STUDY PROGRAM
The scientific progress of the MCGS doctoral projects as well as the development of the MCGS doctoral candidates into independent and successful scientists is supported by the MCGS study programme. This programme consists of few mandatory elements but comprises a rather broad range of offers which the doctoral candidates can choose as required. As the study programme aims to support the candidates and their projects, we encourage suggestions for new offers which are then typically realized by the Münster Graduate School of Life Sciences.
Among the compulsory study elements are the four-weeks Winter School held in Hyderabad, and the four-week Summer School held in Münster, in alternating years. During these MCGS Schools, all German and Indian doctoral candidates meet and get to know all MCGS labs, their expertise and infrastructure, during three weeks of lab rotations. The fourth week is the PI week where all the German and Indian PIs are also present, during which all doctoral candidates present the progress and planning of their projects, and the doctoral committees meet. Also, this week always includes a two-day excursion.
Another mandatory element is the bi-weekly MCGS Seminar where the doctoral candidates regularly present their work, and to which they invite internationally renowned speakers of their own choice. During a Master Class the following morning, the candidates can interact closely and freely with the speakers. The MCGS seminar has developed into the main platform for exchange between the doctoral candidates from different institutes, where collaborations are informally discussed and easily initiated, so that the broad variety of expertises and resources available in the MCGS partner labs is accessible to all MCGS candidates and their projects.
MCGS also offers Enabling Skills Workshops organized according to the needs and wishes of the doctoral candidates. The only mandatory workshop is a two-days training in Intercultural Communication offered by Living India. Other workshops target skills required for the successful completion of a scientific project, such as scientific reading and writing, presentation and project management, statistics etc., or skills supporting the candidates to start looking beyond the doctoral degree, focusing on subjects such as career planning, proposal writing, development of a business plan, etc.
The highlight of the MCGS study programme is the MCGS Network Symposium fully organized by the doctoral candidates who can invite five research groups from around the globe to come to Muenster for a few days, to discuss with them the most recent progress in their fields of interest. Importantly, not only the group leaders are invited, but also several members of their research groups from across the world. This greatly facilitates interaction between the doctoral candidates, and leads to the establishment of lasting scientific networks.
