Complementary Leadership-Training

Success in the world of tomorrow will depend on more than just expertise in your chosen discipline. Even today, employers expect to hire professionals who can offer more than mere technical knowledge. Graduates with superior communication skills, particularly those able to work across cultures, are highly coveted. Training in areas such as decision making,  marketing a project and cultural sensitivity is becoming essential for success. For those students aware of these challenges, who wish to extend themselves beyond their immediate discipline, we offer the following workshops. All participants receive a certificate for a successfully completed workshop.

The NRW Graduate School of Chemistry (GSC-MS), the Ruhr Graduate School in Economics, RWI, and the Paderborn Institute for Advanced Studies in Computer Science and Engineering (PACE), have pooled their resources again for 2012 and offer you a unique and diverse 'soft' skills training program. This year, the program offers a wide range of seminars, including: presenting skills, project and time management, voice training, conflict management and English language training.

Timetable for 2012 Workshops

Unless specified otherwise, training will be conducted in 1 day at the hotel Mercure in Hamm, near the Haubtbahnhof. Sign up deadline is approximately 4 weeks before the training session; email appropriate person (as below) to confirm your place in the class.

Workshop Descriptions

Presenting Training with elements of English language training

No matter what field of work you are in, a significant part of it involves communication.  Even when you are not actively talking or writing, you are continually interacting with your environment and sending out non-verbal signals.  Communicating effectively is a skill like any other that can be learned and improved.  In this training the focus is on the communication skills that make academics successful in presenting.  The main topic of this training is presenting well, both in formal lecture-type situations and in informal meetings.  Participants will have the opportunity to review the basics of communication success, get feedback on their communication and presentation style, and learn strategies for improvement.  Topics include: non-verbal (body language) and verbal communication, understanding your audience, adapting your message to your audience, how to create a superior presentation, and how to deliver a presentation. Having to perform in a foreign language puts us all at a distinct disadvantage compared to native speakers. These situations lead to stress, uncertainty, and misunderstandings. This training will teach you specific tools and techniques to communicate well in English as a foreign language. What are the key do’s and don’ts of spoken English? What are typical language traps? How do you prepare yourself linguistically for English public speaking? This workshop will give you enough self-confidence and tools for further practice to master your next public talk in English.

Starting a new job - "expectations & positioning"

Taking on a new position stands for change - switching from a well-known and familiar situation into the hitherto unknown. You can be pleased: so far you have asserted yourself successfully. However, previously proven behaviour does not necessarily grant your success in the new environment. In this course you will learn how to mark out your role as a manager and leader, avoiding pitfalls and handling expectations. Find out about a sensible approach to reposition yourself strategically within the new settings. The topics include: first and informal talks before taking office, formal dialogues after having started the new job, managing expectations, getting started purposefully and positioning yourself within the team and outside.

Project and Time Management

The goal of this workshop is to introduce you to, and to enable you to practice, some of the most relevant tools from the Project Management Body of Knowledge, includeing those that can be helpful in PhD-research.  The workshop covers the basics of project management, including planning, goal setting, identifying deliverables, time constraints and risk management, as well as ensuring monitoring and control of the project.  We will also cover managing research projects. A key part of the training is to allow you to discuss any issues you have concerning managing your own research in a group of peers from different disciplines.

Voice Training

First impressions count. In this training session, you will learn how to prepare yourself well for your speech in public and how a good manner of speaking – particularly good articulation – leads to clear powers of expression and makes a sonorous impression (how to acoustically reach your audience/listener and save your strength at the same time).  You will also learn how to develop an anti-stress program for your daily routine and also when you speak in public. You will learn how you get back to your natural breathing and relax automatically, how posture and tension influence voices, how you can actively relieve stress and become more self-confident and relaxed.  Voices can convey security and reliability; you will learn to find your personal register; to have a powerful voice by using its resonance and not its strength and how to create an atmosphere full of trust with your voice (thereby conveying security). You will learn to use eye-contact to with your audience and to adapt the volume you speak with.  You will learn how to consciously handle your body language to show your competence: how your body language enhances the convincing effect of your speech, how to overcome your insecurity while speaking and negotiating, how the congruence between your words, gestures and facial play can increase your credibility.  Finally, you can see the effect you have on others with the help of video/audio feedback.

Management: A Case Study Approach

The case study approach was developed by the Harvard Business School. Case studies describe issues that the management or directors of real existing companies were confronted with.  Reading these case studies, students assume the position of the management and try to solve the given issues.  The case study course developed by the University of Muenster, in cooperation with the management consulting firm A.T. Kearney, is a one-day workshop.  The cases presented by the Institute of Business Administration at the Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy are based on issues directly derived from companies in the chemical industry.

Students will receive information about the case in advance, including background information about the chemical company.  At the beginning of the workshop, relevant management theories will be reviewed in a compact presentation.  Afterwards, participants will split into groups and prepare solutions for the case study issues.  Finally, the individual groups will present and discuss their solutions in a plenary session.  This workshop should also help students improve their discussion and presentation abilities.  Furthermore, students have an opportunity to refine their capability in identifying, analysing and solving management problems in the chemical industry, within a limited time frame.

Conflict Management

We all know conflicts occur – on the job as in private life. The instructor will discuss the following questions thoroughly: How is it that some get along well with different people, while others often clash violently? We can identify those that seek harmony as well as brawlers. Is avoiding dispute superior to asserting yourself? Can you detect chances in disagreement? What actually is a ‘conflict’? Why do people argue? Where do conflicts occur? What impacts might occur from quarrelling? Which facts influence our behavior in disagreements? How can one manage discord with ease? What are the strategies for dealing with differences? In this session, you will learn how YOU and ME, and how YOU and US mutually depend.

Intellectual Property Rights

Being familiar with national, European and international Intellectual Property Rights is essential for young scientists in order to protect ideas and research results which may lead to innovations. In order to prevent your concepts and designs from being copied you need to know what steps to take right from the beginning. This course gives you an overview of the system of IP Rights with a brief history. You will learn about the different types of patents with exceptions and exclusions on the basis of practical examples. In the second step you will be informed about the actions you have to take to obtain a patent and about the requirements for a patent. Last but not least some important aspects such a patent infringement and making money with patents are part of the course and finally personal aspects of the inventor will be discussed.