Trainings and Workshops
Our training sessions and workshops offer practical input, reflection, and skill development on topics related to career development, mentoring, and professional growth. All participants of the kite-mentoring career development program are warmly invited to take part.
Registration for trainings and workshops is possible via the link provided after registering for kite-mentoring. Please note that participation is only possible with prior registration for the program.
There is no limit on the number of participants. However, registration for each training or workshop is binding.
Date: Thursday 05.03.2026 (14:00 – 18:00)
Location: Faculty of Engineering, Georges-Köhler-Allee, Building 80
Invited trainer: Stéphanie Dreher (Theatre teacher Freiburg)
Registration: https://terminplaner6.dfn.de/p/bf5cfe3ce3a2523e38c3940020b1ed05-1530460
Workshop description:
Do you want to feel more confident and at ease when speaking in front of an audience? Imagine stepping onto a stage or addressing a room, fully grounded in your abilities, with a clear voice and a strong presence.
In this workshop, we’ll unlock the secrets to building a confident and authentic public presence. Through engaging activities, you’ll discover practical tools and techniques to enhance your posture, voice, and movement, helping you connect with your audience effortlessly.
You’ll have the chance to explore:
- How to align your body and mind to feel grounded and self-assured.
- Simple yet effective techniques to prepare for any speaking situation.
- Tips for enhancing your presence and letting your voice carry your message with clarity and confidence.
If you’d like, you can even be filmed during a short presentation. This provides a unique opportunity to observe your body language, celebrate your strengths, and identify areas for growth—all in a supportive environment.
By the end of the workshop, you’ll walk away with tools to speak naturally and confidently, allowing you to focus fully on your content and connect with your audience.
Wear clothes in which you feel comfortable and can move well.
Date: Thursday 12.03.2026 (9:00 – 17:00)
Location: Faculty of Engineering, Georges-Köhler-Allee, building 080
Invited trainer: Dr. Dephie Huang (Freiburg)
Registration: https://terminplaner6.dfn.de/p/b25373507258b7dea09056052db536aa-1530470
Workshop Description:
Nowadays, large language models (LLMs) and AI tools have dramatically shaped our work and lives, becoming indispensable. These tools are changing how researchers work by supporting tasks such as brainstorming research ideas, finding collaboration partners, manuscript writing, analyzing data, developing proposals, writing applications and much more.
This one-day workshop offers an introduction to LLMs, an overview of AI tools, and their key applications in day-to-day professional activities such as literature reviews, idea brainstorming, data analysis, and manuscript or proposal preparation. Participants will learn how LLMs can assist their research ans applicationneeds and enhance their productivity. Additionally, the workshop will encourage reflections on participants’ experiences, address ethical considerations, and explore broader applications of AI tools beyond research, such as in time management and administrative tasks.
By the end of the workshop, attendees will gain confidence in crafting effective prompts to enhance outcomes, explore more applications to harness the benefits of large language models, and remain mindful of their limitations when applying them to research and beyond.
What you will gain:
- Unlock the potential of AI tools to enhance productivity.
- Explore AI tools to meet your research needs and for job application.
- Gain awareness of the responsible use of AI tools.
- Confidence in integrating AI tools into your research and beyond.
Date: Friday 17.04.2026 (9:00 – 16:00)
Location: Faculty of Engineering, Georges-Köhler-Allee, building 080
Invited trainer: Erika Magyarosi (Tübingen) – https://erikamagyarosi.com/
Registration: https://terminplaner6.dfn.de/p/38db553b8c3cbcfa79215af233cfda48-1530472
Workshop description:
What makes a great leader? The answer isn’t one size fits all. This workshop will introduce you to a wide range of leadership styles and help you understand their strengths and challenges. You’ll reflect on which styles resonate with your values, preferences and goals, setting the stage for you to become the kind of leader you’ve always admired.
By the end of the workshop, you’ll be equipped with the insights, skills and confidence to lead authentically and effectively. Whether your leadership journey is just beginning or you’re ready to fine-tune your approach, this is your opportunity to move forward with clarity and purpose.
Key themes:
1. Exploring leadership styles: An overview of different approaches to leadership and their application in practice.
2. Defining your leadership vision: Reflecting on the type of leader you want to be and the legacy you want to leave.
3. Preparing for leadership: Tools and strategies for embodying the characteristics of an inspiring and effective leader.
