Career Paths and Perspectives for Postdocs in the Study of Culture

The International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture (GCSC) launches its postdoc programme

For the new generation of postdocs in Cultural Studies there are currently various career options ranging from the traditional path towards professorship,  via research management in university-related institutions to leading positions outside of academia. The time right after the doctorate also comes with its very own discipline-specific challenges and uncertainties for young cultural scholars. With its postdoctoral programme, the GCSC creates a qualification vehicle that offers excellent advanced training for academic research as well as research management while staying true to its principle of ‘research training through research.’ The GCSC postdoc programme thus guarantees that postdocs, while working in their specific field at the GCSC, will acquire broad knowledge as well as core skills and experiences optimally qualifying them for professional positions inside as well as outside the university. Furthermore, the GCSC has developed a core programme with regular courses in its eight training fields: Research and Publication Strategies, Teaching, Third-party Funding, Higher Education Law, Communication, Leadership, Diversity, Networking, and Application Procedures. The GCSC therefore offers a holistic, individualized qualification programme for its postdocs.

We will celebrate the official launch of our postdoc programme with an all-day event on December 11th, 2015. Postdocs who already work and research at the GCSC will introduce the innovative concept behind the programme, which they themselves helped design. The event also features presentations by Prof. Dr. Kirsten Dickhaut (University Koblenz Landau) and Prof. Dr. Katja Thomas (University Tübingen) who provide advice for career planning and practical insight into leading a research group. Prof. Dickhaut will address in particular the challenge to reconcile an increasing demand for interdisciplinarity with the equally important disciplinary specialization when it comes to strategies for application procedures. Prof. Thomas speaks from her experience as a research group leader and discusses some core issues of leadership. Both presenters, whose own postdoc phases do not at all date back very far, invite discussion and questions for which the agenda of this day provides ample time and opportunity.

Register online: https://www.uni-giessen.de/faculties/gcsc/postdocday