How to become a professor: Academic Career Planning and Optimizing
Course 2025-20
Date: 22.05.2025
Venue: online
Time: 09:00 - 17:00
Trainer: Dr. Dieta Kuchenbrandt, Leipzig
Objectives & Content
The aim of the seminar is, on the one hand, to provide you with a framework for reflecting on your own professional motives. On the other hand, the seminar offers knowledge, background and orientation for planning and developing the next steps towards a long-term academic career in Germany. Questions will be discussed such as: What long-term career options does the academic job market offer for researchers and what are the actual chances here? What requirements and criteria should be met for this career path? When are which tasks particularly important? What has the highest priority? How important is the habilitation? What time frame is appropriate? The seminar will inform you about the central requirements (also beyond publications and third-party funding) and milestones for an academic career. Furthermore, the seminar will provide you with concrete tips and advice on both the weighting of these requirements and on strategic considerations during the PhD and postdoc phase on the path to a professorship. Building on this, the seminar offers you the opportunity to take stock and reflect on your own academic profile and ideally derive the next important steps from this.
Methods
- Interactive input and short presentations by the lecturer
- Reflection on professional motives
- Small group reflection
- Structured analysis of the academic profile
Accompanying materials
- Workshop handout
- Workbook with
o Exercise to analyze personal professional motives
o Reflection on own networking behavior
o Analysis of your own academic profile
o Reflection on the compatibility of family and academic career
o Two sample CVs for professorship applications
Additional information
Please note: The seminar focuses in particular on the German academic system.
Registration
The seminar is aimed at postdocs in the early phase (approx. 1st-4th postdoc year, R2) and also doctoral candidates in the advanced phase (R1).
It is geared towards participants who are interested in an academiccareer in Germany and would like to find out more about the opportunities and requirements.
To book your place in this workshop (course number 2025-20), please fill out this registration form.
Trainer
Dieta Kuchenbrandt studied Psychology at the University of Greifswald, where she also completed her PhD in 2010. She then had a postdoc position at the Center of Excellence in Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC, Bielefeld University) and was a visiting professor for Social Psychology at the University of Osnabru?ck. In addition, she completed a two-year training program in management consulting and coaching (Deutsche Psychologenakademie). Today, Dieta is the co-owner of schainundkuchenbrandt, working as a trainer and coach dedicated to the interests and concerns of scientists in academia. Her work particularly focuses on career planning for scientists and applying for professorships.