4. Building Influence: Learn how to motivate, communicate and inspire teams with confidence and empathy.
5. Navigating challenges: Practical techniques for decision making, conflict resolution and fostering a positive team culture.
Why this workshop is important:
– Gain clarity on leadership styles that match your personality and professional aspirations.
– Develop a roadmap for developing into the leader you’ve always wanted to be.
– Build the confidence to take on leadership roles and face challenges with resilience.
What you’ll gain:
– A deeper understanding of leadership strategies and their application in different contexts.
– A personalised leadership development plan tailored to your strengths and goals.
– Practical tools to inspire trust, foster collaboration and drive success in any team.
Date: Tuesday 05.05.2026 (9:00 – 17:00)
Location: Faculty of Engineering, Georges-Köhler-Allee, building 080
Invited trainer: Francesca Carlin (Berlin) https://www.francescacarlin.com/
Registration: https://terminplaner6.dfn.de/p/8f5f3128ad87e669253dc59557e74993-1530475
Workshop description:
Learning Outcomes
After the workshop, participants will…
– Utilize strategies for reframing criticism and the inner-critic
– Have techniques to help them stay in the moment and increase presence.
– Project confidence and competence in presentation situations.
– Be aware of the roles they have chosen and be able to craft the role they desire.
– Use tools to help them transform stress and pressure into energy and motivation.
Approach
This One-day workshop is designed to reach the target aims through meaningful practice, individual and group activities, theater-based exercises and transformational and DYL coaching models.
Covered Topics:
– The Roles Women Play:
– Transforming the inner critic
– Presence work
– Presenting & High Pressure Situations
Date: Tuesday 09.06.2026 (9:00 – 17:00)
Location: Faculty of Engineering, Georges-Köhler-Allee, building 080
Invited trainer: Lara Schmidt-Neuhaus
Registration: https://terminplaner6.dfn.de/p/1d0f0f73d3710cc6263a0d8c11d10695-1530480
Workshop description:
Does making a big, life-changing decision make you feel uneasy? Do you find yourself postponing important choices or overthinking every possible outcome? When the fear of choosing the wrong path grows, not choosing at all can suddenly sound very attractive.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to feeling stuck when making decisions. This workshop offers space to reflect on why making a good choice matters to you personally, and which decision-making approaches align best with your values and personality. Grounded in scientific findings from psychology, the workshop translates evidence-based insights into practical tools you can apply in your everyday work life. We will explore how fear of failure and high personal standards influence decision-making, practice mindset shifts that support confident choices, and learn structured ways to evaluate costs and benefits without getting stuck in overanalysis.
By the end of the workshop, making decisions might feel less intimidating. You will gain clarity on how to make solid choices and how to navigate the uncertainty that comes with them.
This workshop is for you if you:
- get stuck overthinking when making decisions
- want to gain a new perspective on change
- want to strengthen your confidence in deciding
- are looking for decision-making tools you can integrate into your professional and personal life
How we will work:
The workshop combines short theoretical inputs with guided reflection and practical, interactive exercises. You will work individually and in small groups, reflect together, and leave with practical ideas and tools you can use when decisions feel difficult.
Date: Thursday 16.06.2026 (9:00 – 17:00)
Location: Faculty of Engineering, Georges-Köhler-Allee, building 080
Invited trainer: Dr. Shuangshuang Zheng
Registration: https://terminplaner6.dfn.de/p/0dffaf6cc691b11c282b39ca5e6effba-1530486
Workshop description:
Are you a PhD student or postdoc curious about industry careers beyond academia?
This one-day interactive workshop offers a practical introduction and overview to Clinical & Medical Affairs in the medical device industry
– why these functions are needed, what they do, how they differ, and how they interact with internal functions like R&D, Regulatory, Marketing, and Commercial teams, and authorities such as FDA, Notified Bodies, etc.
Led by a scientist and professional with 6+ years of working experience in clinical & medical affairs in an international medical device company, the workshop demystifies industry functions, day-to-day responsibilities, required skills, career paths & progression and beyond. Participants will gain actionable insights, real-world examples, and clarity/perspective on whether clinical or medical affairs could be the right fit for them.
