Winter retreat 2019

From the 20th to the 22nd of November, 2019, the Ph.D. students of π³ went on the first winter retreat with the second cohort. The retreat took place at the Center Parcs Nordseeküste. The goals of this winter retreat were fourfold:

• It offered the members of the first and second cohort to get to know each other.
• It provided the second cohort a soft skills course on “Getting started and gender/intercultural training”, give by Ulrike Schumann-Stöckert which discussed different aspects of getting started with your Ph.D. and working in an international setting.
• The remaining students of the first cohort discussed reflected on their experience and, together with Tobias Kluth, collected suggestions for possible improvements.
• It presented an opportunity for the first and second cohort to exchange experiences and ideas.

The group arrived at the Center Parc at about 11:30 a.m. On the first day, the new Ph.D. students presented their research projects in order to facilitate later collaborations. Each new student gave a short 15-minute presentation. These let to exciting discussions throughout the retreat. On the second day, the first and second cohort split up. The first cohort reflected on their experiences in the RTG and prepared the next day's sessions on “Life inside the RTG” and “Scientific tools.” The second cohort attended the professional course on “Getting started” by Ms. Schumann-Stöckert.

On the third day, Sören Schulze gave an advanced introduction to the LaTeX typesetting system. The first cohort then organized the session “Life inside the RTG,” in which they presented information on the structure and organization of the RTG and organized a collected and answered questions from the second cohort.
In conclusion, the winter retreat was successful in connecting the members of π³ and fostering collaborations.