On February 23, 2026, the second curATime Career Day took place, focusing on the topic of “professional development”. Young scientists were hereby offered two exciting workshops, followed by a keynote lecture and a panel discussion.
The first workshop with the topic “Mentoring and Goal Setting: How to Build Success Through Guidance and Action”, was led by Dr. Imke Lode and focused on how mentoring relationships can support clarity, accountability, and purposeful career decisions. Participants explored practical approaches to setting meaningful goals and translating ambition into concrete action.
Within the second workshop “Strategic Development of Your Research Career” that was led by Dr. Nils Kasties, participants reflected on how to position their profiles strategically, identify opportunities, and actively shape sustainable academic career paths in a rapidly evolving research landscape.
The workshops were followed by an inspiring keynote lecture on “The Impact of Relationships on Career Shaping” by Imke Lode, highlighting how both, professional and private connections, shape your career development.
The event concluded with an engaging panel discussion on mentorship journeys with Julia Brechtel, Dr. Maximilian Sprang, PD Dr. Susanne Karbach, and Prof. Dr. Ellen Closs as panel guests, who shared very valuable insights into their own mentoring experiences highlighting how powerful mentoring can be as a career planning tool.
"This career day highlighted the important role of mentorship in my career journey, both as a mentee and a future mentor. I'm definitely excited to put the skills I've learned, in particular during Imke’s well-structured workshop, into action." - Carol Hanna PhD Student
"Developing the ability to set and achieve goals will be a valuable addition to my skill set for completing my PhD. Additionally, I have gained insight into the significant impact of effective mentoring on achieving success." - Elena Stehle, PhD Student
"I was really impressed by the curATime early career researchers! Dedicated, thoughtful, and passionate! The strong commitment of curATime supporting early career researchers was clearly evident, making it an excellent and rewarding experience for me as trainer. Thank you for a great day!" – Dr. Nils Kasties, Trainer
