Female doctoral candidates
The PhD/Postdoc Career Center (ZePrOs) at Osnabrück University offers mentoring programs for female doctoral candidates and for postdocs of all genders on an alternating basis. The next mentoring program for female doctoral candidates will start in June 2025, the application phase has already ended.
Mentoring Program "Career Prospects after the Doctorate"
The twelve-month mentoring program is aimed at all female doctoral candidates at Osnabrück University who are in the orientation phase regarding their professional career within or outside academia after their doctorate. First-time female academics, i.e. female doctoral candidates whose parents have not studied, are particularly invited to apply.
In addition to regular personal exchange with an experienced professional in academia or from a non-academic field (one-to-one mentoring), the program also includes workshops and discussion events tailored to the requirements of the doctoral phase and the development of professional careers after the doctorate. There is also the opportunity for collegial counselling as part of peer mentoring, which is intended to provide mutual support for mentees with current questions and challenges in the doctorate and career planning phase.
This is accompanied by a preparatory workshop, an interim assessment workshop and a final workshop in which the mentees formulate and reflect on specific personal goals that they would like to achieve through the mentoring program. The interplay of these program components is intended to ideally support the participating doctoral candidates in their personal development and career orientation.
Application - Currently Not Possible
The currently planned mentoring program for female doctoral candidates will start in June 2025. The application period has already expired.
The next round of the program is expected to start in mid-2027. We will inform you about the application opportunity in due time.
The official start of the program is preceded by a preparatory phase (April - May), which includes the preparatory workshop in two parts and an introduction to the method of collegial counselling. In addition, the search for a mentor will take place during this time and self-organized meetings can take place between the mentees to get to know each other.
Further Information
Female doctoral candidates are in a career phase in which, in addition to working on their doctorate, the decision for or against continuing an academic career is often already in focus. In this decision, both personal considerations regarding interest, skills and life expectations as well as considerations regarding structural conditions such as insecure employment, pressure to perform and work-life balance play a role. For female doctoral candidates who already have a career goal in mind, it is often a matter of finding out which next steps make sense in order to achieve this goal. Against this background, the mentoring program offers individual support in defining and consolidating career prospects, opportunities for skills development and spaces for networking, collegial support and confidential exchange of experiences with both more experienced professionals and people at the same qualification level.
One-to-One Mentoring
Based on the wishes of the mentees, experienced professionals in academia or from non-academic fields are recruited as mentors. The content and framework conditions of the collaboration are determined by the tandems themselves. Possible topics include career planning, informal rules in academia or in businesses and work-life balance.
Peer Mentoring and Networking
The regular, self-organized exchange within the framework of peer mentoring serves to provide mutual support for current questions and challenges in the doctoral phase based on the method of collegial counselling.
Moreover, discussion events on topics selected by the mentees will be organized. To these events, all mentees and mentors are invited and can get into conversation with each other.
Workshops
The workshops provide impulses for personal skills development against the background of one's own background, strengthen lateral leadership skills and support career planning. This includes critical reflection on inequalities and structural barriers in the academic system.
Accompanying Program
The program is accompanied by a preparatory workshop in two parts, an interim assessment workshop and a final workshop, in which the mentees can formulate and reflect on personal goals and goals for collaboration in the group that they would like to achieve through the mentoring program. The accompanying program also includes an introduction to the method of collegial counselling.
- Institutional affiliation with Osnabrück University
- Interest in interdisciplinary exchange, networking and collegial support among female doctoral candidates with different levels of experience
- Willingness to actively participate in shaping the mentoring program and the cooperation in the group and to invest approx. 1-2 days per month in the program
In the interest of the group as a whole, we value participation in as many program events as possible. A binding commitment to the preparatory workshops is a prerequisite for acceptance.
The program will be held in German. Applications from international female doctoral candidates are welcome, but their German language skills should be sufficient to be able to follow the workshops and other events in the entire group in German. The One-to-One Mentoring can also take place in other languages. The program management offers advice and support in German and English.