MTEC Doctoral Retreat 2022: Kicking off the Doctorate in a former Cistercian monastery
From 21 to 23 August, 24 incoming doctoral candidates took part in the ninth annual D-MTEC Doctoral Retreat, a three-day onboarding seminar at which they discussed teaching and research practices with members of the department. They also enjoyed a hike and plenty of coffee.
At a former Cistercian monastery about an hour from Zurich, in the midst of a wide-open landscape of fields and forests and with a lovely view of the Alps, 24 junior researchers met for three days with MTEC department members and external specialists in an onboarding event for the doctoral programme. In presentations, discussions and workshops, professors, senior researchers and members of the D-MTEC staff shared insights into research and teaching with the new doctoral candidates.
The schedule afforded participants ample opportunities to get to know each other better as they tried to remember new names over coffee, had vivid discussions at dinner, bonded as a community during a hike in the surrounding countryside, and finally had a swim in the Tüerlersee.
Head of Department Professor Peter Egger welcomed the doctoral candidates and introduced them to D-MTEC. Professor Ursula Renold, Head of the Doctoral Committee, followed up with a presentation on the D-MTEC doctorate.
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 experiences communicating and promoting research projects and publications. Professor Antoine Bommier offered an introduction to good academic practice.
The programme also included a session on 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 Savindu Herath Pathirannehelage. Senior doctoral candidate Raphael Weibel and postdoc Dr Omid Maghazei led workshops on advising Master’s students and on academic writing.
A session on “Networking with D-MTEC Alumni” was led by three former D-MTEC doctoral candidates: Dr Holger Hendrichs, Vice President for Sales and Marketing at greenTEG, Dr Christos Karydas, Senior Consultant in Sustainable Finance at EY, and Dr Denis Hübner, Principal at A.T. Kearney.
D-MTEC Educational Developer Dr Erik Jentges talked about teaching challenges, and Professor Gudela Grote drew on her background in organisational psychology to lead a session on collaboration and teamwork. Dr Barbara Kornexl of the ETH Diversity and Collaboration Division introduced participants to the ETH Respect Campaign.
The Doctoral Retreat was well received by the participants. “It was a pleasure to meet all the other candidates and have interesting conversations about their projects,” said one. “It was very nice to see all the chairs in the department and how diversified the research topics are,” added another.
The next retreat will take place in the late summer of 2023.
