PhD students will benefit from being part of the Oldenburg graduate school OLTECH (Graduate School Science, Medicine and Technology). OLTECH provides tailored programs for PhD students that cover subject specific courses, courses on communication and knowledge transfer, and interdisciplinary competencies courses. In courses like Imaging Techniques in Medicine, Time Series Analysis, Complex Network Analysis, Neuroimaging Data Analysis and Matlab or Python Programming, and in seminars and lectures on neuromodulation, neurorehabilitation or health services research, PhD students can extend and deepen subject specific skills and knowledge. Courses targeted at improving communication and knowledge transfer include for instance advanced presentation skills courses, courses on didactics and on science communication, or German language courses for non-native speakers. Courses aiming to support interdisciplinary competencies include courses on career development in- and outside academia, on project management and on data privacy, ethics, and good clinical practice, to give just a few examples. To complete the OLTECH curriculum, PhD students will have to earn a total of 30 credit points (CP), with a minimum of 12 CP for courses on subject specific skills, a minimum of 6 CP for communication and knowledge transfer, and a minimum of 6 CP for courses on interdisciplinary competencies. How this could look like in a fictious PhD student is shown in the illustration.

Being a PhD student in our RTG also means that you will benefit from a number of measures aiming at supporting networking, internationalization and mobility early on in your career. PhD students will complete a mandatory visit of another lab, a visit to a rehabilitation center, or another RTG-related health facility of at least four weeks. Visits will be supported through the provision of travel grants. Students of the RTG will have the lead in the organization of the yearly RTG summer school. Networking will be promoted by student-let invitations of internationally renowned researchers to the summer schools or the more frequent RTG research colloquium, and by interacting with the RTG advisory board consisting of national and international experts in neuromodulation and neurorehabilitation research. Networking, internationalization and mobility will be furthermore supported by funds for participating in national and international conferences. International PhD students and scientists will be supported settling in by the International Office of the University of Oldenburg.

The RTG aims to support PhD students in their career advancement and career choices. Aside from the offers of the graduate school OLTECH, the provision of opportunities to network and to gain working experience in other labs or in the clinical field nationally and internationally, we will support students in gaining first experiences in securing own funding and in following up research ideas by giving PhD students the opportunity to compete for small internal research budget grants. All PhD students can actively contribute to research-based teaching, such as supervision of lab projects or master’s theses.

Our doctoral students benefit from being part of the Oldenburg Graduate School OLTECH (Graduate School Science, Medicine and Technology). OLTECH offers tailor-made programmes for doctoral candidates that include subject-specific courses, courses on communication and knowledge transfer as well as interdisciplinary skills courses.
Courses on medical imaging, time series analyses, analyses of complex networks and neuroimaging data, Matlab or Python programming, as well as seminars and lectures on neuromodulation, neurorehabilitation or health services research are offered to deepen specialist knowledge. Courses aimed at improving communication and knowledge transfer include, for example, courses on advanced presentation skills, courses on didactics and science communication or German courses for non-native speakers. Courses aimed at promoting interdisciplinary competences include courses on career development within and outside science, project management, data protection, ethics and good academic practice, to name just a few examples. To complete the OLTECH curriculum, doctoral candidates must earn a total of 30 credit points (CP), including at least 12 CP for courses on subject-specific skills and at least 6 CP each for communication/knowledge transfer and interdisciplinary skills. The diagram shows what this might look like.

As a doctoral candidate in our RTG, you will also benefit from a number of measures aimed at promoting networking, internationalisation and mobility at the beginning of your career. Doctoral candidates must complete a visit of at least four weeks to another laboratory, rehabilitation centre or other RTG-related health institution. The visits are supported by the provision of travel grants. GRK doctoral students will take the lead in organising the GRK's annual summer school. Furthermore, the scientific networking of doctoral students will be promoted through specially organised invitations from internationally renowned researchers to the summer schools or the more frequent GRK research colloquia and through interaction with the GRK advisory board consisting of national and international experts in neuromodulation and neurorehabilitation research. Networking, internationalisation and mobility are also supported by funding for participation in national and international conferences. International doctoral candidates and scientists are supported by the International Office of the University of Oldenburg to help them settle in.

The GRK aims to support doctoral candidates in their career development and career choices. In addition to the offerings of the Graduate School OLTECH, providing opportunities for networking and gaining work experience in other laboratories or in the clinical field on a national and international level, we will support students in gaining initial experience in securing their own financing and pursuing research ideas by giving doctoral candidates the opportunity to apply for small internal research funds. All doctoral candidates can actively participate in research-based teaching, for example by supervising laboratory projects or Master's theses.