“We see ourselves as supportive contacts during a phase in which many decisions need to be made,” says Diana Ebersberger. “Every doctorate, every academic career path is different. Our goal is to show paths which suit individual needs and provide orientation.” BYRD’s services range from workshops and coaching sessions to confidential consultations, and cover a wide variety of topics, including academic writing, publishing, time and project management, career planning, and preparing for the professorial appointment process. “We welcome questions of all kinds – even if you are unsure of whether we are able to help,” explains Imke Girßmann. “We then work together to find appropriate services and contacts to refer you to.”

Individual Guidance at Every Stage

Consultations are free of cost, confidential, and uncomplicated. They offer researchers a protected space outside of their own research group. “International researchers who are unfamiliar with the German university system particularly benefit from our services,” explains Diana Ebersberger, who, with her colleague Marie Saade, is the contact person for prospective and current doctoral researchers.

Postdoctoral researchers – those who have completed a doctorate and have a temporary contract at the University of Bremen – are also able to participate in external coaching. BYRD covers the costs for about four hours of coaching to reflect on career planning, develop new perspectives, and explore both academic and non-academic career paths. “Postdocs have often reached the point where they need to sharpen their profile and reorient themselves. Coaching sessions can help them apply the competencies they have gained to other work areas, or to plan the next steps on their academic path,” says Imke Girßmann, who is the contact person for postdocs. “We are also the place to address topics such as workload, self-doubts, or balancing family and career.”

Better Together: Networking and Interaction

Since research is rarely a one-person task, BYRD also specifically promotes interaction between academic researchers. Doctoral researchers with similar topics or methods can join forces in doctoral networks to organize their own workshops or talks, produce joint publications, and can apply for BYRD funding to do so. There is also an equivalent postdoctoral network. Diana Ebersberger’s consultations have convinced her that “it is important to have allies – and not just within your research group. Isolation can become a big challenge, especially during the doctoral phase.”

BYRD also regularly offers sessions devoted to academic writing and workshops on topics that encourage interdisciplinary exchange. These include the semiannual Thesis Bootcamp: Just Write It where doctoral researchers spend two days working intently on their dissertations and can network on the side. Another popular event is the discussion panel Leaving Academia which features career decision reports from those who have completed a doctorate. This event will take place again in February, in cooperation with the University of Oldenburg, under the new title New Horizons.

In total, BYRD organizes around 50 events and workshops each year, which are regularly evaluated. Imke Girßmann explains the importance of these evaluations, saying, “Feedback is important to us when deciding which services to retain and where we need to adjust our focus. We are very grateful when we receive word that our assistance helped someone to successfully complete their doctorate, find an interesting position, or become appointed as a professor.”

Promoting Academic Talent

Since 2017, BYRD has continued the work of the former ProUB Research Academy, broadening their services to include support for postdoctoral researchers. The Research Academy was approved in 2009 by the Academic Senate. It was an initiative of the Vice President for Research at the time, Rolf Drechsler, to promote academic talent along the path to becoming a University of Excellence. BYRD has since then established its reputation as an institution with a wide-ranging program. “It was very rewarding to see our services be made permanent so early on – a strong signal for supporting the University of Bremen’s doctoral and postdoctoral researchers,” says Diana Ebersberger, who has been part of this effort since 2011.

Strong Cooperation Within and Beyond the University

An essential part of BYRD’s work are the interactions with university and non-university partners. Developing programs that are tailored to researchers’ needs is aided by input from institutions such as the Central Research Development Fund, Human Resource Development, the International Office’s Welcome Center, Language Centre, BRIDGE start-up network, as well as the Administrative Unit for Equal Opportunities and Diversity.

There is a particularly close cooperation with the University of Oldenburg’s Graduate Academy, with students of either university being able to attend the other’s qualification program workshops. This winter semester, the universities are jointly hosting an online series for doctoral supervisors titled Impulses for Doctoral Supervision. Both universities also award a prize for outstanding doctoral supervision to recognize supervisors whose commitment to their researchers is exceptional. BYRD is active at the national level in the German University Association for the Qualification of Early-Career Researchers in Germany (UniWinD) and benefits from discourse with other member institutions.

“These networks help us to recognize developments, reflect on needs, and develop our program in a targeted, ongoing manner,” says Imke Girßman. Recent additions to the BYRD program repertoire include workshops on AI tools in academia. The goal is to include topics that meet the needs expressed by researchers, not to just follow trends. “We don’t want to make changes just for the sake of change,” Diana Ebersberger emphasizes. “Our approach is to offer services that will actually benefit researchers.”

BYRD – Bremen Early Career Researcher Development

Prospective or current doctoral and postdoctoral researchers can contact BYRD by email byrd@vw.uni-bremen.de or call Maren Droste’s office number directly at +49 (0)421 218-60328. For specific advisory requests, please use the contact form on the website. Training events are held regularly in both German and English on topics such as academic writing, publishing, self-management, mental health, leadership, the professorial appointment process, and much more. Events and workshops are also listed on BYRD’s website. The Equal Opportunities Office provides an additional service to assist female graduates along the path towards a doctorate and during the thesis-writing process with the “perspektive promotion” program.

Further information about doctoral programs such as the social sciences graduate school BIGSSS, MARUM’s Research Academy, and the Contradiction Studies DFG Research Training Group is available on the University of Bremen’s website.