Overview

Objective

The primary objective of the new RTG is to establish an internationally competitive and transparent research and training program that will allow us to

  • recruit excellent and motivated Dr. rer. nat. (equivalent to Ph.D.) and Dr. med. candidates,
  • teach them how to maintain good scientific practise
  • better educate and train them in immunology and related fields,
  • prepare them for a professional post-graduate career as an immunologist,
  • develop a structured and an attractive doctoral program for medical students, and
  • graduate Dr. rer. nat. candidates in less than four years.

Training Concept

The training program will, in part, be based on the successfully established educational program of the previous RTG1660 and will benefit from an extensive scientific exchange between doctoral candidates and participating RTG researchers (or principal investigators). We will focus on four cornerstones of graduate training to

  • teach each doctoral candidate to generate knowledge from scientific observations by applying the Scientific Method, i.e., to formulate a scientific hypothesis, test it by controlled experiments and critically analyze, interpret, discuss and publish the results,
  • provide a broad theoretical and practical training in immunology,
  • teach professional and soft skill qualifications, and
  • prepare doctoral candidates for their professional careers.

Training Modules

To reach our aims, we will develop individual partially overlapping doctoral training programs for three target groups.

Here, you will find more information on Training Modules for:

  • rer. nat. (PhD) candidates with a Master’s degree in Life Sciences
  • rer. nat. (PhD) for candidates with a Bachelor’s in Life Sciences (Fast-Track)
  • Medical students enrolled at the FAU

Courses & Activities

To achieve these goals, we will offer obligatory and optional RTG-related workshops and activities  tailored to the research topics of the RTG. To leave enough time for the actual thesis project, obligatory events and courses during the dissertation phase will be limited in number and duration (e.g., maximum of two 1-2 day soft skill workshops, two additional ½ day events, and a 2-3 day retreat and the RTG network meeting per year).