Research Day 2025

As part of the Research Day 2025, we would like to give you the opportunity to network informally and collegially with former or current junior research group leaders (NWG). In addition to a stage program with panel discussions, question and answer sessions, etc., a networking event is planned for NWG leaders or potential future NWG leaders, in which you can exchange ideas from the conception to the application to the management of an NWG and the career steps based on it.

What is a junior research group (JRG)? An NWG is a larger research project lasting approx. 5-6 years and consists of a Section Head (postdoc), usually with about two years of postdoc experience, and usually 2 to approx. 4 doctoral students, sometimes with a postdoc in an early phase. The NWG management selects the employees for their NWG and provides them with initial supervision as part of the project until they complete their doctorate. Examples include BMBF or VW Foundation junior research groups, the DFG's Emmy Noether Program or an ERC Starting Grant.

Why a NWG? Unlike most project funding, NWG funding focuses on you and your career as a researcher. Acquiring such a large project is often prestigious and a very rewarding stage on the path to a professorship.

Have we piqued your interest? Are you already planning to apply for an NWG or are you hearing about this option for the first time and simply want to find out more? Then you are welcome to drop by:

NWG Info Café

Wednesday, 5 March 2025

1-2.30pm

UNI:lokal, Wilhelmstr. 21, Kassel

Is registration necessary? No. You are welcome to just drop by.

Is there an event like this more often? No. The last Info-Café took place two years ago and there are no plans for another one for the time being. So: Carpe diem!

Any questions? Feel free to send us an email.

The ZFF funding line Pilot was established in 2021, the first batch of projects started 2022. Time for a first review! This is a meet-up open to all who've been awareded a ZFF Pilot.

You've submitted your grant application – and now what? How do reviewers read proposals? What works? And what doesn't work and should be avoided? Do the different funding organisations differ? These topics and more are discussed in a panel of seasoned researchers, along with advice and questions.

Is there any help with grant proposals? Yes! This is your chance to speak with people from:

• data protection: how to deal with personal data in research
• equity: diversity and equality in research projects
• graduate academy: supporting early-career researchers
• internationalisation: mobility for researchers
• research data: managing research data in your project
• research support: funding and proposal advice, national, international, uni-internal
• third-party funding: drawing up project budgets
• transfer: patents and intellectual property in research
• university library: open access, open science

Months after submitting your proposal, you finally hear back from the funding organisation. Rejected! Sounds bad at first, but far from rare. In fact, the funding quotas show that 60-90 per cent of proposals don't make the cut. In this panel, seasoned researchers discuss their experiences with rejections. What does a rejection mean? What options do you have now? How to proceed from here: re-submitting, shelving, or binning the idea?