IRTG: Integrated Research Training Group

The Integrated Research Training Group (IRTG) will provide training and career development for doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers in this CRC. The IRTG has three major goals: 1) Provide early career researchers with the specific skills required to perform excellent research as part of this CRC; 2) connect IRTG members and other researchers across sites, to create a research community linking doctoral students from CRC partners in and outside Cologne; 3) enable them to pursue diverse career paths. We will develop specific training programs on biostatistical and data analytics skills to enable doctoral students to analyze their own data. In addition, the training program will cover scientific writing and presentation skills, workshops on ethics, good scientific practice and implicit gender bias for all doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers of the CRC. This program will be complemented by journal clubs, lectures given by CRC PLs, and retreats for early career researchers, which taken together will foster critical scientific thinking, interdisciplinary knowhow and a community spirit among the class. Scientific and networking opportunities of the doctoral students will be further boosted by providing scholarships for research stays at international partner institutions. Career development training will be complemented by inviting scientists who have pursued various career paths such as entrepreneurship, the corporate sector, and non-profit organizations to provide an impression of the breadth of career options beyond academia.