learning at external page NZZ (Neue Zürcher Zeitung), and Dr Klaus Fuchs, Director of Industry Collaborations at the ETH AI Center. They were assisted by postdoctoral researcher Dr Jan Schmutz, who also drew on his background in Organisational Psychology to lead a session on collaboration and teamwork.
D-MTEC Educational Developer Dr Erik Jentges talked about teaching challenges, and Dr Bastian Bergmann, D-MTEC Coordinator of Studies, described opportunities to get involved in the D-MTEC community and associated organisations.
The Doctoral Retreat was well received by the participants. “A great experience and way to connect with the D-MTEC community,” said one. “A must for any new doctoral candidate,” added another. The next retreat will take place in the summer of 2022.
We thank all participants and speakers, as well as the photographer, Dr Erik Jentges, the organiser, Judith Holzheimer, and the staff of external page Seminarhotel Lihn in Filzbach.