996003 Mastering your doctorate – strategies for succeeding your doctoral degree. (WS) (WiSe 2014/2015)

Doing a doctorate brings a lot of challenges – in this workshop you will gain clarity about
your motivation and goals of doing a doctorate and learn sufficient coping strategies to
complete successfully your doctorate. You get to know the phases of a PhD project and a
deep insight about rules, time-lines, tasks and common pitfalls. You will gain a greater
understanding of the mechanisms of typical stumbling blocks and blockades and acquire
strategies for sustainable self-motivation. Besides you will learn some efficient working
techniques to activate your resources and to develop a clear picture of your mindset. This
will help to focus on your main goal – to complete your doctorate.

Content
� Gain clarity: phases, milestones, pitfalls on the way to a doctorate
� Organize yourself: strategies for efficient time management
� Define roles: being a doctoral candidate between aspirations, expectations and reality
� Find motivation: coping with typical dissertation frustration, clear motivation
� Lowering stress: mechanisms of typical stress pitfalls and off-loading strategies
� Efficient talks: getting the best out of supervision
� Getting it done: methods of efficient working and writing

Methods
� Theory
� Groupwork
� Coaching
� Training units