Date: Thursday 17.09.2026 (9:00 – 16:30)
Location: Faculty of Engineering, Georges-Köhler-Allee, building 080
Invited trainer: Dr. Karin Greiner-Simank (Tübingen) https://drgreinersimank.de/
Registration: https://terminplaner6.dfn.de/p/7d8b7007aafddf26ee5ad41710a4bd0c-1530493
Workshop description:
Content and objectives
Power games and turf wars are part of everyday working life. There are two fundamentally different communication systems (vertical and horizontal). Neither system is better or worse than the other; they are simply different languages. The goal is to recognize, analyze, and apply these languages. This enables participants to learn how to set clearer boundaries, assert themselves, and thus improve their confident demeanor and performance. They identify decision-making skills and develop new response mechanisms for their own everyday work. The goal is to prepare and equip you for the power games in your professional field and on your career path.
You love your job! You love science!
Yet you repeatedly feel that you are encountering invisible barriers in your professional life, that you are perhaps not progressing in your career as you would like to? Do you often feel that you are not really seen, heard, or taken seriously?
As a rule, this is not due to your knowledge and skills! Experience shows that a completely different factor plays an enormous role here— COMMUNICATION!
This workshop is based on the well-known methodology “The Arrogance Principle®” by Dr. Peter Modler. However, the topic is not “arrogance” in the conventional sense!
Rather, it highlights two fundamentally different communication systems, the knowledge and application of which can significantly advance you personally and professionally.
This will give you more:
· Self-confidence in your professional role.
· A confident demeanor toward your superiors and colleagues.
· Assertiveness in a team.
· Leadership skills.
· Clarity in your response to personal attacks.
· Courage to pursue your own career.
Date: Tuesday 13.10.2026 (9:00 – 16:00) and online FollowUp Friday 06.11.26 (9:00 – 12:00)
Location: Faculty of Engineering, Georges-Köhler-Allee, building 080 and online
Invited trainer: Erika Magyarosi (Tübingen) – https://erikamagyarosi.com/
Registration: https://terminplaner6.dfn.de/p/0dde9ffbbface698e0601d89a2f522cd-1531815
Workshop description:
You don’t need more hours in the day. You need a different relationship with time.
This advanced workshop is for PhD students and postdoctoral researchers who are not just looking to manage time, but to lead it with intention, clarity, and integrity. It’s for those who are ready to question what drives their decisions, understand where their focus is being pulled, and learn how to prioritise from the inside out.
In this workshop we will explore how time connects to identity, values, and purpose. You’ll analyse what energises or drains you, where your time goes and where it should go if you’re serious about becoming the expert,
creator, or leader you aspire to be.
This is not about doing more but more about doing what matters.
Three weeks later, you’ll return for a focused follow-up session (3 hours) to reflect, recalibrate, and reinforce what works, because real change requires real practice.
What we’ll explore together:
- Time as a mirror: What your time reveals about your priorities, patterns, and beliefs
- Your inner compass: Clarifying personal values, drivers, and decision rules
- Procrastination decoded: Not just how to stop, but why it happens in the first place
- Smart boundaries: Saying yes with clarity and no without guilt
- The expert mindset: Managing your time like the professional you are becoming
You’ll leave with:
- A personal, values-driven time strategy that fits your reality, not someone else’s system
- Tools to identify your real priorities—and protect them with confidence
- A deeper understanding of how time, energy, and self-respect are connected
- A mindset shift: from pressure and reaction to focus and ownership
Date: Thursday / Friday 03./04.12.2026 (9:00 – 17:00)
Location: Faculty of Engineering, Georges-Köhler-Allee, building 080
Invited trainer: Dr. Matthias Schwarzkopf (Tübingen) – https://www.kabeak.de/
Registration: https://terminplaner6.dfn.de/p/e042420118358e00928b9c51a8332cef-1530507
Workshop description:
If you made it to the job interview you are already very successful: you wrote a convincing application. Nevertheless, there is still a long way to go, not least because, as face-to-face situations, job interviews are much less controllable than written applications. In this workshop, you will learn how to prepare job interviews. And we will practice them.
Topics we deal with
• How to prepare for the interview (which aspects have to be considered? what do I need to do?)
• Preparing my self-introduction
• The most important point in the interview: show my competencies and achievements. How do I do this?
• Typical questions and fitting answers
• It is normal to feel stressed – but how do I deal with it?
• How to talk about salary
• Cultural differences – what to consider in German job interviews
• And if they do an assessment centre? Overview over typical parts of ACs and tips on how to prepare for them.
• Thorough training of interview situations in small groups.
Please bring a suitable job ad with you
(i.e. for a job that suits your profile and/ or a job you consider applying for).