The first curATime career orientation day, with a total of 39 participants, took place at the Mainz University Medical Centre on 10th March 2025.
In two parallel workshops, participants gained practical insights into key career topics: Within the first workshop, under the guidance of trainer Paul Rost, valuable strategies for stimulating and goal-oriented small talk were developed – a key skill for initiating successful conversations at scientific conferences, for example. In the second workshop, participants reflected on their individual qualifications together with trainer Dr. Imke Lode and developed ways to use them specifically for further career planning.
An inspiring keynote speech on the topic of ‘Creative Thinking’ (Paul Rost) was followed by a panel discussion in which four representatives from curATime partner institutions presented their personal career paths (Dr. Christina tom Suden, LZM; Dr. Konstantin Bob, Mondata; Xiaoxing Qing, BioNTech; Dr. Laura Bindila, UMC). Afterwards, the audience took the opportunity to ask numerous questions – e.g. about decision-making processes in career planning or valuable advice that the panel participants could give to young scientists based on their experience.
