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Kick Off (Onboarding)

It is a long way from the decision to do the doctorate to the moment when the doctoral certificate is handed over. In the Kick Off section, we offer workshops on getting started and on organizing your doctoral research. The core event is a two-day retreat where you can meet other doctoral researchers from all disciplines.

For a full list of all workshops in the section Kick Off (Onboarding) go here.

Core Event:

Program Sample: Kick-Off Event March 2024

Program Sample: Kick-Off Event March 2024

Kick Off Your Doctorate Retreat

To ease the transition into doctoral studies, the Graduate Studies Support Program offers two-day retreats in English and in German twice a year.

Kick-Off Event in the Media

Just published: The online magazine of Freie Universität has published a long report about our Kick-Off Events. To read the report (in German), go to campus.leben: "Kick-Off Your Doctorate – Kostenloses Angebot der Berlin University Alliance".

Kick-Off Event Spring 2025

The next round of Kick-Off Events will take place in March 2025:

Registration: Registration is open! To register, click on the event you want to book. Please note that you must create an account as a PhD (not as Predoc!) in the booking software of Humboldt Graduate School (OpenCampus).

If you face problems with the booking software, don't hesitate to contact us.

Venue: Hotel & Spa Sommerfeld

Program: The program will have the same structure as the sample program on this page.

Contact: The Kick-Off Event in spring 2025 is organized by Humboldt Graduate School and Charité Graduate Studies Support. Contact person: Dr. Karolin Sengebusch

Participants

The Kick Off Event is a retreat designed for researchers who are pursuing a doctorate at a member university of the Berlin University Alliance (Freie Universität, Humboldt-Universität, Technische Universität, Charité), and who are in an early phase of their doctorate. If you are more advanced, this event is not suitable for you.

Objectives

Kick Off Your Doctorate: What can I typically expect during my doctorate? How can I plan well and get organized? What are the top tips for getting started? Who are important contact persons? This workshop will give you an initial overview and provide you with specific skills and methods to help you get started on your doctoral project.

Motivation and Goal Clarification: A doctorate requires persistence. It helps to clarify your personal goals and motivation at the beginning. Also, you will learn what you can do when your motivation begins to drop off in difficult phases.

Networking and Exchange: During your doctorate, and in academia in general, reliable networks are essential. You will learn methods for networking and at the same time get the opportunity to actually network and exchange ideas with other doctoral researchers.

Dates and Languages

We offer Kick-Off Events in spring and in fall. Both in spring and in fall, there will be one event in English and one in German.

Venue

The retreat is an in-person event. In order to create a space in which you can focus on your (upcoming) doctoral project and engage with other doctoral researchers, we meet at a conference hotel close to Berlin. Participants will be accommodated in single rooms.

Costs

Participation is free of charge. However, you will have to cover your travel costs and pay for any additional drinks.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about the Retreat

Registration and participation requirements

There may be several reasons for this:

  • Your account must first be verified and this may take some time.
    What to do: Please check your emails, you will receive a notification as soon as your account has been finally confirmed and bookings are possible.
  • You do not have the status “PhD” in your OpenCampus account.
    What to do: Write an email to hgs-workshops@hu-berlin.de and ask for your account to be deleted. Then re-register with “PhD” status.
  • You are not a member of FU, HU, TU, or Charité (Berlin University Alliance), but you cooperate with one of them in your doctorate.
    What to do: Write an email to hgs-workshops@hu-berlin.de, explain your situation and let us know that you would like to book the event.

You can participate if you can prove that you are already pursuing a doctorate at a university or institute of the Berlin University Alliance. Register with your official university email address and make sure to provide the name and address of your institute. If you do not have an official email address yet, please contact us after registration to provide an individual proof. This can be a letter from the doctoral office to confirm you have submitted your application for admission, or a confirmation letter from your supervisor.

You can only register for the English-language event or for the German-language event, but not for both. The program of both events is identical, only the language will differ.

Once you are registered, we expect you to participate in the entire retreat program. Exceptions may be possible if you arrive no more than two hours later or leave no more than two hours earlier. In that case, please contact the organizers in advance.

The registration confirmation will be sent automatically. Please check your spam folder. If you do not find the registration confirmation there either, please contact us. Do not fill out the registration form more than once.

No, you are only allowed to participate once. If participants show up who have already participated in one of our Kick-Off events, we reserve the right to send them home and charge them proportionally for the hotel cost.

Cancelling

If you get ill and can’t attend the event, you can cancel free of charge. Please cancel as early as possible and attach a medical certificate. Make sure to notify us as soon as you know that you won't be able to attend, to give persons from the waiting list the chance to participate.

If you unable to attend the event for any other reason, please cancel your registration as early as possible. If we can give your spot to a person from the waiting list, your cancellation is free of charge. If we can’t allocate your spot to someone else, we reserve the right to charge you proportionally for the cost of accommodation in the hotel.

Arrival and travel arrangements

Yes, participants must organize their own travel to the hotel. The hotel can be reached with public transport from Berlin.

No, you must arrange their own travel to the hotel.

No, you must cover their own travel costs.

Hotel and meals

You will be accommodated in the hotel. Accommodation and meals (3 main meals including a drink, soft drinks during the workshops, coffee and cake breaks) are free of charge.

No, the cost of hotel accommodation is free of charge for participants. Accommodation fees will be covered by Berlin University Alliance.

You will be accommodated in single rooms. Therefore, it is not necessary to choose a room partner.

If you order additional drinks beyond the above-mentioned catering, you will have to pay for them yourself.

There will be vegetarian meals. If you have any other special meal requests, please let us know.