Strengthen your skills

A toolbox for scientists

This 2-day workshop gives an overview of gold standards in project management and available software tools.

During the workshop you will go through a full project life cycle by learning what a project management means in academia vs. industry. You will develop a stakeholder management plan and decompose your work into manageable pieces by making a work breakdown structure (WBS). This includes scheduling and estimating project plan durations, as well as cost estimations.

On the second day, you will have an introduction to Agile Project Management by considering different approaches, including Scrum for researchers. You will identify risks by reflecting on common mistakes and the development of a risk management plan. You will also make a project communication plan.

Target audience : Doctoral and postdoctoral researchers 

Modality : In person or online

Duration : 2-full day in person or 3-half day online

Frequency : Once per semester 

Language : English

Trainer : Sina Saladin

This comprehensive blended course will provide you with concrete tools to prepare and deliver engaging and impactful presentations. The course covers every aspect of a talk: the selection and structure of the content, the design of visuals, and the delivery in front of an audience.

This course comprises :

• An opening online live session with the trainers (1h);
• 12 videos (1h30 of content) to watch in your own time;
• Homework to submit at your own pace (~4h);
• A one-on-one session with one of the trainers (0.5h) to discuss your homework and any outstanding questions; 
• Your 5-minute presentation of your work in front of a small group of course attendees at the end of the course. The final presentation can be done online or in-person according to your preference. Your presentation will be filmed and the recording shared with you. Your talk will be directly followed by personal feedback from one of the trainers. You will also evaluate each other’s talks with an anonymous survey.

At the end of this course, you will be able to : 

• prepare any talk with a simple roadmap;
• understand and overcome the challenges of technical talks;
• deliver engaging presentations;
• analyze talks to learn from others;
• enjoy sharing your work with the confidence gained during the workshop.

Target audience : Doctoral and postdoctoral researchers 

Modality : Online and/or partly in person

Duration : 

• 2.5 hours of live content divided over 3 dates
• 1.5 hours of recorded content
• 10h of hours of preparation and transfer work

Frequency : Once per semester 

Language : English

Trainers : Sam Lagier ; Hedwig Ens 

This workshop gives doctoral and postdoctoral researchers insights into the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need in order to be successful in a leadership role. The aim of this workshop is to enable participants to have an awareness of five leadership theories to help them develop their own leadership style as a new leader, as well as an understanding of communication styles and what a successful work environment is like and how to help create the environment in which they want to work.

New leaders need to understand the difference between managing and leading. They need to understand what it means to be a leader, how to lead others, how to identify the key people in their circle of influence and how to build successful, supportive relationships. Scientists also need to acquire the knowledge and skills to be able to recognize, accommodate and apply a range of communication strategies in order to work with others most effectively.

This workshop is very practical and each individual will be supported through a period of reflection and will be encouraged to create an action plan that they can use to facilitate the transition to their new role.

Day 1 

• All About You
• Leadership Theories
• Leading or Managing
• Leadership Functions
• Work Environments
• Effective Communication

Day 2

• How to be a successful Leader
• Responsive Organisations
• Working with Others

Preparatory work : Think about two contrasting leaders from your experience or from history, public or private, and how you would compare and contrast them as to how they showed up differently as leaders. We will talk about this as a group.

Target audience : Doctoral and postdoctoral researchers 

Modality : In person

Duration : 2 full days 

Frequency : Once per semester 

Language : English

Trainer : Carl Emerson

This interactive series of two-day workshops will give postdocs and doctoral candidates a detailed insight into communicating better in their working environment.

Challenging conversations are an unavoidable part of life: what is key is how we respond to the challenge and resolve potential conflict in our professional relationships. Over four half-day workshops, participants will get a detailed insight into what makes a conversation challenging and potentially conflictual, and how to manage the situation better in order to obtain a positive outcome.

The workshop is a mixture of theory and practice, combining in-room and online sessions with individual work offline. The goal is to support participants in building their knowledge, skills and attitude to be able to handle the kinds of conversations that they might otherwise prefer to avoid.

The content includes : 

• Defining and managing challenging and conflictual situations
• An introduction to mediation and negotiation
• Addressing complicated conversations and diverse communication styles
• Building trust, and knowing when to walk away
• In-depth conflict theory, assertiveness, the role of gender
• Individual and group reflection, role play and building confidence

Target audience : Doctoral and postdoctoral researchers (limited to 12 participants, minimum 6)

Modality : In person

Duration : Two full days. Participants are asked to be fully present for both sessions in order to build a trustful and complete learning experience for themselves and other participants.

Frequency : Once per semester 

Language : English

Trainer : Carl Emerson

Une accumulation de stress provoque des tensions physiques, mentales et émotionnelles. Si ces tensions ne sont pas évacuées, elles peuvent entraîner des douleurs, des troubles fonctionnels et/ou un sentiment d'oppression. Un déséquilibre s'installe entre ses ressources et les exigences professionnelles. Les facultés d'adaptation diminuent, entraînant une dévalorisation de soi, un sentiment d'échec, qui peuvent conduire au burnout.

