My profession: Head of the Department *Museum & Society* at the Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin. My work connects science, culture, and the public: I am responsible for the Botanic Museum and exhibitions, education and outreach, the scientific library, and the history of science collections. My background is in biochemistry and biomedical research, and my career path has led me into science communication, public engagement, and leadership in cultural and research institutions.

Ask me about:

My profession: Manager at Kearney with a focus on projects in the Chemicals Industry. Kearney is an international Management Consulting company, with offices worldwide incl. Berlin, Munich, Düsseldorf, Wien and Zurich

Ask me about: Anything about management and strategy consultancy and how to navigate a complete shift in careers and discover new strengths in the process

My profession: Lab Manager at Eurofins Food & Feed Testing Leipzig, in Leipzig we have a nutritional analysis lab, a microbiology lab and a sensory department

Ask me about: carrier paths in industry, high throughput environment, leadership tools, production monitoring, personnel management, lab work in industry compared to academia, recruiting

My profession: Team Lead Health Services Research, Gesundheitsforen Leipzig, Educational background: Business Informatics

Ask me about:

• Real World Evidence
• Health Services Research

My profession: PhD engineer with 10+ years of research in environmental and Earth‑system science. I lead the Application Lab for AI and Big Data at the German Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt) — based in Leipzig, Berlin and Dessau — heading a multidisciplinary team of ~30 mainly scientists and senior scientists. My career spans research posts at Helmholtz, Fraunhofer and Leibniz research institutes. I work at the intersection of environmental research, AI and data fusion, open‑source development and software for data processing.

Ask me about: Which practical skills, AI methods, open‑source tools and system architectures made the biggest difference in environmental monitoring and real‑time data work; how to navigate a move from academia into industry or public agencies; and hands‑on steps to turn research prototypes into robust, operational systems.

The ability to cooperate effectively and efficiently in interdisciplinary contexts counts among the most important skills of tomorrow. This workshop allows you to reflect on how an interdisciplinary mindset enhances your career options and helps you prepare your next steps.
Topics covered include:

• Working across boundaries and making connections
• Identifying and developing relevant skills
• Different forms of interdisciplinary cooperation
• Respectful and solution-oriented communication
• Finding suitable jobs and career paths

Dr. Matthias Zach counsels researchers and scientists on all relevant aspects of their careers.

This interactive workshop puts you in the driver's seat. We'll move beyond theory and dive into a hands-on review process that will give you practical insights and actionable feedback to make your application stand out.

What We'll Do:
In this session, you will step into the shoes of a recruiter. Using a structured feedback framework, you will analyze real applications from your fellow participants in a confidential and supportive environment. We will:

• Learn a professional framework for evaluating application documents.
• Act as a recruiter and review 1-2 applications from the group.
• Receive constructive feedback on your own documents from your peers.
• Discuss common challenges and tricky questions in a group setting.
• Collaboratively develop stronger, more effective solutions for your CV and cover letter.

What to Bring:
To get the most out of the workshop, please bring:

• A recent job application of yours (CV and cover letter).
• The job description it was for. (Please have a digital or printed copy ready.)

Your Key Takeaways:
You will leave this workshop with a clearer understanding of the hiring perspective, concrete ideas for improving your own documents, and the confidence to create applications that get noticed.

Dr. Matthias Schwarzkopf

AI tools like ChatGPT are everywhere – but how can they be used effectively and responsibly in the professional life of researchers, both within and beyond academia? In this hands-on workshop, we explore how to get meaningful results with AI in ways that align with good scientific practice.

Please bring a laptop with you.

Dr. Maia George is an academic coach and former researcher with expertise in various areas. Her diverse range of topics includes new work in academia, scholarship applications, leveraging social media for transitioning to industry, effective science communication, and AI tools and new work in academia.
Dr. George's experience encompasses her previous roles as a Research Assistant and Research Fellow at LehreLernen, an institution specializing in didactic qualifications in higher education, located at the University of Jena. Furthermore, she is an alumna and current member of the admission committee for the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes).

Dr. Maia George