The Graduate Center of the Department of Sport and Health Sciences (FGZ-SG) of the Technical University of Munich organized a winter school for the candidates of a doctoral degree. From March 17 to 23, 24 doctoral candidates traveled to the Darmstädter House of the Technical University of Darmstadt at Hirschegg in the Kleinwalsertal (little Walser valley).
International Guests
As tutors, Prof. Dr. Joachim Hermsdörfer, the speaker of the FGZ-SG as well as full professor at the Chair of Movement Science, and Prof. Dr. Jürgen Beckmann, full professor at the Chair for Sport Psychology, provided tips and feedback to the doctoral candidates. As international guests, Dr. Stefanie Mikolaizak (Neuroscience Research Australia), Dr. Tadhg MacIntyre (University of Limerick), as well as two doctoral candidates from the University of Bath, also took part.
Presentation of and Discussion about One's Own Graduation Project
"The winter school has in the meantime become a well-established and valued meeting. In the initial phase of the project of the doctoral candidates, they received important support and targeted feedback," says PD Dr. Felix Ehrlenspiel, the managing director of the FGZ-SG.
Already beforehand, each participant wrote an abstract on their work, a process which is also commonly employed in scientific conferences. As a form of contribution, the participants could choose between a presentation and a 'peer review'. Most of the doctoral candidates chose the presentation, in order to present their concept of a study and to subsequently discuss this with the group.
For the 'peer review', a scientific article had to be submitted. Moderated by one of the tutors, this was then examined by the other doctoral candidates followed by a discussion between the 'submitter' and a 'reviewer'. "In this way, the participants received valuable suggestions and learned how scientific reviews are written," explains PD Dr. Ehrlenspiel.
Keynote on "Adherence and Compliance", Workshop on "Working in Multidisciplinary (Research) Teams"
As a further input, Dr. Mikolaizak held a keynote this year on "Adherence and Compliance" and a workshop on working in multidisciplinary (research) teams. This researcher from the Neuroscience Research Australia Institute was nominated for this role by the doctoral candidates. Matthias Olvermann, as a speaker for the doctoral candidates, represented the Graduate Council and answered questions involving the interests of the candidates.
In the framework of this meeting, the participants at the Kleinwalsertal had an opportunity to try out such winter sports as skiing or sledding. In addition, there was a winter night's hike with burning torches.
"The presentations in the winter school have documented the broad interdisciplinary portfolio of our faculty. I already look forward to the coming year, when we will celebrate the 10-year existence of the winter school," says Ehrlenspiel. This is then scheduled for March 15 to 20, 2020.
Information on the Graduate Center SG
Contact
PD Dr. Felix Ehrlenspiel
Managing Director of the FGZ-SG
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 60/62
80992 Munich
Tel.: 089 289 24545
E-Mail: Felix.Ehrlenspiel(at)tum.de
Text: Dr. Fabian Kautz
Photos: Private