Le but de l'atelier est de prendre conscience de l'importance du lien entre la posture et la respiration, de réaliser l'importance d'une bonne hygiène de vie et reconnaître les signaux qui doivent alerter, ainsi que de comprendre comment s'installent les tensions.

Vous apprendrez à connaître les techniques (corporelles, respiratoires et mentales) qui permettent de se décharger du stress afin d'éviter qu'il ne devienne chronique et aurez des outils concrets pour mettre en place les changements nécessaires.

Public : Doctorant·es et chercheur·es de niveau postdoctoral 

Modalité : En présentiel, suivi d’un entretien individuel  

Durée : Une session de 4h, suivi d’un entretien personnel de  60 minutes

Fréquence : Une fois par semestre 

Langue : Français

Intervenante : Aline Perrin

The basics of individual wellbeing and stress management

In today’s demanding academic landscape, it can be challenging to keep an eye on your personal work-life balance. This course is a practical introduction to self-leadership, with a goal of understanding and managing your own expectations, values and needs. It will help you to increase your self-awareness about your habits, manage your stress and emotions, boost your motivation, and collaborate more effectively. 

The course consists of a 4-hour workshop followed-up by a 2-hour online session.  

During a first session (4 hours, in-person), we will : 

• Dive into the foundational principles of energy and stress management. 
• Reflect on your individual patterns of working in a non-judgemental atmosphere. 
• Openly share insights and experiences with other participants. 
• Explore self-coaching techniques for balancing, improving mental focus, and nurturing teamwork. 
• Plan specific actions to improve your self-leadership immediately after the workshop. 

We will follow up with an online session (2 hours, via Zoom) to : 

• Reflect on the progress you made and share experiences applying the techniques. 
• Address specific challenges and deepen your understanding of emotional intelligence tools. 

Throughout the course, you’ll experience a supportive and engaging environment. You will be encouraged to share your experiences and to learn from others. By the end, you will be ready to take specific actions to improve your self-leadership. Moreover, you will get to know meet like-minded people who experience challenges. 

Join us for an informative and enjoyable course designed to make managing your life as a researcher more effective and gratifying.

Preparatory work : Participants should be prepared to track how they spend their time for seven consecutive days prior to the workshop; to take part in both the in-person and online sessions; and to observe themselves in the period between the workshop and the online session. The course will end with an invitation to take part in an optional “buddy” check-in to support and continue personal development. 

Prerequisite :

• Fill in a time log for seven consecutive days (information will be provided closer to the date of the workshop) 
• Observe yourself in the period between the workshop and the online session 

Target audience : Doctoral and postdoctoral researchers 

Modality : In person and online 

Duration : Four hours in person, two hours online follow-up 

Frequency : Once per semester 

Language : English 

Trainer : Thomas Teichler

L’intelligence émotionnelle est un enjeu stratégique pour le bien-être, l’épanouissement mais également la performance. Elle est composée de deux compétences principales :

• Diagnostiquer son état émotionnel et celui des autres
• Mettre en place des stratégies de régulation émotionnelle

L’objectif de l’atelier est d’apprendre à mieux comprendre ses émotions et aussi celles des autres afin de mieux gérer son stress au travail et dans la vie personnelle, mais également pour développer une bienveillance et une cohérence d’équipe réduisant ainsi les conflits parfois difficiles à gérer.

La journée repose sur l’utilisation d’un jeu de cartes Emotilt©, dont les 3 axes sont : 

1. Manifestation 

• ​​​​​​​Identifier les différentes manifestations des émotions chez soi / chez les autres
• Percevoir l'intensité des signaux
• Connaître son expression préférée
• Découvrir l'ascenseur émotionnel
• Identifier les origines des émotions : réaction / anticipation / réactivation 

2. Valeur / Besoin

• Comprendre ce qui est important pour moi / les autres
• Faire la différence entre émotion en tant que source d'information ou source d'interprétation 
• Exprimer ses émotions et ses besoins : avantages et inconvénients

3. Stratégie de régulation

• Comprendre les enjeux de la régulation émotionnelle
• Prendre conscience des stratégies possibles concrètement
• Lever les tabous des émotions en entreprise
• Établir un plan d'action individuel

Grâce à cette formation, vous apprendrez notamment à mettre en place des stratégies de régulation émotionnelle concrètes individuelles et collectives. Ces compétences s’avèreront être utiles pour votre milieu professionnel actuel mais également seront un atout pour votre future carrière.

Public : Doctorant·es et chercheur·es de niveau postdoctoral 

Modalité : En présentiel

Durée : Une journée 

Fréquence : Une fois par semestre 

Langue : Français

Intervenante : Camille Bertaud