In the middle of a pandemic, the Cluster of Excellence in Solvation Science offered forty PhDs and postdocs four online workshops. The workshops took place simultaneously on 4 June 2020 and covered soft skills like Business Basics, Voice and Body Language, Job Hunting and Presenting in TED Style, and Stress Management. “We organise the Summer School Solvation Science every year, and, despite the pandemic, we wanted to stick to this tradition and offer to young researchers an appealing online program”, says Prof. Martina Havenith, speaker of RESOLV.
"Thank you very much for the good organization! See you next Summer School" - A workshop trainer
The Summer School on Solvation Science is a RESOLV tradition since 2014. The school always takes place after Whitsuntide at the Ruhr University Bochum and is part of the integrated Graduate School Solvation Science (iGSS). Therefore, it appeals to iGSS doctoral students, postdocs, but also to international students from RESOLV's network and beyond. In the original, pre-COVID-19 format, school’s highlights usually include keynote talks by internationally renowned speakers in the field of Solvation Science, skills workshops, and hands-on advanced laboratory modules.
"The two workshops went very well today: Two very productive groups, and very good that we split them, so that I was able to interact at the individual level" - A workshop trainer
In the current, ad-hoc modified format, each online workshop enrolled around ten students. The participants found answers to questions like: How is the basic positioning of companies based on products and markets?; How can I improvise to enhance authentic, confident expression?; How can I determine and proactively sell my unique skillset?; How can I capture the audience’s attention; What is actually stress and how can I handle it?. Participants came from the Ruhr University Bochum, the TU University Dortmund, the University of Duisburg-Essen, the UC Santa Barbara (US), the ETH Zürich, the University of Bern, and the Paul Scherrer Institute (Switzerland). Teachers and students responded enthusiastically to the event, giving positive feedbacks.